EAST 2016 Presidential Address

Stanley J. Kurek, Jr., DO, EAST 2016 PresidentI am truly honored and humbled to serve as the 29th president of Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma. It’s not without the help of so many people, many of whom I am pleased to say are here in the audience this morning. It’s impractical to mention everybody that has helped me along these 15 years because so many have touched my life in such a positive way and helped me to reach my dream of being the president of this great organization. I would be remiss by not starting with my biggest fans and supporters, my family. First, my mother, Betty—a registered nurse and nurse instructor—and her husband, Stan. If it wasn’t for my mother’s love of medicine and her endless dedication to helping patients, both young and old, I would have never been exposed to the world of medicine. Growing up in a small town, and having the opportunity to visit her at the hospital and see all the people she touched and helped, was such a positive influence in my life, so thanks Mom. Also here today is my youngest brother, Nate, and his wife, Christine. He’s always been a big supporter, and I’m so glad he could make it. My other brothers had to work, and so they were not able to be here, but we’ll show them the video. No one has supported me more than my best friend and wife, Teri. She maintains the sanity in our lives during all of the ups and downs. We have certainly beaten the odds by having celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary last June. She has been my rock since marrying me while I was in medical school at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. After graduation, she then stuck with me for 6 long years in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, as I completed my general surgery residency. It’s a great place to learn medicine, but it’s kind of a tough place to live. We then had several fun years with the infamous Drs. Pasquale and Cipolle at Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network. Even after several more moves and changes, she has been my soul mate and keeps an important balance in my life. She’s an awesome educator, mother, friend, and overall great person. As you all know, in January 2006, our life was changed forever when we were blessed with the miracle of two healthy EAST kids. Like Nicole said, that was the only annual scientific assembly I ever missed. These two blessings have made our lives complete, and I am so proud of their accomplishments already, and they’re only 9 years old. Being a father has changed me in unimaginable ways. Cooper, is my thinker, my reader, and my eater, and he is always so inquisitive. Unfortunately, he still loves the Gators, and we are still huge University of Tennessee fans, and so we do have a house divided. Callista, my beautiful little girl, is also quite bright, and she has a knack for the arts, dancing, ballet, and music. I had to put a picture of our dog in the presentation, or she was going to be mad at me this morning. I hope to see her make it someday in Nashville. She loves country music, and she is already writing songs. If she doesn’t make it there, she wants to be a veterinarian. So I support and wish both of my children the best of luck in their ventures in life. I have to thank many of my mentors and friends from my earlier years as well. Drs. Moore and Hughes from my residency years and many positive influences from Lehigh Valley are pictured in this presentation. So many close friendships were made and still exist today. They have all made me what I am today as a surgeon. I have to thank my more current mentors and friends, Blaine Enderson, Fred Luchette, Dr. Jim Hurst, Michelle Ziglar, and Kimbal Maull, who has always been a supporter and advisor. As Nicole mentioned, I kind of took the remedial path to presidency. I have the greatest respect, admiration, and appreciation for the EAST presidents I served under in various roles over the past few years, and I can’t say enough about the board of directors that I have worked with, especially this past year. The talent is just unbelievable. They are all leaders in trauma care, and I can’t thank them enough. They are total stars. Thank you all for your hard work this past year in making this a great meeting. Also, I can’t thank this next bunch of women enough—Christine Eme, Rachel Dixon, and the entire EAST office staff. Their support for our organization is amazing. They are so dedicated, always hardworking, and always able to improvise when things need to be fixed. What a wonderful staff. I certainly miss Christine this week as many of you do as well. Resilience, why this topic? It seems that you hear this word bounced around a lot these days and for good reason. It’s an excellent concept for thinking about how people, systems, and organizations respond to change. It’s a characteristic that I believe every trauma surgeon needs to possess to be successful in doing what is best for their patients. It’s something you have to possess when you work 30 hours, and you’re ready to go out the door of the hospital and another problem arises. It’s something you have to possess when somebody doesn’t think you’re a good fit for their department because you’re too much of a family man or you have envious partners. These examples can go on and on and on in today’s world. Simply put in the physical sciences, resilience is the ability of objects to resume their original shape after being stretched or bent. In people, it’s the ability to bounce back after a change or adversity in their life. This is a little misguided though, because there is no back to bounce to since time moves ahead. It is more accurate to think of resilience as the ability to bounce forward.1 It means facing life’s difficulties with courage and patience and refusing to give up. Resilience is rooted in the tenacity of spirit and the determination to embrace all that makes life worth living, even in the face of overwhelming odds. When we have a clear sense of identity and purpose, we are more resilient, because we can hold fast to our vision of a better future. Much of resilience comes from community, from the relationships that allow us to lean on each other for support when we need it. The concept of resilience first showed up in the corporate lexicon in the late 1990s with the release of Paul G. Stotlz’s book titled Adversity Quotient: Turning Obstacles Into Opportunities.2 He theorized then that an organization’s or a person’s success in the world is based largely on the ability to cope with adversity. According to his research, people with a high adversity quotient make more money, are more innovative, and are better problem solvers than those who are less adept at handling misfortune. Unsurprisingly, though, if you ask five different people what resilience is, you will get five different answers. Social scientists have long been intrigued by what enables some organizations and people to thrive in the face of adversity, while others buckle under the pressure. So does resilience really matter in medicine and trauma surgery? Diane Couto writes that “…more than education, more than experience, more than training, a person’s level of resilience will determine who succeeds and who fails. It’s true in the cancer ward, it’s true in the Olympics, and it’s true in the board room.”3 In almost all the theories out there, resilience overlaps in three key ways. Resilient people possess all three of these characteristics: a staunch acceptance of reality; a deep belief, often buttressed by strongly held values that life is really meaningful; and an uncanny ability to improvise. “You can certainly bounce back from a hardship with just one or two of these qualities, but to be truly resilient, you need all three.”3 Resilience is great if you’re getting punched in the face, but it does nothing about the fact that you’re actually getting punched in the face. So how do we become more resilient? How do surgeons like Trunkey, Feliciano, Rozycki, Rotondo, Schwab, Peitzman, Pasquale, and many others stay active and continue to make a difference in our world? The changes and career challenges they have faced are likely innumerable, but they continue to move ahead. The personal journey through change is depicted in Figure 1.4 When you experience an abrupt change, one usually goes into denial. Depending on your level of resilience, you may stay in this state for a while. You then move into a level of resistance for a period of time, but with resiliency you begin to explore new venues, become committed to a new task, and then transition into a new beginning.Figure 1: Transition curve: personal journey through change. © 2013 Teresa Moore, MS, NCC. Reprinted with permission.Writer Eric Barker notes that the following eight steps are ways to make yourself more resilient when life gets hard. They are acceptance of change; perceive and believe; manage your emotions; self-empowerment; prepare; stay busy, busy, busy; professional networks; and reflect and give help.5 Acceptance of Change The first thing we need to do when we’re facing difficulty is to make sure that we recognize it as soon as possible. It sounds pretty obvious, but we all have been in denial at some point in our lives, but we need to accept the change. So how do people who survive difficult situations persevere? They move through the grief, from denial to acceptance faster. Manage Your Emotions It seems pretty straightforward, but do you know that there have actually been scuba divers who have died with plenty of oxygen still in their tanks? You ask yourself, how is this possible? Well, divers have panicked and pulled off their regulators to get the out of their and I am certainly to the of you in the audience are trauma surgeons because you have a and can well. I think it’s an of being a good trauma I know a few who off the pretty in my in the years, I was like that as on I say a but always when it to trauma as and you to believe in yourself, you learn that things in life are not worth getting that a great at the and it was to hear how he has to and stay and has how to his his He actually about one of the ways he does is a I and I for me to my sense of Dr. Pasquale me something a long time soon after my It has with me ever and I continue to this to my and If you ever get about too to You have to stay go and think about it for about you off that It’s so to off an and it’s it’s and you can’t get it one thing has me out of many and it for and think about it and then up the next Thank you in means of your life, in your with your with medical who up to with your with your with your if you’re enough to have and in for this sounds pretty obvious, but how of us do The for this is that we all have a of how to do it or even what it We to on some of or a in we think that this is the way it be You have to have a and not others for your of my who just to be here today had a great that my children are of me and that is are the of and if you think about it’s a true I think there are some in who have that from my is a one possess to resiliency After in for years, I can say I believe that there is no such thing as a My children and I love Paul from the show After a visit to the to see it’s that are situations like to a or from a it’s the people who have it people who have been It’s tough to though, for a that has not but one way you can make yourself better is to have and I have a a but I will still out a and the and the key to make sure I’m the last years, had a close with my my and my at these I have a lot about the of medicine, but I am certainly no thing that I have though, is that if you or if you you as just go back to because they are going to you up in that of the ways I have always to even a is to be and is a who has a lot of work with trauma patients. He that the important of from a is to stay in the an Resilient people know that not only gets you to your but it also is the best way to stay Dr. in last touched on how important relationships are in our trauma community, and he also about the here has to that of the out for but I truly believe the trauma surgeon at some trauma is doing a to our and to our patients. We have to a balance of our and our This balance in I still one of my many who would about but that it’s a of He put the of in a lot of our for years, but resilient people know when to for help and know when to get others trauma as you know, is such a small and if you reach out to a friend or an they have the problem at some point in their career that you’re with I have this a but one of the important of this organization is and I think it’s such a key of what makes EAST so is no better place to be than here in a like this today with people who have the as you These the support to resilience in this and life of and we all to to helping help in of our personal even in the of can certainly help many out there that are as as as has us the to so many lives on such an I that the always comes to the be and of what they are and time with them and their not too long showed that just out and a or just your on their when you are actually makes a huge difference in their I have surgeons from this important of being a good It’s to a medical or as a you and the This of others and on needs is an important resiliency to embrace as I am going to a about how I my as a I had a while I was at Lehigh Valley He was a and one at work, he took his off the of the over the It actually and when it he had the up through his He in as a trauma with an and and some as and about or in the He had an some other in to his He an to the After several his was his and he was to After being from I back in to a is such a great with an I her actually out in the surgery the first time I her to give her the of the of a with long and a tough a who would reach out to and though, to know each other over a period having his and After almost making a I an to to his that his family was for When I the I know what to I never that that close with a As trauma we of a lot of that you would not to in You know our So we really and to The was up at a and was for first What I know was that the was for me as because I had his life. family and friends were so I think I ever had so many people thank me for just doing my and I certainly have never as many from than I that They made us so and were so was years and I am still that he me every year and is still so I would have never to make such a good friend and so many great people if I had only in my So the has and the has how can we go back to a life life can even be better after a big change. lives, some of difficulty is You can life’s challenges with resilience, and I know all this but it’s certainly does not you in fact will make you It’s time to change a little to It’s truly how we have since the first of great Drs. Maull, and on They helped to and this and from a to more than this year. Dr. of and I out to each and every one of you here today to help this organization to stay and hold the vision of our If we that we’ll become like every other big organization. This under the of Dr. during his in a clear our and these key truly our organization a clear path into the future. that when you’re you’re EAST had certainly and has since that of these since have for into our out to the and helping the and then go on to what it is today. and are I am proud about starting the after being by Dr. to do so in It’s been one of the since and I have something every year that I have We have two and and that are all and have many the As you all are with the of the EAST of that was by Dr. and under Dr. as it has helped this organization to all of our I ask though, is that we out to to in surgery? we out to our to EAST and get with our great organization in their the help of our and we out a to surgeons their or who have completed a the last I am to these with This was out to with a around of completed their the last years, while are current The in a surgery care, and general only are doing general are on at their while may The next to the of they had during their on the following making surgery and trauma surgery their to about trauma and how much they had and to starting or a making money, and hospital We then them to how much they and making in and in trauma had the of while making in surgery was and The following were and in and trauma systems, and trauma The that the they had to no were research, starting or a making money, hospital and with 1: How Much You in Your in the next How important do you think these are in to being a trauma and The three important were making in care, and for trauma and surgery were important as well. the were important to that they were to become a trauma and surgeon. we to see what the important were when for a and I think the are The important was actually by level of trauma and having having a and were less when what were the you your current was by having a and the level of trauma three their current then them what was about the all of the they the or the about the and my is that that there was nothing about the The next from the but that hospital was a and of and was as well. The of EAST is that we are a scientific organization and for young surgeons active in the of the through and The next you that EAST with the and that it and not know enough about EAST to that no one The the to the of several in to what a trauma organization to you as a or a The were current with the and and that were were to in of and about My overall about this are that the believe that they a good of in all of making during their our are in and in the following career a or starting a making money, with hospital and with of our and new to a trauma and I believe they’re out on one of the of a I on here today to new ways to to young surgeons to our organization and research, the ability to and our so to the young surgeon. only believe we are our and so that a lot of people out there who believe we So I on as of this to and new ways to the of our organization need to continue career like put on earlier this The with as had and I am so to that we held our first titled the This was up by and several others from the were with from how to ask the and be a great and how to stay out of also were help with how to your and ways to your are all I with on in my have me to state what I would to be my in this great and I have to respond that it is the of these two great at our the young trauma surgeon. So is EAST a resilient many that are that resilience is based on a vision of and a of to the organization Also are and to a a and who are to sense of After these qualities, I believe we as an organization are I have the and the people I have ever because of this organization. current leaders are as Even we have we are committed to the and the vision of our This is my last as president to all of the great that are a of EAST today. I know if all of you that had a lot of and this week that with something a lot different than trauma or general on and how to better this being one of In had but not Your and How to out of Your Your and we all getting as trauma or are we all more and less of a Dr. and and us several challenges as well. How do we continue to to surgery earlier and be good how do we the of the how do we how to how do we become good I hope that my about resilience will help those who face situations or abrupt changes in their Unfortunately, we are not with this and you can only become more resilient with change. I am so proud to be the first surgeon to serve as your and I could many about challenges and changes that I have faced in my career to but it is my personal journey through change, and I on my ability to be I would like to close today by my family for their love and support and also who has helped make this organization a huge I have to thank the board of directors and the that have worked so hard and are just The EAST office they are the dedicated, and people I have ever worked with, and I would like to thank all of the of for me the opportunity to serve as your president this year. I am that EAST will continue to and be under the able of my Nicole great thank you The no of