CHICAGO (October 11, 2020): Matthew D. Neal, MD, FACS, has been recognized by the Resident and Associate Society of the American College of Surgeons (RAS-ACS) as the Outstanding Mentor of the Year. Dr. Neal, Roberta G. Simmons endowed associate professor of surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, was nominated by Anupamaa Seshadri, MD, an ACS Associate Fellow, at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr. Neal's award will be presented Sunday, October 24, during the College's virtual Clinical Congress 2021, one of the largest international meetings of surgeons in the world.
The RAS-ACS members, who are surgical trainees and young surgeons early in practice, are encouraged to nominate an ACS Fellow who has impacted their career and inspired them to become involved with the ACS. In his application, Dr. Seshadri said of Dr. Neal: "Both through his words as well as through his actions as a rising academic star in the field of trauma-induced coagulopathy, Dr. Neal was a huge factor in my deciding that continuing to pursue a passion for both trauma surgery and basic science was not only possible, but also would truly enrich my future career. Dr. Neal is a true role model as a trauma surgeon, a surgical intensivist, and a rigorous and talented researcher, but his real gift is mentorship."
Dr. Neal will receive a monogramed vase to memorialize his contributions to the field of surgery and his impact on the next generation of surgeons.
The RAS-ACS serves to familiarize surgical trainees and young surgeons with College programs and leadership and provides them with an avenue for participation in ACS affairs, fosters development and use of their leadership skills in organized surgery, and provides opportunities for their opinions and concerns as young surgeons and trainees to be heard by College leadership.
The RAS-ACS established the Outstanding Mentor of the Year award in 2019 to be given annually to a Fellow of the ACS who has had a marked impact on the engagement of an RAS member in training and has offered the support and encouragement necessary for the resident to build a strong foundation for a surgical career. Mentors from any surgical specialty are eligible for the award and encouraged to be nominated. Dr. Neal joins pediatric surgeon Danielle Saunders Walsh, MD, FACS, FAAP, and chief of surgery at Lankenau Medical Center, Wynnewood, PA, Ned Z. Carp, MD, FACS as recipient to this honor.
