Recently I had the pleasure of seeing many of you at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress in New Orleans. As we have done for many years, the Society held its fall board, committee, and general membership meetings in conjunction with the ACS Congress.

And, as we have done in the last several years, we provided an opportunity at the Clinical Congress for those of you seeking breast ultrasound certification to take the written certification exam there. The Breast Ultrasound Certification committee, under the leadership of Dr. Howard Snider, continues to administer this extremely successful program that recognizes surgeons who have attained a specified level of ultrasound training and expertise. To date, more than 120 surgeons have successfully completed the process and earned certification.

Also scheduled in conjunction with the Congress this year was the Society’s first practical and written examinations for our new certification in stereotactic breast procedures. This program is the result of a tremendous effort by the Society’s Breast Imaging Technologies Committee. Drs. Arthur Lerner and Kambiz Dowlat, co-chairs, and their fellow committee members have worked tirelessly to develop a program that will enable breast surgeons to demonstrate their proficiency in stereotactic breast procedures. It is also a key component to addressing possible future regulation of stereotactic breast procedures by the FDA. Drs. Lerner and Dowlat have led our efforts to see that that we have a seat at the table as such regulation is considered and have been successful in garnering the support of the American Society of General Surgeons, the American College of Surgeons, and the Society of Surgical Oncology. I would like to take this opportunity to thank these organizations for joining us in representing the voice of surgeons in these discussions. It is the Society’s goal, in this and every such effort, to ensure the highest quality of care for our patients.

Quality of care is the focus of the Patient Safety and Quality Committee, chaired by Dr. Lorraine Tafra. This group of volunteers has completed a pilot survey on quality measures and is continuing to research options for establishing a database of process and patient quality measures.

Surely no Society program demonstrates our commitment to education more than our Annual Meeting each spring. And this year is no different. Dr. Hiram “Chip” Cody and his fellow Annual Meeting Committee members have done an outstanding job on the New York program and I think it’s going to be our biggest and one of our best meetings ever. I encourage you to read more about what awaits us in the Big Apple next Spring in our upcoming newsletter.

When I look at the outstanding efforts of these and all of our committees, I am extremely proud of this Society. We can boast a committee structure that organizations many time the size of ours would envy. So many of you have shown your dedication to the field of breast surgery not only by joining the Society, but by spending countless hours developing and administering our programs. As a direct result, this Society in just 10 years has become recognized as the voice of surgeons who treat breast disease. This recognition allows us to advocate on your behalf for policies that will continue ensure the best possible care for our patients.

To learn more about these and other efforts of the Society’s committees, be sure to read the report from our fall membership meeting in our upcoming newsletter. I am sure you will be impressed at the work that is being done year-round by many of our fellow members.

To those of you volunteer, on behalf of our entire membership, I extend our deepest gratitude.

Sincerely,

Jay K. Harness, MD
President