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Notable Grand Rounds

These assembled papers are edited transcripts of didactic lectures given by mainly senior residents, but also some distinguished attending and guests, at the Grand Rounds of the Michael and Marian Ilitch Department of Surgery at the Wayne State University School of Medicine.

Every week, approximately 50 faculty attending surgeons and surgical residents meet to conduct postmortems on cases that did not go well. That “Mortality and Morbidity” conference is followed immediately by Grand Rounds.

This collection is not intended as a scholarly journal, but in a significant way, it is a peer-reviewed publication by virtue of the fact that every presentation is examined in great detail by those 50 or so surgeons.

It serves to honor the presenters for their effort, to potentially serve as first draft for an article for submission to a medical journal, to let residents and potential residents see the high standard achieved by their peers and expected of them, and by no means least, to contribute to better patient care.

— David Edelman, M.D.

Overcoming Challenges in Surgical Training

David R. Farley, MD
Emeritus Professor of Surgery
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science
What are the main challenges of surgical training and how we can counteract them in the midst of a perfect storm of pressure to make money for the institution, the growing complexity of surgery…
Read more

Global Surgery

Todd Lavery, MD, FACS
This paper seeks to elucidate the need globally for surgical care, to describe the challenge of getting global surgery accepted as an essential component of the global health conversation.
Read more

The Changing Face of Oncology: Modern Skill Sets for the Cancer Surgeon and Changing Scientific Paradigms

Donald W. Weaver, MD
Pemberthy Professor of Surgery and
Chair of the Department of Surgery
Wayne State University School of Medicine
The overall objective is to show how and why surgery and especially surgical oncology is changing. This paper looks at where surgery is going and where it’s been.
Read more

The Wonderful World of Calcium

Charles Lucas, MD
Professor of Surgery
Wayne State University School of Medicine
Calcium (Ca) is the most common element in the body. It is present primarily in bone. Non-skeletal ionized Ca (38%) is free, while protein-bound Ca accounts for 50% of the total.
Read more

Medical Malpractice for the Surgeon

John Webber, MD
Professor of Surgery
Wayne State University School of Medicine
This paper discusses medical malpractice as it relates to surgeons and what surgeons should know about it, especially residents just starting to practice.
Read more

Physician Impairment: Disruptive, Disabled, Duped & Depressed

Carl Christensen, MD, PhD, D-FASAM, cMRO
Clinical Associate Professor

Departments of Psychology and OB Gyn

Wayne State University
To the Joint Commission and the board of medicine, “impairment” means that a doctor is essentially unsafe. This paper examines the factors behind it and describes ways it is handled.
Read more

How to Build an Academic Career 
Focused on Research

Phillip D. Levy, MD MPH, FACEP, FAHA, FACC
Professor of Emergency Medicine 
and Assistant VP for Research

Wayne State University
Chief Innovation Officer – Wayne Health
Research is not the only way forward in a physician’s career, but if it is where your interest lies, there is a way to go about it in order to be successful.
Read more

Transcarotid Artery Revascularization for the Treatment of Cerebrovascular Disease in High-Risk Patients

Sun Kim, MD
Vascular Surgery Fellow
Detroit Medical Center/Wayne State University
Background and epidemiology of carotid artery stenosis & an overview of the transcarotid artery revascularization (TCAR) system.
Read more

“Back” to Basics:
Ergonomics and the OR

Ashley Malach, MD
General Surgery Resident
Are ergonomics important to surgeons as they operate in the OR? The answer is “very.” This paper explains why and suggests how to improve surgeons’ ergonomic health.
Read more

Mythbusters, Surgical Edition

Solhee Lee, MD
General Surgery Resident
This paper presents the current literature on common surgical misconceptions concerning C. diff, scrub caps, closing mesenteric defects, male and female surgeons, and surgical smoke.
Read more

Navigating the
Institutional Review Board

James H. Paxton, MD MBA
Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine
Understanding the IRB perspective may help researchers to successfully navigate the IRB review process.
Read more

Dr. Alexander J. Walt:
Historian, Philosopher,
and Surgical Educator

Dr. Charles Lucas
Professor of Surgery
Despite the tragedy of his family’s early history in Eastern Europe, Dr. Alexander Walt rose to become president of the American College of Surgeons and our own beloved chair.
Read more

Management of
Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma

Timothy M. Pawlik, MD, PhD, MPH, MTS, MBA
Professor and Chair, Department of Surgery
The Urban Meyer Ill and Shelley Meyer Chair in Cancer Research
Surgeon in Chief, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
As chemotherapy gets better, previously inoperable patients will become operable. There will be better control of systemic disease enabling us to focus our surgical techniques on the disease.
Read more

Principles and Practice of Bariatric Surgery

Roozbeh Mansour, MD, FACS
Assistant Professor of Surgery
The physiology and complications of bariatric surgery, with an addendum on recent developments contributed by Dr. Alyssa Stroud.
Read more
Load more

Wayne State
Surgical Society

The Wayne State Surgical Society (WSSS) was established during the tenure of Dr. Walt as the chairman of the Department of Surgery. WSSS was designed to create closer contact between the current faculty and residents with the former resident members in order to create a living family of all of the WSU Department of Surgery. The WSSS also supports department activities.
Learn more
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Latest News and
Announcements

Connect With Us on Social

Facebook Twitter Instagram

Notable Grand Rounds

These assembled papers are edited transcripts of didactic lectures given by mainly senior residents, but also some distinguished attending and guests, at the Grand Rounds of the Michael and Marian Ilitch Department of Surgery at the Wayne State University School of Medicine.

Every week, approximately 50 faculty attending surgeons and surgical residents meet to conduct postmortems on cases that did not go well. That “Mortality and Morbidity” conference is followed immediately by Grand Rounds.

This collection is not intended as a scholarly journal, but in a significant way, it is a peer-reviewed publication by virtue of the fact that every presentation is examined in great detail by those 50 or so surgeons.

It serves to honor the presenters for their effort, to potentially serve as first draft for an article for submission to a medical journal, to let residents and potential residents see the high standard achieved by their peers and expected of them, and by no means least, to contribute to better patient care.

— David Edelman, M.D.

Overcoming Challenges in Surgical Training

David R. Farley, MD
Emeritus Professor of Surgery
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science
What are the main challenges of surgical training and how we can counteract them in the midst of a perfect storm of pressure to make money for the institution, the growing complexity of surgery…
Read more

Global Surgery

Todd Lavery, MD, FACS
This paper seeks to elucidate the need globally for surgical care, to describe the challenge of getting global surgery accepted as an essential component of the global health conversation.
Read more

The Changing Face of Oncology: Modern Skill Sets for the Cancer Surgeon and Changing Scientific Paradigms

Donald W. Weaver, MD
Pemberthy Professor of Surgery and
Chair of the Department of Surgery
Wayne State University School of Medicine
The overall objective is to show how and why surgery and especially surgical oncology is changing. This paper looks at where surgery is going and where it’s been.
Read more

The Wonderful World of Calcium

Charles Lucas, MD
Professor of Surgery
Wayne State University School of Medicine
Calcium (Ca) is the most common element in the body. It is present primarily in bone. Non-skeletal ionized Ca (38%) is free, while protein-bound Ca accounts for 50% of the total.
Read more

Medical Malpractice for the Surgeon

John Webber, MD
Professor of Surgery
Wayne State University School of Medicine
This paper discusses medical malpractice as it relates to surgeons and what surgeons should know about it, especially residents just starting to practice.
Read more

Physician Impairment: Disruptive, Disabled, Duped & Depressed

Carl Christensen, MD, PhD, D-FASAM, cMRO
Clinical Associate Professor

Departments of Psychology and OB Gyn

Wayne State University
To the Joint Commission and the board of medicine, “impairment” means that a doctor is essentially unsafe. This paper examines the factors behind it and describes ways it is handled.
Read more

How to Build an Academic Career 
Focused on Research

Phillip D. Levy, MD MPH, FACEP, FAHA, FACC
Professor of Emergency Medicine 
and Assistant VP for Research

Wayne State University
Chief Innovation Officer – Wayne Health
Research is not the only way forward in a physician’s career, but if it is where your interest lies, there is a way to go about it in order to be successful.
Read more

Transcarotid Artery Revascularization for the Treatment of Cerebrovascular Disease in High-Risk Patients

Sun Kim, MD
Vascular Surgery Fellow
Detroit Medical Center/Wayne State University
Background and epidemiology of carotid artery stenosis & an overview of the transcarotid artery revascularization (TCAR) system.
Read more

“Back” to Basics:
Ergonomics and the OR

Ashley Malach, MD
General Surgery Resident
Are ergonomics important to surgeons as they operate in the OR? The answer is “very.” This paper explains why and suggests how to improve surgeons’ ergonomic health.
Read more

Mythbusters, Surgical Edition

Solhee Lee, MD
General Surgery Resident
This paper presents the current literature on common surgical misconceptions concerning C. diff, scrub caps, closing mesenteric defects, male and female surgeons, and surgical smoke.
Read more

Navigating the
Institutional Review Board

James H. Paxton, MD MBA
Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine
Understanding the IRB perspective may help researchers to successfully navigate the IRB review process.
Read more

Dr. Alexander J. Walt:
Historian, Philosopher,
and Surgical Educator

Dr. Charles Lucas
Professor of Surgery
Despite the tragedy of his family’s early history in Eastern Europe, Dr. Alexander Walt rose to become president of the American College of Surgeons and our own beloved chair.
Read more

Management of
Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma

Timothy M. Pawlik, MD, PhD, MPH, MTS, MBA
Professor and Chair, Department of Surgery
The Urban Meyer Ill and Shelley Meyer Chair in Cancer Research
Surgeon in Chief, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
As chemotherapy gets better, previously inoperable patients will become operable. There will be better control of systemic disease enabling us to focus our surgical techniques on the disease.
Read more

Principles and Practice of Bariatric Surgery

Roozbeh Mansour, MD, FACS
Assistant Professor of Surgery
The physiology and complications of bariatric surgery, with an addendum on recent developments contributed by Dr. Alyssa Stroud.
Read more
Load more

Wayne State
Surgical Society

The Wayne State Surgical Society (WSSS) was established during the tenure of Dr. Walt as the chairman of the Department of Surgery. WSSS was designed to create closer contact between the current faculty and residents with the former resident members in order to create a living family of all of the WSU Department of Surgery. The WSSS also supports department activities.
Learn more
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