Rephonic
Artwork for The Operative Word
American College Of Surgeons
Artificial Intelligence
Older Adults
Universal Helmet Law
Nationwide Readmissions Database
Pediatric Trauma Centers
Substance Use Disorder Screening
Helmet Use
Discharge Against Medical Advice
Surgeon As Subject
United States
Injury Prevention
North Carolina
Surgical Outcomes
Health Care Costs
Drug Overdose Deaths
Scope Program
Postoperative Pain Management
Robotic Surgery
Emergency General Surgery

In this series the hosts talk to authors featured in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons (JACS), the official scientific journal of the American College of Surgeons.

PublishesMonthlyEpisodes44Founded4 years ago
Number of ListenersCategories
Health & FitnessScienceMedicine

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Artwork for The Operative Word

Latest Episodes

In this episode, Lillian Erdahl, MD, FACS, is joined by Pringl Miller, MD, FACS, from Physican Just Equity, and Christine Heisler, MD, FACS, from the Mayo Clinic Health System. They discuss Drs Miller and Heisler’s recent article, “Whether and How Su... more

In this episode, Thomas K Varghese, Jr, MD, FACS, is joined by Carrie Chan, MSN, MPH, from the University of California, San Francisco, and Karthik Balakrishnan, MD, FACS, from Stanford Medicine Children’s Health. They discuss their recent article,“D... more

In this episode, Thomas K Varghese, Jr, MD, FACS, is joined by Laurie J Kirstein, MD, FACS, from Memorial Sloan Kettering. They discuss Dr Kirstein’s recent article, “Results of an American College of Surgeons Prospective National Quality Improvement... more

In this episode, Lillian Erdahl, MD, FACS, is joined by Jessica Liu, MD, MS, MPH, from the Department of Surgery, Harbor UCLA Medical Center. They discuss Dr Liu’s recent article, “Identifying Diagnostic Gaps and Mitigation Strategies for Older Adult... more

Key Facts

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Recent Guests

Dr. Christine Heisler
Mayo Clinic Health System urogynecologist and pelvic floor reconstructive surgeon
Mayo Clinic Health System
Episode: E44: Whether and How Surgeons Took Action Against Workplace Microaggression: Survey of American College of Surgeons Members
Dr. Pringl Miller
General surgeon with specialty in Cosmos and Quality of Care Medicine with Physician Just Equity
Cosmos; Physician Just Equity
Episode: E44: Whether and How Surgeons Took Action Against Workplace Microaggression: Survey of American College of Surgeons Members
Carrie T. Chan
Researcher in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, UCSF; advanced practice provider at Stanford Medicine Children's Health
University of California, San Francisco; Stanford Medicine Children's Health
Episode: E43: Development, Validation, and Comparison of Machine Learning Models for Predicting Pediatric Surgical Site Infection Using the NSQIP-P Database
Karthik Balakrishnan
Professor of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Stanford University; pediatric surgeon scientist
Stanford University
Episode: E43: Development, Validation, and Comparison of Machine Learning Models for Predicting Pediatric Surgical Site Infection Using the NSQIP-P Database
Laurie Kirstein
Breast surgeon, Memorial Sloan Kettering
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Episode: E42: Results of an American College of Surgeons Prospective National Quality Improvement Collaborative to Successfully Overcome Barriers to Cancer Care Across the US
Dr. Jessica Liu
Chief Resident in General Surgery at Harbor UCLA
Harbor UCLA Medical Center
Episode: E41: Identifying Diagnostic Gaps and Mitigation Strategies for Older Adult Emergency General Surgery Patients: A Scoping Review
Ailey Gunn
Author of a mixed methods study on peer surgical coaching
Episode: E40: From Surgeon Well-Being to Artificial Intelligence: 2025 Highlights
Matt Linz
First author of the study; general surgery resident
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Episode: E39: Postoperative Pain Management in the US vs Low- and Middle-Income Countries by US Surgeons
Ziad Sifri
Senior author; trauma surgeon
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Episode: E39: Postoperative Pain Management in the US vs Low- and Middle-Income Countries by US Surgeons

Hosts

Tom Varghese
Host of The Operative Word, Editor-in-Chief, JACS
Lillian Erdahl
Co-host and host on multiple episodes, Digital Media Editor for JACS

Reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars from 17 ratings
  • Great topic selection

    I appreciate these 30-minute focused discussions from ACS

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    akizora1
    United Statesa year ago
  • A waste of time

    I have very limited time to pursue education, and I used to appreciate American College of surgeons for their high-quality content. This show and so much of their other work is largely irrelevant, and non-clinical. It spends more time discussing DEI and politics than useful clinically relevant information studies

    Apple Podcasts
    2
    pendragon35
    United States2 years ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Some listeners feel a portion of episodes lean into DEI and policy, which can feel less immediately clinical to practitioners.
Listeners value concise, clinically focused discussions that bridge research and practice.
The format is praised for practical insights and potential impact on patient care and hospital processes.
Guests are frequently prominent clinicians and researchers from top institutions, signaling high credibility and relevance for professional audiences.

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Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

E44: Whether and How Surgeons Took Action Against Workplace Microaggression: Survey of American College of Surgeons Members
Q: Could you tell us a little bit about the background and how you became interested in or conceptualized this research?
The project grew from a joint interest in the link between microaggressions and surgical practice, leading to a survey of ACS members to identify how often microaggressions occur and what happens after they are experienced; the second analysis focused on reporting behaviors and mechanisms used by surgeons.
E37: Expanding the Public Health Role of Pediatric Trauma Centers: Drug Screening for Adolescent Trauma Patients
Q: Tell me a little bit about the Wonder Database and how you used it to answer your question.
We used the CDC Wonder database to examine national overdose deaths among adolescents, leveraging ICD-10 codes to quantify trends by age and time, which provided a backdrop for interpreting screening data from trauma centers.
E34: Evaluating Outcomes of Initial Site Visits Across American College of Surgeons Accreditation Programs
Q: What was the methodology used to study initial site visits across ACS accreditation programs?
They identified all initial visits across seven ACS programs from 2017 to 2023, totaled over 800 visits, and then tracked whether hospitals achieved accreditation or needed remediation, followed by reevaluations for those that failed initially.

Audience Metrics

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Frequently Asked Questions About The Operative Word

What is The Operative Word about and what kind of topics does it cover?

This series centers on conversations with authors and researchers featured in a leading surgical journal, focusing on practical implications for clinical practice, patient outcomes, and healthcare systems. Topics span machine learning for predicting postoperative infections, large-scale quality improvement initiatives in oncology, diagnostic gaps in emergency surgery, and the integration of AI and data-driven tools into perioperative care. Notable throughlines include real-world implementation challenges, the balance between innovation and feasibility, and the role of data, ethics, and policy in advancing surgical care. The show frequently features clinicians and researchers from top academic centers, offering actionable insights for surgeo... more

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Which podcasts are similar to The Operative Word?

These podcasts share a similar audience with The Operative Word:

1. Surgical Readings
2. The House of Surgery
3. Behind The Knife: The Surgery Podcast
4. Traumacast
5. The Cutting Edge: An AAST Podcast

How many episodes of The Operative Word are there?

The Operative Word launched 4 years ago and published 44 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on The Operative Word?

Recent guests on The Operative Word include:

1. Dr. Christine Heisler
2. Dr. Pringl Miller
3. Carrie T. Chan
4. Karthik Balakrishnan
5. Laurie Kirstein
6. Dr. Jessica Liu
7. Ailey Gunn
8. Matt Linz

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