Dr. Kearse Wins ACS Surgical Simulation Summit Award

Dr. LaDonna Kearse, a surgical education fellow, received best in show for her presentation “Diverse Surgeon Workforce: Quantifying Gender Differences in Technical Approach to Promote Awareness and Facilitate Learning Preferences” at the American College of Surgeons (ACS) 2021 Surgical Simulation Summit.

"Our work explored participants’ approaches to identifying bowel injuries on a segment of porcine bowel as a means to explore individual factors that may impact surgical outcomes. We observed three techniques for injury identification: hands-only, hands and tools, and tools-only. When comparing the injury identification approaches, we found that female participants were significantly more likely to utilize a hands-only technique when compared to males. Despite a difference in injury identification approaches, no significant difference in the number of missed holes were observed when comparing males and females," said Kearse.

Kearse's presentation was chosen because it was a "timely topic that promoted diversity and strengthen the surgeon workforce." In addition to the prestige, the award also comes with complimentary registration for next year's conference.