SUS Presidential Address
Thomas K. Varghese Jr. MD, MS, MBA, FACS
85th President of the Society of University Surgeons
20th Academic Surgical Congress
February 11, 2025
Las Vegas, Nevada
“Origin Stories and Cultures of impact”
President Varghese opened his SUS address and reminded the audience that this milestone was achieved only by standing on the shoulders of others. He thanked his parents, siblings, children, and his wife in very emotional terms as he recalled his journey, the opportunities, the barriers and all the assistance his mentors provided.
Dr. Varghese reminisced about the history of the SUS as a breakaway group from the American Surgical Association. He felt that the SUS leadership timeline could be divided into three distinct eras. From inception in 1938 to 1970, the “pioneer presidents” developed a unique surgeon scientist culture defined what it meant to be an academic surgeon. Between 1971 and 2000, the second era of the SUS continued to establish excellence in academic surgical careers. The organization elected its first Black president and its first female president. However, the end of the second era was marked by limited membership growth and stagnating attendance at the annual SUS meetings. Faced with a crisis of survival, the SUS entered the “modern era” from 2001 with leadership working with the Association for Academic Surgery (AAS) to create a joint Academic Surgical Congress meeting. Now in its 20th year, the ASC has only grown in attendance. Additionally in this period, the SUS has elected 6 women presidents and 6 presidents of Asian origins.
Pivoting to the substance of his address, Dr. Varghese first started by highlighting how important culture and origin are to our personal journeys. Identity, roots, arts and beliefs are passed down from generation to generation and help determine who we are. He highlighted two stories that focused on culture and origins. The first one based in Japan highlighted toddlers being asked to leave their homes to run errands. Although unnerving to our American lifestyle, Japanese culture supports this independence and self-sufficiency by creating a safe infrastructure for the children as they walk alone on public streets under the watchful eye of their neighbors. The second story based in the United States outlined the history of smiling before and after cameras became ubiquitous in our culture. Dr. Varghese traced the tendency to smile for photographs to clever marketing by the Kodak corporation, capturing moments of joy, or the Kodak moment. These two stories stressed the importance of shifting our culture in ways that change our lives forever.
Setting the backdrop of cultural importance and impact, President Varghese conveyed his concern that the SUS ethos of scientific progress is threatened. Corporate culture, anti-science attitudes, funding limitations, lack of civil debate, burnout and debt were amongst the principal threats to the surgeon scientist. He stressed that the SUS is facing a storm and like the Bison, the organization must walk into the storm to cross safely. Four strategies were then offered to do this:
- Solve interesting problems: wonder at something, build a better plan for trainees and patients, then share the vision
- Find your people, invite others to wonder with you; never be afraid of joining the culture you want to, or mold it; determine what impact you could have
- Festina Lente “make haste slowly; slow is smooth, smooth is fast. 1% better every day, action with a purpose, be different
- Celebrate: recognize yourself, your team, so that your people are recognized
When this strategy is used, the SUS will meet the goal of advancing the art and science of surgery and support the leaders of academic surgery.
In his final comments, Dr. Varghese unveiled the new logo of the Society of University Surgeons (susweb.org) that is scalable, responsive and highlights the interconnectedness of academic surgeons to the broader pursuit of scientific advancement. “We are better together,” was his final message and as expected, received a standing ovation by those present.
Faisal G. Qureshi MBBS, MBA, FACS
Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics
Division of Pediatric Surgery, UT Southwestern