Faculty from the UAB Department of Surgery were invited to the 10th AKU Annual Surgical Conference (10AASC), held at Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan. This year’s conference, themed “Beyond the Scalpel: Quality Care and Patient Safety,” brought together leading surgeons and healthcare professionals from around the world to discuss innovations in surgical quality, patient safety, and healthcare sustainability.
The UAB delegation included Dr. Herbert Chen, Dr. Andrea Gillis, Dr. Jessica Fazendin, Dr. Anabelle Fonseca, Dr. Saulat Sheikh, Dr. Sophie Dream and Dr. Zain Hashmi, who played an active role in the conference through keynote addresses, panel discussions, and expert presentations.
Dr. Herbert Chen delivered the keynote address “Keeping an Eye on Climate – Making Hospitals and OR’s Carbon Neutral – pipe dream or reality.”
Dr. Jessica Fazendin participated in the session “Collaborating to Innovate in Health Care Quality,” where she both delivered a presentation and contributed as a panelist. Her talk, titled “Successful Surgery Quality and Safety Collaborations – Translating Success from HIC to LMIC” explored strategies for adapting effective surgical safety and quality initiatives from high-income countries to low- and middle-income settings.
Dr. Saulat Sheikh was engaged in the session “Implementing Quality; Leadership Perspective,” where she delivered a compelling presentation titled “The Role of Institutional Leadership in Safety and Quality Overall and Surgery in Specific: What Can or Should the Government Do?”
Dr. Andrea Gillis and Dr. Sophie Dream contributed to the session “Roles of Accredited Bodies,” where they delivered insightful presentations on the intersection of accreditation, regulation, and surgical quality.
Dr. Andrea Gillis presented “Incorporating Safety and Quality in Surgical Training – Making Sure It’s More Than Just Checking a Box” emphasizing the need for meaningful integration of patient safety and quality measures into surgical education.
Dr. Sophie Dream followed with her talk, “The Alphabet Soup of Accreditation and Regulatory Bodies in Surgical Quality and Safety – Help or Hindrance?”
Dr. Anabelle Fonseca delivered a presentation titled ‘Measuring what matters: What are the “right” outcomes measures and how to choose them in Surgical Quality’ during the “Measuring Outcomes Session.”
Dr. Herbert Chen is pictured above with Dean Adil Haider and Chief of Surgery Dr. Saleem Islam, reflecting on the conference’s success. Overall, it was a highly productive and enriching experience.
