Surgery News: Fall 2024

Message from the Chair

Greetings from the UND Department of Surgery! As we are now well into our new academic year, I would like to share some news, events, and happenings within the department that I hope will keep you connected. The beginning of each year is such a time of change as each resident moves into a more senior position, one year closer to graduation. And by now, our newest members of the department, our interns, have become if not seasoned, at least comfortable. The department is humming with activity, from academic meetings and the start of the interview season to the everyday hustle and bustle of clinical work. It’s very exciting. Please take a moment to look at the intern profiles below; who knows, someday you may be working with them! Also, please let us know what you, our alumni, are doing and keep us informed of important events in your lives. This department is a living organization whose lifeblood is the activity and connectivity of its members, past and present. Enjoy.

Sincerely, 

Cornelius “Mac” Dyke, M.D.
Professor and Chair
Department of Surgery

New Residents

As the 2024-2025 academic year is underway, we want to welcome and introduce our new residents.

Preliminary Residents

 

Categorical Residents

Categorical - Rural Residents

Events

Guest speaker Allan Kirk

The Department of Surgery was fortunate to have visiting speaker, Allan Kirk, M.D., the David C. Sabiston, Jr., Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery at Duke University School of Medicine, present “The Future of Surgery” on Friday, March 29, 2024. The talk was followed by a Q&A session with the surgery residents.

Edwin C. James Lectureship / Colloquium

On June 20, 2024, the Department hosted the annual Edwin C. James Lectureship in Fargo. Our speaker this year was John D. Mellinger, M.D., FACS, who just retired as vice president for the American Board of Surgery (ABS). His presentation on Entrustable Professional Activities was beneficial as this will be a new tool used to evaluate surgical residents’ competency on multiple core general surgery procedures.

Colloquium Awards

• North Dakota Trauma
  • 1^st place Ryan Beard, D.O.
  • 2^nd place Riley Moore, M.D.
• North Dakota Cancer
  • 1^st place Alessandra Spagnolia, M.D.
  • 2^nd place Dana Nielsen, M.D.
• Rural Surgery Research Presentation Award
  • Winner Zachery Staskywicz, M.D.
• Surgical Resident Research Awards
  • 1^st place Kristen Reede, M.D.
  • 2^nd place Jonathan Sticca, M.D.
• Best Surgical Resident Research Poster
  • Audra King, M.D.

Graduation Banquet

Our annual Graduation Banquet is the event we look forward to the most! It’s the time we get to celebrate our new surgeons and congratulate them on their years of hard work and dedication to the field.

This year, our proud graduates include (left-to-right above):

• Dana Nielsen – Vascular Surgery Fellowship, University of Buffalo, Buffalo, N.Y.
• Kristen Reede – Surgical Critical Care Fellowship, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
• Alessandra Spagnolia – Plastic Surgery Fellowship, University of Louisville, Louisville, Ky.
• Zach Staskywicz – Fairview Range Medical Center, Hibbing, Minn.
• Conor Roche – Altru Health System, Grand Forks, N.D.

Drs. Ahmeti, Johnson, and Burchill with residents and their certificates of completion

Awards

The Department of Surgery wanted to show appreciation to a long-time faculty member who is dedicated to the teaching of surgical residents. Dr. Randolph Szlabick's dedication and passion for teaching surgical residents shows every time he works with residents. So, we changed the Faculty Teaching Award to the Randolph Szlabick Award. This award will be given annually to a faculty member, voted on by residents, in recognition of and appreciation for their passion, enthusiasm, professionalism, and commitment to teaching general surgery residents.

Other Awards

• Staff Appreciation Award
  • Winner – Dana Nielsen, M.D.
• Alpha Omega Alpha
  • Ryan Beard, D.O.
• Randolph Szlabick Award (Faculty Teaching Award)
  • Winner – Dr. Randolph Szlabick
• David Antonenko Award
  • 1^st place – Dana Nielsen, M.D.
  • 2^nd place – Ryan Beard, D.O.
• ABSITE 90 Club
  • Wade Hopper, D.O.
  • Dana Nielsen, M.D.
  • Ryan Beard, D.O.
  • Elena Danielson, M.D.
  • Tatsuma Yanagimoto, M.D.
• Staff Years of Service: Diane Roney (40 years) and Angie Flesberg (5 years)

Faculty Spotlight

We would like to welcome new faculty to the Department of Surgery who are willing to work with medical students and surgical residents.

Grand Forks Campus

• Conor Roche, M.D. – General Surgery

Minot Campus

• Colin MacColl, M.D. – General / Bariatric Surgery
• Robert Gokey, M.D. – Ophthalmology
• Michael Savitt, M.D. – Cardiothoracic Surgery

Bismarck Campus

• Anthony Kasch, M.D. – Orthopedic Surgery
• Manuel Dibildox, M.D. – Plastic Surgery
• Andrew Mills, M.D. – Plastic Surgery
• Michael Quast, M.D. – Anesthesiology

Fargo Campus

• Herbert Stephen Maguire, M.D. – Plastic Surgery
• Jordan Ernst, M.D. – Anesthesiology
• Breann Owen, MSN, FNP-C – Vascular & Minor Surgery
• Patrick Lamb, M.D. – Plastic Surgery
• Trajan Cuellar, MBBCh – Plastic Surgery
• Kelsey Svare, APRN, CNP – Trauma Surgery

Promotions

October 2023 the CPT Committee met and granted faculty promotions. We would like to congratulate the following faculty on their promotions.  Also thank you for all your dedication and time to education of our medical students and surgical residents.

• Hannah Addom-Tetteh – Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery
• Mentor Ahmeti – Associate Professor
• Kayla Burchill – Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery
• Stefan Johnson – Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery
• Kevin Mork – Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery

We also had some faculty members receive awards or named to serve on different committees.

1. Outstanding physician teacher award given by med students: Dr. Pansegrau
2. Stefan Johnson, M.D. (Surgery Residency Program Director), nominated to serve on the UND SMHS Faculty Council.
3. Cornelius Dyke, M.D. (Surgery Department Chair), President of UND SMHS Faculty Council.
4. Cornelius Dyke, M.D. (Surgery Department Chair), National Board Member for the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society.

We also want to thank Dr. Saba Ganai for her time and efforts as UND Director of Surgical Education. Currently, Dr. Dyke is acting as interim UND Director of Surgical Education, and Dr. Brian Johnson is Assistant Director of Surgical Education.   

PYG-1 Orientation

Surgery resident orientation was held on June 24, 2024

Medical student Surgery Interest Group

In September we held a Surgery interest night for medical students. We had a great turnout with over 40 medical students interested in Surgery. Dr. Stefan Johnson, along with three surgery residents, talk with the medical students about surgery.