Monday, March 14, 2016

William A. L. Mitchell Endowed Lectureship to Feature Dr. L.D. Britt

This year’s William A. L. Mitchell Endowed Lectureship in Traumatology and Surgical Care hosted by the University of South Alabama Department of Surgery will feature Dr.  L.D. Britt, professor of surgery at the Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) located in Norfolk, Va.

The lecture, titled “What Acute Care Surgery Is and Its Journey,” will take place April 7, 2016, at 4:30 p.m. at the Renaissance Mobile Riverview Plaza Hotel in Mobile, Ala.

The lecture is held in conjunction with the 7th annual Greater Gulf Coast Trauma and Acute Care Surgery Symposium.

Dr. Britt earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass. He then earned two honorary doctorates at Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Ala., and Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Va., and completed a general surgery residency at the University of Illinois School of Medicine in Chicago.

Dr. Britt has served as president of the American College of Surgeons as well as president of the Southern Surgical Association. He has been recognized with many national and institutional awards for his excellence in teaching, including the EVMS Dean's Outstanding Faculty Achievement Award and the American Association of Medical Colleges' Robert J. Glasser Distinguished Teaching Award - the nation's highest award in medicine.  He was also awarded the Distinguished Service Medal from the Uniformed Services University of Health Science, their highest award given.  He was a recipient of the Hampton Roads, Chamber NAACP, Man of the Year and Special Image Awards. Dr. Britt has participated in more than 180 visiting professorships and distinguished lectureships throughout the world.

The lecture is presented annually in memory of William A. L. Mitchell, who died in 2005 from severe traumatic injuries sustained in a car crash. In appreciation for the care he received at the USA Trauma Center, his family established the endowed lecture series to memorialize their son and brother and to improve trauma patient care in our region through education. He was a senior at UMS-Wright Preparatory School at the time of his death.

The USA Trauma Center is this region’s only Level I Trauma Center, serving as a community resource for citizens throughout the central Gulf Coast region. The center provides the highest level of care for critically ill and/or injured patients.

For more information about the lecture, contact Rebecca Scarbrough at (251) 471-7971.