UK General Surgery residents compete in finals of ACS Surgical Jeopardy
By Josh Shepherd
Drs. Peter Stafford and Sam Carmichael, 5th year General Surgery residents from the UK Department of Surgery, made it to the finals of the Surgical Jeopardy competition at the 2017 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons in San Diego at the end of October. The duo defeated the 2016 champions in the opening elimination round, but came just short of winning the whole thing, according to Dr. Cynthia Talley, the team’s sponsor.
The popular annual competition was held on Wednesday morning, October 25, in the San Diego Convention Center. In total, there were 32 teams represented. There were eight first rounds consisting of four teams each. The four teams with the highest scores from the first eight rounds went on to compete in the finals. It’s important to do well in the first round because it is possible to win and still not make the finals, explained Dr. Talley.
In the first round, Stafford and Carmichael managed to knock out the reigning champion, Montefiore, as well as Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and Virginia Mason. The decision came down to the Final Jeopardy question: a picture of a diaphragmatic hernia to identify.
The finals came down to the University of Kentucky, Cleveland Clinic, Berkshire Medical Center, and the Illinois ACS Chapter of Southern Illinois. Southern Illinois was the overall winner, but that win also came down to the final question.
While there is no sense of inter-state competitiveness associated with this academic event, it was noted that the University of Louisville did not make it out of the first round.
Congratulations to Dr. Carmichael and Dr. Stafford for an excellent showing.
