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COVID Policy

SGS is committed to holding a successful in-person meeting at the La Cantera Resort & Spa in San Antonio, Texas. The SGS priority remains the health and well-being of our community.

For the safety of all attendees and industry partners, everyone attending will be required to complete an attestation indicating that they have been fully vaccinated (minimum of 2 doses of Pfizer or Moderna or 1 does of J&J) OR, if they are not fully vaccinated, that they will obtain a negative PCR or antigen coronavirus test within 48 hours of their first day at the meeting. They should also attest that, regardless of their vaccination status, they will not be attending the meeting if they are ill. Individuals who do not complete the attestation will not be permitted to enter the meeting.

All meeting attendees and industry partners will be required to wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status, within the meeting spaces. Masks will be available at the registration desk. Hand sanitizing stations will be available throughout the hotel including meeting spaces.

SGS will continuously evaluate and update our plans and guidelines as new information becomes available. We will continue to share all updates on evolving COVID-19 preparations as we actively work to plan for a healthy and productive event.

As the President of the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons, I am excited to welcome you to the 48^th Annual Scientific Meeting in San Antonio, TX from March 27 –30, 2022. The La Cantera Resort is a beautiful facility with many amenities. Dr. Oz Harmanli and the Scientific Program Committee have put together a truly informative program, with exceptional keynote speakers, stimulating panel discussions, and a combination of podium presentations and videos that cover a variety of timely and interesting topics in gynecologic surgery. In addition, the many collegial social events for which SGS is well known round out an exciting program. The theme of this year’s meeting is: Gynecologic Surgery Training: Lessons from the Past, Looking to the Future.

We are fortunate to have thought leaders for our keynote speakers. This year’s second annual Mark D. Walters Lectureship will be presented by Dr. Marta Crispens, Professor and Division Director of Gynecologic Oncology at Vanderbilt. Her lecture is entitled, “Restructuring Gynecologic Surgical Education: It’s a Matter of Equity.” This year’s TeLinde Lecture, will be delivered by Dr. Patricia Turner, Executive Director of the American College of Surgeons. Both of these speakers will take a hard look at our current training structure and examine strategies that can lead to improvements in our field.

Five postgraduate courses are being offered with complete course descriptions on the SGS website. The courses being offered are “Interdisciplinary Approach and Surgical Techniques for Diagnosis and Repair of Mullerian Anomalies”, Cara King, DO, Chair; “Evaluation and Management of Vesicovaginal and Rectovaginal Fistulas”, Saifuddin Mama, MD, Chair; “Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Medical Professionals”, Paula Doyle, MD, Chair; “Multiple Modalities of Myomectomy”, Matthew Siedhoff, MD, Chair; “Training the Trainer: A Vaginal Surgery Simulation Course for Educators”, Christine Vaccaro, DO, Chair.

There will also be multiple Academic Roundtables with a wide variety of topics in the small group setting, a perfect opportunity to question experts in their field.

The Scientific Program Committee Chair, Dr. Oz Harmanli, and I will moderate two panel discussions on topics that are of concern to everyone in GYN surgery. The panels are “Innovations in Training Gynecologic Surgeons”, featuring perspectives from Drs. Cecile Ferando, Doug Miyazaki, and Karl Tamussino. The second panel will be about “Operating Room Safety and Efficiency” and will include the following discussants: Dr. Kenneth Catchpole, Dr. Teodor Grantcharov, and Dr. Jason Wright.

Social event planning is underway and, as usual, will be a highlight of the meeting. These events make our meeting so enjoyable. On Sunday evening the Welcome Reception will be from 6 – 7 pm. On Monday evening the President’s Reception will be held from 7:15 – 8:30 pm immediately following the Annual Awards Ceremony. Tuesday afternoon leisure activities will feature the SGS Annual Golf Tournament, the Eisenhower Park Hiking Tour and Guadalupe River Kayaking. Not to be missed on Tuesday evening is SGS Got Talent.

Much more information is available on the SGS website. Here is hoping that Coronavirus is a bad memory by Spring 2022 and we can minimize the virtual component of the meeting. Registration is open, so go to the website and make plans to attend the meeting.  I look forward to seeing you in San Antonio!

Sincerely,

Carl W. Zimmerman, MD
SGS President 

SGS Code of Conduct