Dr. R. Phillip Burns, professor and chair of the department of surgery at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Chattanooga, Tenn., will present two CME accredited lectures in May.Both talks are open to all medical professionals and are made possible through the Dr. Emmett B. Frazer and Dr. Milton M. Leigh Endowments at the University of South Alabama department of surgery.
Dr. Burns will present the first lecture, "Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery,” on Thursday, May 8, 2014. There will be a reception starting at 6:30 p.m., followed by the lecture at the USA Faculty Club on USA’s main campus.
His second lecture, "Surgical Education," will take place Friday, May 9, 2014, at 7 a.m. at the conference room located on the second floor of the USA Medical Center.
Dr. Burns earned his medical degree from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Memphis. After internship and residency training in Memphis along with two years Air Force service, Dr. Burns was recruited to assume the position of chair of surgery at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Chattanooga in 1976.
Under his leadership, the surgery residency program has grown from 8 to 32 plus residents in general surgery, along with vascular, critical care, and colon and rectal fellowships directed by 30 multi-specialty full-time faculty. He has developed a national training program, along with the American College of Surgeons, called Transitions to Practice for the purpose of “finishing” residents who have already completed a general surgery residency.
Recently first vice president of the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Burns is also the past secretary-director of the Southeastern Surgical Congress and past president of the Tennessee Chapter of the American College of Surgeons. He served two terms on the Residency Review Committee for Surgery and was appointed by the ACGME as a special site visitor to the surgery programs in Louisiana after the Katrina Disaster. He holds membership in the Southern Surgical and the American Surgical Association and recently completed a term as governor of the American College of Surgeons. He was inducted into the prestigious Halsted Society in 2010. He is the past president of the Southeastern Surgical Congress and the Southern Surgical Association.
Dr. Burns’ clinical interests range from trauma care, to vascular to breast disease and he has published and lectured widely on these subjects.
This annual memorial lecture, funded by community surgeons and the USA Department of Surgery, is given to honor the legacy of Dr. Emmett B. Frazer and Dr. Milton M. Leigh as leaders in clinical service and graduate surgical education in the Mobile community.
For more information on both lectures, contact the USA department of surgery at (251) 471-7990.
