Edwin C. James Lectureship & Surgical Resident Research Colloquium
The Edwin C. James Lectureship was established in honor of Edwin James, M.D., FACS, professor and chair of the UND Department of Surgery, founder of the UND Surgical Residency Program, and former dean of the SMHS.
The 2023 Edwin C. James Lectureship will be held on Friday, June 23, 2023, and will
feature Dr. Haytham M. Kaafarani, M.D., M.P.H., FACS, Chief Patient Safety Officer
and Medical Director at The Joint Commission.
In his role, Dr. Kaafarani oversees initiatives related to patient safety and quality improvement. He serves as the president’s designee to prioritize patient safety concerns at Joint Commission-accredited healthcare organizations. He also provides oversight and medical expertise for the Joint Commission’s Office of Quality and Patient Safety (OQPS), as well as oversees data management and analysis related to The Joint Commission’s Sentinel Event Database. In addition, Dr. Kaafarani serves as an associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, Boston, with more than 10 years of experience as a surgeon and intensivist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Boston. Dr. Kaafarani is a recognized authority and speaker with more than 400 published peer-reviewed manuscripts and textbook chapters with a focus on surgical patient safety from intake to discharge, benchmarking quality care, peer support, and the use of artificial intelligence for risk modeling and predicting outcomes. He has won numerous awards, including a recent nomination to the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
Surgical Resident Research Colloquium
The purpose of the annual Surgery Resident Research Colloquium is for the presentation of each general surgery resident’s research project for the academic year. First- and second-year residents present posters of their projects in development. Third, fourth and fifth year residents give oral presentations of their projects. Presentations are judged by a panel of clinical and basic science faculty with the winning projects in each category awarded at the Chief Resident Graduation Banquet. Many of the research projects will be presented at regional or national meetings, and submitted for peer-reviewed publication.