Newswise — CHICAGO—A. Brent Eastman, MD, FACS, a general, vascular, and trauma surgeon from San Diego, CA, was installed as the 93rd President of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) last night during Convocation ceremonies that preceded the opening of the 2012 Annual Clinical Congress being held this week in Chicago. Dr. Eastman is corporate senior vice president and chief medical officer of Scripps Health, the N. Paul Whittier Endowed Chair of Trauma at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, and a clinical professor of surgery-trauma at the University of California, San Diego.
A Fellow of the American College of Surgeons since 1976 and its President-Elect from 2011 to 2012, Dr. Eastman has served the ACS in numerous leadership capacities and on many of its committees. He served on the College’s Board of Regents from 2001 to 2009, and was Chair of the Board (2009–2010). While a Regent, Dr. Eastman served as Chair of the Central Judiciary (2007–2009), Scholarship (2005–2008), and the Finance Committees (2008–2009), as well as a member of the Board of Regents Honors Committee (2011–2012); Member Services Liaison Committee (2001–2002); Comprehensive Communications Committee (2010–2011); and Patient Education Committee (2009–2011). He was an active member of the ACS Committee on Trauma (COT), including serving as COT Chair (1990–1994) and as the first Chair of the COT Trauma System Consultation Committee (1999-2003), which he helped to establish. Further, he has served as an instructor for the Advanced Trauma Life Support® course since 1982. Dr. Eastman delivered the nationally renowned trauma lecture, the Scudder Oration on Trauma, during the 2009 Annual ACS Clinical Congress, titled “Wherever the Dart Lands: Toward the Ideal Trauma System.” Dr. Eastman was a co-founder of the San Diego County Trauma System, which has become a model for the nation. He has been instrumental in the development of trauma systems worldwide, most recently for the subcontinent of India. In July 2007, Dr. Eastman participated in the ACS/AAST Distinguished Visiting Surgeon in Combat Casualty Program at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, a U.S. military receiving hospital for wounded warriors from Iraq and Afghanistan. Later, he was granted and assigned the distinctions of Honorary Member of the U.S. Army Medical Department Regiment by order of the U.S. Surgeon General and Honorary Order of Military Medical Merit by the order of the President.
Dr. Eastman is an active member of many leading surgical organizations, including the American Surgical Association, American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, International Society of Cardiovascular Surgery, Society of Clinical Vascular Surgery, American Association for Vascular Surgery, and Pacific Coast Surgical Association. He served as chair of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Research Agenda Steering Committee and is a member of the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control’s Board of Scientific Counselors. He is the current president of the Howard C. Naffziger Surgical Society at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF).
Over the course of his distinguished career, Dr. Eastman has authored or coauthored numerous trauma-related articles and publications. He was a member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee that in 2006 published the landmark report, The Future of Emergency Care in the United States Health System.
Dr. Eastman received his medical degree from UCSF where he also completed a surgical internship and residency, and served as chief surgical resident. He also spent one year as a surgical registrar at Norfolk and Norwich Hospital in Norwich, England.
Dr. Eastman’s wife, Sarita, a graduate of UCSF Medical School, is a renowned developmental-behavioral pediatrician and author. Their three children are Roan, a teacher and river guide, and Ian, a specialist in renewable energy systems and mountaineer, who live with their families in Jackson Hole, WY, and Alexandra, who lives in Manhattan and is an associate producer of special events at the Metropolitan Opera.
The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and to improve the care of the surgical patient. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America, and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 78,000 members, and it is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. Web site: www.facs.org (.)
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