Important News

• The Association of Out Surgeons and Allies (AOSA) and AWS are thrilled to announce Aeryn Kangas-Dick, MD, MDCM, MDFRCSC as the inaugural Visiting Professor! We welcome host site applications through September 3.
• Don't forget to apply for the 2025 LSS & AWS Visiting Professorship by Thursday, August 14.
• The AWS Rebecca Crumpler High School Outreach Program, taking place on October 4 in Chicago, is seeking surgeon and medical student volunteers. High school students interested in participating can apply to attend.
• Join us for a cutting edge conversation with our partners at the Association for Academic Surgery (AAS) on August 19 at 7pm ET!
• AWS Medical Student Members are invited to apply to present an upcoming journal club article.
• Are you looking for a new professional role? Or perhaps you need a qualified candidate for an open position? Check the AWS Job Board!

All AWS Members

Book Review: When Breath Becomes Air

Author: Paul Kalanithi 

Book Reviewer: McKenzie Mayer 

Mentor Spotlight: Crystal Totten MD

Dr. Crystal Totten is a general surgeon at the University of Kentucky Healthcare in the Division of Gastrointestinal and Minimally Invasive Surgery and is an associate professor of surgery at UK College of Medicine. Additionally, she holds positions as Co-Vice Chair of Professionalism and Integrity, Medical OR Director of Good Samaritan OR, and Fellowship Director for GEMS Advanced GI MIS Fellowship. Dr Totten received her medical degree and completed her general surgery training at the University of South Florida and went on to complete a fellowship in minimally invasive surgery and abdominal wall reconstruction at UK in 2016. She returned to UK in 2018 where she specializes in laparoscopic and robotic procedures and has interests in swallowing disorders, hiatal hernia and abdominal wall reconstruction. She is a member of the American College of Surgeons, the Society of American and Gastrointestinal Surgery, and the American Hernia Society. 

Book Review: Cutting a Path: The Power of Purpose, Discipline, and Determination

Author: Dr. Sheri Dewan

Book Reviewer: Taraf Jaro

Mentor Spotlight: Dr. Cornelia Griggs

Dr. Cornelia Griggs is a pediatric surgeon, critical care specialist and assistant professor in surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Griggs is the surgical director of the MGH Pediatric Weight Center as well as Quality and Safety Chair for the Division of Pediatric Surgery, Surgical PICU Director, and the Director of Pediatric ECMO. She is a health services researcher with a focus on the treatment and prevention of severe pediatric obesity and childhood injury prevention. She is also currently finishing a master’s degree in clinical effectiveness at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Griggs is also an author. Her first book, The Sky Was Falling, a national best-seller, was published in March of 2024.

Book Review: What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear

Author: Danielle Ofri, MD

Book Reviewer: Sadie English

Mentor Spotlight: Dr. Amanda Baright

Amanda Baright, DO, FACOS, FACS graduated from Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, she completed her general surgery internship and residency at Metro Health Hospital in Grand Rapids, MI. She currently serves as the Chair of Surgery at Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine. Including an undergraduate Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine fellowship at KCOM, she has nine years of experience in undergraduate medical education. She enjoys advising future osteopathic medical students on pursuing careers in surgery and anesthesiology, incorporating OMM into practice, and teaching simulation medicine.

Moving from Known to Unknown

by AWS Research Fellow,  Holly Lewis MD PhD

Book Review: Take Care of Them Like My Own: Faith, Fortitude, and a Surgeon’s Fight for Health Justice

By Dr. Ala Stanford, M.D.

Review by Sophie Hockran

MENTOR SPOTLIGHT: Stacey Darwish

Ms. Stacey Darwish (MBChB, FRCS) is a Consultant Spine Surgeon based in the National Spine Injuries Unit (NSIU @nsiuresearchgroup), Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, St. Vincent’s University Hospital, and Mater Private Network in Dublin, Ireland. She was awarded an MBChB from the University of Glasgow and continued her medical training by earning her FRCS in Trauma and Orthopaedics from the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh. She then furthered her training and expertise by embarking on fellowships in both paediatric & adult deformity (Scottish National Deformity Service, Edinburgh) and complex adult spine surgery (National Spine Injuries Unit, Dublin), focusing on evolving technologies including navigation and robotics. As both a nationally and internationally renowned researcher, Ms. Darwish is currently interested in research topics revolving around trauma, frailty, and evolving surgical technology. Most recently she was integral in the commencement of mixed reality navigation in Mater Misericordiae University Hospital.

MENTOR SPOTLIGHT: Dr. Hollingworth

Dr. Hollingworth grew up in New York City and pursued her Surgery Residency at Carilion Clinic–Virginia Tech, where she met Dr. Sanfey (on a transplant rotation at the University of Virginia), whose influence led her to join the Association of Women Surgeons (AWS) and become a mentor to other women in surgery. She completed her Critical Care Fellowship at the University of California San Francisco–Fresno, working with Dr. Kaups- another inspirational woman in surgery. Now a full-time trauma and critical care surgeon, Dr. Hollingworth has advanced in academic surgery with a Master’s in Medical Education from the University of Cincinnati and in leadership roles as Vice Chief of Staff, Vice Chair of Surgery, and an Associate Professor at Creighton University School of Medicine. She served as Chair of Surgery at Midwestern University and Associate Program Director at HonorHealth General Surgery Program with Dr. Mangram. She also teaches Health Systems Science at the medical school and serves as the Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (QIPS) Officer for the Creighton Health Education Alliance.

Book Review: What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City

By Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha

Reviewer: Rija Awan, MS2

MENTOR SPOTLIGHT: Dr. Gayle Ackerman DiLalla

Dr. Gayle Ackerman DiLalla, M.D., F.A.C.S., is an Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Surgical Oncology at Duke University Hospital.

Mentor Spotlight: Dr. Trista Reid

Mentor Bio: Dr. Trista Reid did her undergraduate training at Johns Hopkins University, followed by Medical School, a Master's in Public Health, and General Surgery Residency training at The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC). She completed her Trauma Critical Care Fellowship at Stanford University and returned to UNC as an attending. She is currently the General Surgery Residency Program Director. Her research interests include Health Disparities in race/ethnicity and gender, Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), Global Surgery, and Surgical Palliative Care. She has built mentorship programs at UNC and is highly involved in both medical student and resident education.

BOOK REVIEW

The Rules of Medicine: A Medical Professional's Guide for Success

by Dr. Sonya M. Sloan

Reviewer: Denise Nemeth, OMS4 

Book Review: Brave Boundaries by Sasha Shillcutt, M.D.

Reviewed by: Denise Nemeth, OMS III

Mentor Spotlight: Brittney Williams, MD MPH

Mentor Bio: Brittney Williams is from Newark, NJ and attended Howard University for undergraduate education and medical school. She completed her General Surgery residency at UNC Chapel Hill, during which she obtained her MPH in global public health and was an NIH Fogarty Global Health fellow. She is now a Thoracic Surgery fellow at Emory University.

Dr. Julie Samora is a pediatric hand surgeon at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, OH, where she is Associate Chief Quality Officer and director of quality improvement within the department of orthopaedics. She received her orthopaedic training at Ohio State University and completed a fellowship in hand and upper extremity surgery at Harvard.  She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University, a Master of Music at Yale University, and an MD/PhD at West Virginia University, where she concomitantly earned a master of public health and public administration.  Dr. Samora is a founding member of Pride Ortho, has previously served on the Board of Directors of the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society (past president) and the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (member-at-large), and is currently on the BOD of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.  She has published more than 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts and is co-editor of the Springer textbook: Quality Improvement and Patient Safety in Orthopaedics.  Dr. Samora has a passion for providing safe, efficient, culturally sensitive, and excellent patient care, focusing on best practices and quality improvement initiatives.

You Are Not Broken

Author: Kelly Capserson, MD
Book Reviewer: Sarah Suhood, OMS III

Author Bio

Dr. Laura DiChiacchio is a current cardiothoracic surgery fellow at the University of Utah Hospital. She will graduate in June and then join Cedars-Sinai Medical Center as an advanced fellow in thoracic transplantation and mechanical circulatory support. She completed her general surgery training at the University of Maryland/R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, MD. She is a graduate of the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, where she completed a PhD in Biophysics, Structural & Computational Biology before falling in love with surgery at the end of her clinical rotations. During her general surgery training, she spent two years as a post-doctoral research fellow in the cardiac xenotransplantation laboratory of Drs. Muhammad Mohiuddin and Bartley Griffith, cementing her relationship with cardiac surgery and thoracic transplantation. She is a happy wife and proud mother to her son Henry.