In January, 2006, Dr. Charles B. Rodning was appointed Interim Chairman, and Dr. C. Neal Ellis, Jr. was appointed Program Director, Department of Surgery, at this institution. Those appointments and the shared leadership and responsibilities implied, have proven to be extremely effective in re-focusing collective initiatives in relationship to education, research, clinical service, and community involvement. Since those appointments and in conjunction with a very creative, energetic, and committed faculty and staff, we have pursued and/or accomplished the following (chronologically).

1. Active recruitment for additional colleagues in the disciplines of Trauma/Surgical Critical Care, Pediatric Surgery, Head and Neck Surgery, and Urology has been a focus of intense efforts.

2. Development and implementation of a simulation laboratory, which will become evermore important as part of graduate surgical educational endeavors.

3. Establishing and formalizing alliances with surgeons within our community who are keenly committed to graduate general surgical education. Dr. Gerhard A. W. Boehm, Dr. Lee Thompson, Mobile Infirmary Medical Center, Mobile, Alabama; and Dr. C. B. Smith, Dr. Jimmie N. Gavras, Thomas Hospital/Mobile Infirmary Health System, Fairhope, Alabama; and Dr. David Countryman, and Dr. Letch Kline with VA Gulf Coast Veteran’s Healthcare System, and are actively involved in our educational programs.

4. Formal creation of a Division of Vascular Surgery with Cardiovascular Associates, P.C., Mobile, Alabama, including Dr. Michael E. Damrich, Dr. William R. Higgs, Dr. Ronald B. O’Gorman, Dr. Carl Maltese, Dr. Dimitris Kyriazis, and Dr. David H. Mull, has been accomplished. That cadre of individuals will provide Peripheral Vascular, Cardiovascular, and Thoracic surgical education and care. To an ever greater extent those disciplines are utilizing minimal access/minimal invasive technology.

5. Intimately involved in defining and catalyzing an evolving alliance with the Mobile Infirmary Health Care System, the most clinically active healthcare provider within the State of Alabama.

6. Integrating with the University of South Alabama/Mitchell Cancer Institute, in the context of its primary focus in relationship to translational clinical investigational endeavors, under the direction of Dr. Adam I. Riker, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, and Director, Division of Surgical Oncology.

7. Actively involved in creation of a Center for Renal Biology, to codify and coordinate the care of patients with renal insufficiency with emphasis on prevention, diagnosis, and therapy.

8. Strengthening a commitment to the acquisition of extramural funding in relationship to rural vehicular trauma under the direction of Dr. Richard P. Gonzalez, Professor, Department of Surgery, and Director, Division of Traumatology/Surgical Critical Care, and his colleague Dr. Herbert A. Phelan, III, Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery.

9. Involvement in several clinical translational investigational endeavors through the Office of Surgical Research, under the superb supervision and direction of Ms. Kelley Bose-Taylor, R.N..

10. Recognition of Dr. Velma P. Scantlebury, Professor, Department of Surgery, and Director, Division of Transplantation; and Dr. Arnold Luterman, Ripps-Meisler Professor of Surgery, Director, Burn and Wound Care Centers; Designated Institutional Officer; and Assistant Dean, Graduate Medical Education; as Best Doctors in America.

11. Dr. Roy Gandy, Professor, Department of Surgery, was appointed Coursemaster, Core Surgical Rotation, Junior Medical School Year. Didactic lectures and dialogic sessions were added and were directed at providing each student with the fundamental knowledge and skills for the more common surgical conditions. Students are responsible for being able to diagnose and prepare patients for operative intervention; discuss options with patient and families; understand potential morbidities and management options for planned procedures; and participate in the perioperative management of patients.

12. The Department of Surgery became a member institution of the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group, with several protocols currently active, under the direction of Dr. C. Neal Ellis, Jr., Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, and Director, Division of Colorectal Surgery; and Dr. D. Lynn Dyess, Professor, Department of Surgery, and Director, Division of Endocrinologic Surgery.

13. Numerous presentations-from-platform and publications in the peer-reviewed literature by residents and faculty at the local, state, regional, and national levels.

The aforementioned are but a few of the initiatives of the residents, faculty, and staff of the Department of Surgery at this institution. Collectively we are committed to fulfilling the missions of the institution in relationship to undergraduate and graduate general surgical education, research, clinical service, and community involvement. Collectively we are energized by the opportunities presented and momentum generated this year.