The American Board of Surgery (ABS), the national certifying body for general surgeons and related specialists, is pleased to welcome four new councilors who will join the ABS Council this July from the following organizations. Each councilor will serve a six-year term. All ABS Councilors are currently certified by the ABS and meeting the requirements of the ABS Continuous Certification Program.
Amy Hildreth, M.D. – Southeastern Surgical Congress
Dr. Hildreth is the program director of the General Surgery Residency, associate chair of education for the Department of Surgery, and associate professor of surgery at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC. A native of Columbia, SC, she attended medical school at the University of South Carolina, followed by residency and a surgical critical care fellowship at the University of Tennessee – Chattanooga. Dr. Hildreth is the vice chair of the Resident Education Committee of the American College of Surgeons, secretary/treasurer of the North Carolina Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, head of the Operations Task Force for the Association of Program Directors in Surgery, and a member of the National Academy of Medicine Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-being and Resilience.
As a member of the ABS Council, Dr. Hildreth will also serve on the Diplomates and Surgeons in Practice Committee and as a director of the Trauma, Burns and Surgical Critical Care Board.
Harry T. Papaconstantinou, M.D. – American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery
Dr. Papaconstantinou serves as the chairman of the department of surgery and chief of colon and rectal surgery at the Baylor Scott and White Memorial Hospital and Clinic in Temple, TX. Originally from Oak Ridge, TN, he completed medical school at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and residency at the University of Cincinnati, followed by a research fellowship at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and a clinical fellowship in colon and rectal surgery at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. In addition to his role with ABS, Dr. Papaconstantinou is a board member for the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery.
As a member of the ABS Council, Dr. Papaconstantinou will also serve on the Diplomates and Surgeons in Practice Committee and as a director of the General Surgery Board.
Aurora D. Pryor, M.D. – Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons
Dr. Pryor is the chief of bariatric, foregut and advanced gastrointestinal surgery, vice chair for clinical affairs, and professor of surgery at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, NY. In 2017, she was elected to serve as a member of the ABS Gastrointestinal Surgery Advisory Council to represent the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), and has now been elected to represent the organization as an ABS Councilor.
A native of Ann Arbor, MI, Dr. Pryor completed medical school and residency training at Duke University, and remained at the institution for an endosurgical fellowship. In addition to her position on the ABS Council, she is chair of the Guidelines and Nominating Committees for SAGES as well as the organization’s immediate past president, chair of the Membership Committee and president-elect of the Fellowship Council, president of the Eastern Long Island Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, president of the New York chapter of the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, and co-chair of the Audit Committee for the Halsted Society.
As a member of the ABS Council, Dr. Pryor will also serve on the Education and Training Committee, in addition to her current role as a director of the General Surgery Board.
Carla M. Pugh, M.D. – American Surgical Association
Dr. Pugh is a professor of surgery at Stanford University and director of the Technology Enabled Clinical Improvement (T.E.C.I.) Center for Stanford Medicine. In addition, she is a member of Stanford Medicine’s Department of Surgery Evaluation Committee (PEC) and Innovation Council and Catalyst Program, as well as a member of the Stanford Cancer Institute and the Stanford Population Sciences. Hailing from Berkeley, CA, she completed medical school and residency training at Howard University, followed by a PhD in Education at Stanford, and later, a clinical fellowship in acute care surgery at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Pugh is a member of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Surgical Skills for Practicing Surgeons, president-elect of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons, governor of SAGES, Membership Advisory Committee member and Abstract Reviewer for the American Surgical Association, member of the Research in Education Foundation for the American Board of Medical Specialties Board of Directors, Surgical Data Science Board member, director for the Institute for Surgical Excellence, member of the Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Summit Advisory Board, member of the Academy of Master Surgeon Educators – Artificial Intelligence Task Force, member of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and member of the Halsted Society.
As a member of the ABS Council, Dr. Pugh will also serve on the Assessment Committee and as a director of the General Surgery Board.
In Thanks
The ABS gratefully acknowledges the dedication and commitment of the following outgoing councilors, who will leave the council as of July:
- Reid B. Adams, M.D. – Chair, Complex General Surgical Oncology Board; Member, Education & Training Committee
- Robert D. Fanelli, M.D. – Chair, General Surgery Board; Member, Education & Training Committee
- Lee L. Swanstrom, M.D. – Director, General Surgery Board; Member, Diplomates & Surgeons in Practice Committee
- Mark L. Welton, M.D. – Director, General Surgery Board; Member, Assessment Committee
About the ABS
The American Board of Surgery is an independent, nonprofit organization founded in 1937 for the purpose of certifying individuals who have met a defined standard of education, training and knowledge in the field of surgery. Surgeons certified by the ABS have completed at least five years of surgical training following medical school and successfully completed a written and oral examination process administered by the ABS. They must then maintain their board certification through ongoing learning and practice improvement activities.
The ABS offers board certification in general surgery, vascular surgery, pediatric surgery, surgical critical care, complex general surgical oncology, surgery of the hand, and hospice and palliative medicine. It is one of the 24 member boards of the American Board of Medical Specialties.
Jun. 5, 2020