The American College of Surgeons, self-titled “The House of Surgery,” invited Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to give the Olga M. Jonasson Memorial Lecture this past weekend at the annual ACS Clinical Congress.
The ACS is the largest and oldest professional society representing the practice of surgery, and fellowship in the ACS is an honor and a privilege. I have been a fellow for over 30 years.
Stay informed.Stay ahead.
Join Washington Examiner for unlimited access to the news, analysis, and commentary that matter most.
Already a member? Log in
Dr. Olga Jonasson (1934-2006) was a pioneer in surgery. She graduated with honors from the University of Illinois College of Medicine and completed her surgical residency there. She was the 37th woman certified by the American Board of Surgery. She started the transplant program at the University of Illinois and performed the first kidney transplant in the state in 1969. In 1977, she was appointed chief of surgery at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, the first woman to hold such a position in a major medical center. She was a Fellow of the ACS, which honored her with this lecture dedicated to women in leadership roles.
Of the 20 honorees since the first Olga M. Jonasson lecture, only one, Nina Totenberg in 2010, was not a medical doctor until Jackson’s invitation. Four of the 20 honorees, including Jackson, are black. For those keeping score, that is 20 %, whereas 1.7 % of all female surgeons are black. Unlike all previous Olga M. Jonasson lectures, Jackson’s was a moderated conversation rather than a standalone address.
Jackson was nominated to the Supreme Court by former President Joe Biden based on two explicitly stated criteria before all else: The nominee had to be a black woman. All other considerations were secondary to this. At her confirmation hearing, Jackson famously was unable, or unwilling, to answer the question: What is a woman? Since being seated on the court, Jackson has consistently issued opinions favoring claims of systemic racism in America and supporting the discredited practice of gender-affirming care in minors.
What does Jackson have to say to the ACS? If the ACS was going to follow in the footsteps of Biden and seek a black woman for its Olga M. Jonasson lecture, why not choose one of our own?
Let me introduce you to Dr. Velma Scantlebury-White, 70, the first black woman transplant surgeon in the United States. Born in Barbados, she and her family emigrated to America in 1969, settling in New York City. Educated in public schools, Scantlebury graduated from Long Island University, Brooklyn, and then Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1981. Despite not matching with any surgical programs upon graduation, she eventually completed a general surgery residency and was accepted to train as a transplant surgeon at the University of Pittsburgh under Dr. Thomas Starzl, who is universally accepted as “The Father of Modern Transplantation.” History and Starzl’s own writings paint the picture of an extremely demanding and intense surgeon who pushed his trainees to their limits. One former tranasplant fellow said that of the five who entered the program with him, four quit.
Scantlebury went on to an illustrious career performing over 2,000 transplant procedures, authoring 85 peer-reviewed papers, and writing numerous monographs and book chapters. She was awarded the Gift of Life award from the National Kidney Foundation in 1989. A committed Christian, she received Carlow University’s Woman of Spirit Award in 1996. She received the Order of Barbados Gold Crown of Merit from the Caribbean American Medical and Scientific Association.
In contrast to Brown’s life of privilege, Scantlebury’s career path has been one of overcoming numerous personal and professional challenges and, yes, both gender and racial discrimination. If one were seeking to invite a black woman to give a lecture on women in leadership roles to a gathering of surgeons, and one who embodies everything the ACS purports to stand for, I submit that one could do no better than Scantlebury.
Scantlebury is not the only black woman in surgery worthy of the recognition being accorded to Jackson: Dr. Kmarie King, Dr. Africa Wallace, Dr. Marissa Howard-McNatt, Dr. Andrea Hayes-Jordan, Dr. Alexa Irene Canady, and our own Dr. Patricia Turner, to name a few.
THE SUPREME COURT CALLED THE CONSTITUTION COLORBLIND — THE USDA IS ENFORCING IT
I have my own recommendation for the Olga M. Jonasson lecture in the future: Dr. Celia Nelson. Dr. Nelson is a general surgeon in my community, a valued member of the medical community, a former chief of surgery, and a fellow of the ACS. She has arguably overcome more obstacles than Jackson, but she is ideologically conservative and would not align well with the ACS’s current ideological orientation.
I stand by my position that the invitation to Jackson was based on political and ideological grounds because she perfectly aligns with ACS’s commitment to DEI, aka inclusive excellence, and racial concordance.
Dr. Richard T. Bosshardt is a retired plastic surgeon and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
