2014 Letter
July 1, 2014
Dear Harkins Members:
I am honored to be writing to you today as your President for the current term. I give my
heartfelt and sincere thanks to my colleagues on the Executive Council, Ted Kohler, immediate
Past President and Secretary-Treasurer Nam Tran for their dedicated service and support to the
Society. I want to personally thank each one of you for your generous support. Contributions
in the form of yearly dues and donations have allowed The Harkins Society to substantially
increase support to our residents. Highlights of this past year have included:
Supported costs for loupes not covered by the department for 10 residents allowing
residents to get loupes in their junior years and increasing coverage to UW vascular and
plastic surgery residents
As we move forward into a new academic year, I ask for your continuing support of our Society.
As you are certainly aware, the financial restrictions of educational institutions are impacting
trainees and forcing them to pay ever increasing out of pocket costs. Your financial contributions
go a long way to providing valuable support for resident training and supplies above and beyond
what the Department can do with discretionary funds. If we continue to work together, we will
be able to provide unprecedented support for our current residents by supporting activities and
expanding the purchase of loupes. We also hope to be able to expand to assist in support of other
necessary expenses; books and equipment, sponsoring travel to scientific meetings, research
scholarship, providing emergency funding for residents in need, and growing the society’s
professional engagement and networking connection possibilities. Pay it forward to make the
UW experience as rich and rewarding as it can be!
Announcements:
1. Your 2014 Dues notice is attached to this email. You can mail a check to our PO Box on
the invoice or visit http://fundly.com/harkinssociety to pay dues and make a donation to
the resident fund.
2. Save the Date! The UW Department of Surgery & Harkins Society Annual Reception
will be Tuesday, October 28 at the ACS Clinical Congress in San Francisco, CA.
3. Save the Date! The Harkins Society Annual Meeting & Banquet will be on Friday,
November 21 in Seattle, WA.
New opportunities for networking and socializing events are in the planning stages; please
send us your ideas! We are excited about re-connecting with old friends and the opportunity
to build a community of UW Surgical alumni. Connect with us on social media and look for
announcements and photos for our community via https://twitter.com/HarkinsSociety, or on
Facebook.
Best wishes,
Giana H. Davidson, MD, MPH
President
July 1, 2014
Dear Harkins Members:
I am honored to be writing to you today as your President for the current term. I give my
heartfelt and sincere thanks to my colleagues on the Executive Council, Ted Kohler, immediate
Past President and Secretary-Treasurer Nam Tran for their dedicated service and support to the
Society. I want to personally thank each one of you for your generous support. Contributions
in the form of yearly dues and donations have allowed The Harkins Society to substantially
increase support to our residents. Highlights of this past year have included:
Supported costs for loupes not covered by the department for 10 residents allowing
residents to get loupes in their junior years and increasing coverage to UW vascular and
plastic surgery residents
- Supported costs for loupes not covered by the department for 10 residents allowing residents to get loupes in their junior years and increasing coverage to UW vascular and plastic surgery residents
- Contribution to the Resident Graduation Dinner celebration
- Awarded the Harkins Prize for Outstanding UW Medical Student: Eriberto Michel
- Sponsored the Annual Reception at the ACS Clinical Congress. This past year we celebrated the induction of current University of Washington chairman, Dr. Carlos Pellegrini as the 94th President of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) in Washington DC
- Hosted the Annual Harkins Society Dinner and the induction of graduating chief residents.
As we move forward into a new academic year, I ask for your continuing support of our Society.
As you are certainly aware, the financial restrictions of educational institutions are impacting
trainees and forcing them to pay ever increasing out of pocket costs. Your financial contributions
go a long way to providing valuable support for resident training and supplies above and beyond
what the Department can do with discretionary funds. If we continue to work together, we will
be able to provide unprecedented support for our current residents by supporting activities and
expanding the purchase of loupes. We also hope to be able to expand to assist in support of other
necessary expenses; books and equipment, sponsoring travel to scientific meetings, research
scholarship, providing emergency funding for residents in need, and growing the society’s
professional engagement and networking connection possibilities. Pay it forward to make the
UW experience as rich and rewarding as it can be!
Announcements:
1. Your 2014 Dues notice is attached to this email. You can mail a check to our PO Box on
the invoice or visit http://fundly.com/harkinssociety to pay dues and make a donation to
the resident fund.
2. Save the Date! The UW Department of Surgery & Harkins Society Annual Reception
will be Tuesday, October 28 at the ACS Clinical Congress in San Francisco, CA.
3. Save the Date! The Harkins Society Annual Meeting & Banquet will be on Friday,
November 21 in Seattle, WA.
New opportunities for networking and socializing events are in the planning stages; please
send us your ideas! We are excited about re-connecting with old friends and the opportunity
to build a community of UW Surgical alumni. Connect with us on social media and look for
announcements and photos for our community via https://twitter.com/HarkinsSociety, or on
Facebook.
Best wishes,
Giana H. Davidson, MD, MPH
President
2013 Letter
August 1, 2013
Dear Fellow Harkins Society Members:
Another academic year has drawn to a close. As we saluted our seven graduates at the Chief Resident Dinner last month, our Society made a special contribution to this event, and I gave toast on your behalf congratulating the graduates on their extraordinary accomplishments and extolling them to be active members of our alumni community. I hope that you will follow this advice as well!
The society’s executive committee met earlier this year with the goal of re-energizing and strengthening the involvement of our membership. For some of you, this is the first correspondence you have received from us for many years. As we continue to work on reaching all our members, I hope that you will join our campaign and make the UW Harkins Society an Alumni Organization that new graduates will be proud to join and sustain.
The legacy of Dr. Henry Harkins is passed on through each of us in some way; from the residents who learned at his side and those that they taught in turn, the myriad of us who have learned and taught in our time at UW, and those who have fostered and grown the department that he envisioned more than 60 years ago. The art, science, discipline and essence of surgery are passed on each year from mentor to mentee, and we learn from our trainees even as we are preparing them for their futures. It is the purpose of the Harkins Society to celebrate that legacy and preserve it for the next generation of surgeons.
As you are certainly aware, the financial restrictions of educational institutions are impacting trainees and forcing them to pay ever increasing out of pocket costs. Your financial contributions go a long way to providing valuable support for resident training and supplies above and beyond what the Department can do with discretionary funds. In 2012, we began a fundraising campaign and thanks to the generous contributions of a very small percentage of our members, the Society has been able to pay for loupes for two years now, for a total of 21 residents. Darren Bowe expressed his gratitude this way: “My fellow residents and I are extremely grateful to the Harkins Society for helping us purchase our surgical loupes. We use our loupes at every institution we go to: UWMC, the VA, HMC, and Children’s, where our attendings wear loupes for every case (even laparoscopies!) and expect us to have them as well.”
If we continue to work together, we will be able to provide unprecedented support for our current residents by purchasing loupes and other necessary equipment, sponsoring travel to scientific meetings, research scholarship, providing emergency funding for residents in need, and growing the society’s professional engagement and networking connection possibilities. Pay it forward to make the UW experience as rich and rewarding as it can be! Currently less than 30% of members pay dues and support the society. Thank you to those who have already made their yearly contribution. To be a sustaining member, you need only to pay the $100 annual dues. Please consider giving an additional $250 or $500, or join an elite group with generous hearts who have donated $1,000 or more.
All of the information on upcoming events, news on resident support, dues payment information and updates on current UW Resident activities are all available on our Facebook Page. Please come find us on the web at https://www.facebook.com/groups/305217632830951/. Here you can see a thank-you video from our current residents, browse department photos and make a donation through Fundly (http://fundly.com/harkinssociety). And – be sure to check out our Twitter Feed @HarkinsSociety! This month our excellent grand rounds on resident feedback was Tweeted live, so you can get the key points there. Many residents and attendings are using this platform to raise and discuss surgical issues. Check it out, even Dr. Pellegrini has joined up!
There are some exciting events for the Harkins Society coming up. Enclosed with this letter you will find:
1. If you’ve already paid your 2013 dues and/or contributed to our resident’s fund, your receipt is enclosed. If you haven’t yet paid, you have a payment notice. You can mail a check in the enclosed envelope or pay online at http://fundly.com/harkinssociety to pay dues and make a donation to the resident fund.
2. To submit a nomination for the Harkins Society Distinguished Alumnus Award, please send an email to UWHarkins@gmail.com. The only requirement is that the awardee was a surgical resident or fellow in the UW Department of Surgery. The deadline for submission is August 31, 2013. To nominate a colleague, please include:
a. Your name and contact information
b. The Nominee’s name and contact information and year(s) of training, if known.
c. The criteria for selection include professional or humanitarian contributions that have enhanced the surgical profession, improved the welfare of the general public, or brought distinction to the Department. These contributions may have been made either over a long period of time or may be a single outstanding achievement. Both academic and non-academic achievements will be considered.
3. An invitation to the UW Department of Surgery & Harkins Society Annual Reception on Monday, October 7 at the ACS Clinical Congress in Washington, DC.
4. A Save-the-Date notice for the Harkins Society Annual Meeting & Banquet on Friday, October 18.
New opportunities for networking and socializing events are in the planning stages; please send us your ideas! We are very excited about re-connecting with old friends, helping you connect with each other.
Best wishes,
Ted Kohler, MD Nam T. Tran, MD
President Secretary/ Treasurer
August 1, 2013
Dear Fellow Harkins Society Members:
Another academic year has drawn to a close. As we saluted our seven graduates at the Chief Resident Dinner last month, our Society made a special contribution to this event, and I gave toast on your behalf congratulating the graduates on their extraordinary accomplishments and extolling them to be active members of our alumni community. I hope that you will follow this advice as well!
The society’s executive committee met earlier this year with the goal of re-energizing and strengthening the involvement of our membership. For some of you, this is the first correspondence you have received from us for many years. As we continue to work on reaching all our members, I hope that you will join our campaign and make the UW Harkins Society an Alumni Organization that new graduates will be proud to join and sustain.
The legacy of Dr. Henry Harkins is passed on through each of us in some way; from the residents who learned at his side and those that they taught in turn, the myriad of us who have learned and taught in our time at UW, and those who have fostered and grown the department that he envisioned more than 60 years ago. The art, science, discipline and essence of surgery are passed on each year from mentor to mentee, and we learn from our trainees even as we are preparing them for their futures. It is the purpose of the Harkins Society to celebrate that legacy and preserve it for the next generation of surgeons.
As you are certainly aware, the financial restrictions of educational institutions are impacting trainees and forcing them to pay ever increasing out of pocket costs. Your financial contributions go a long way to providing valuable support for resident training and supplies above and beyond what the Department can do with discretionary funds. In 2012, we began a fundraising campaign and thanks to the generous contributions of a very small percentage of our members, the Society has been able to pay for loupes for two years now, for a total of 21 residents. Darren Bowe expressed his gratitude this way: “My fellow residents and I are extremely grateful to the Harkins Society for helping us purchase our surgical loupes. We use our loupes at every institution we go to: UWMC, the VA, HMC, and Children’s, where our attendings wear loupes for every case (even laparoscopies!) and expect us to have them as well.”
If we continue to work together, we will be able to provide unprecedented support for our current residents by purchasing loupes and other necessary equipment, sponsoring travel to scientific meetings, research scholarship, providing emergency funding for residents in need, and growing the society’s professional engagement and networking connection possibilities. Pay it forward to make the UW experience as rich and rewarding as it can be! Currently less than 30% of members pay dues and support the society. Thank you to those who have already made their yearly contribution. To be a sustaining member, you need only to pay the $100 annual dues. Please consider giving an additional $250 or $500, or join an elite group with generous hearts who have donated $1,000 or more.
All of the information on upcoming events, news on resident support, dues payment information and updates on current UW Resident activities are all available on our Facebook Page. Please come find us on the web at https://www.facebook.com/groups/305217632830951/. Here you can see a thank-you video from our current residents, browse department photos and make a donation through Fundly (http://fundly.com/harkinssociety). And – be sure to check out our Twitter Feed @HarkinsSociety! This month our excellent grand rounds on resident feedback was Tweeted live, so you can get the key points there. Many residents and attendings are using this platform to raise and discuss surgical issues. Check it out, even Dr. Pellegrini has joined up!
There are some exciting events for the Harkins Society coming up. Enclosed with this letter you will find:
1. If you’ve already paid your 2013 dues and/or contributed to our resident’s fund, your receipt is enclosed. If you haven’t yet paid, you have a payment notice. You can mail a check in the enclosed envelope or pay online at http://fundly.com/harkinssociety to pay dues and make a donation to the resident fund.
2. To submit a nomination for the Harkins Society Distinguished Alumnus Award, please send an email to UWHarkins@gmail.com. The only requirement is that the awardee was a surgical resident or fellow in the UW Department of Surgery. The deadline for submission is August 31, 2013. To nominate a colleague, please include:
a. Your name and contact information
b. The Nominee’s name and contact information and year(s) of training, if known.
c. The criteria for selection include professional or humanitarian contributions that have enhanced the surgical profession, improved the welfare of the general public, or brought distinction to the Department. These contributions may have been made either over a long period of time or may be a single outstanding achievement. Both academic and non-academic achievements will be considered.
3. An invitation to the UW Department of Surgery & Harkins Society Annual Reception on Monday, October 7 at the ACS Clinical Congress in Washington, DC.
4. A Save-the-Date notice for the Harkins Society Annual Meeting & Banquet on Friday, October 18.
New opportunities for networking and socializing events are in the planning stages; please send us your ideas! We are very excited about re-connecting with old friends, helping you connect with each other.
Best wishes,
Ted Kohler, MD Nam T. Tran, MD
President Secretary/ Treasurer
2012 Letter
June 15, 2012
Dear Harkins Members:
As you probably know, I recently started my term as the new President of the Harkin’s Society. One of my most important goals, and it is one shared by our esteemed Secretary/Treasurer Nam Tran, is to raise more money to support UW Medicine’s surgery residents. So today, I’m writing to announce our first ever major fundraising drive.
This difficult economy has hit training budgets hard, and it’s no different here at the University of Washington. While residents are being asked to pay more out-of-pocket costs for their training, departments are cutting back on important educational opportunities, like travel to conferences and meetings. This not only hurts our future surgeons, it also makes it harder to attract the very best residents to come to Seattle.
I believe that our Society, with its 500 members, can make a significant contribution on this front. We currently use dues to pay for two yearly events, the Harkins Dinner and the Annual ACS Alumni Reception. This year I am asking you to increase your support so we can fund two important new priorities: surgical loupes and the establishment of an educational endowment.
We polled the trainees and found that what they need most are surgical loupes - now a training requirement. This year we have 11 residents who need loupes and they cost about $1,000 each. Most medical schools give loupes to their residents. We don’t, and this is something that the Society can change immediately. Join Ellen Cooper (class of 2010) in a donation of $1,000. As she said: “I figure if someone bought my loupes when I was an R2, I am happy to be in the position to be able to pay it forward. The program really gave me so much over five years, and I feel a deep connection to the mission and residents."
The second priority is building an endowment. I would like to set a goal of raising at least $20,000 this year to establish that fund. Funds from the endowment would go to support resident education in the form of travel and scholarships. Revenue from this fund would always be available, even in tough economic times. Consider a donation of $5,000 or more to start a lasting legacy for our residents.
We are off to a good start. We have already raised more than $5,000 towards our goal of $31,000 and we’ve only just begun.
Here’s how you can help. Please visit our new website at http://fundly.com/harkinssociety . Here you can see a thank-you video from our current residents, browse department photos, pay your dues (now $100 per active member and $50 for out-of-state or affiliates), and make a donation to our fund raising cause. Then join the private Harkins Alumni group on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/305217632830951/.
I would like to conclude by thanking everyone in the Society for your past and future support of our mission. I look forward to saying thank you and congratulations for a job well done when we hit our goal. In the meantime, I look forward to reading your posts and catching up at the Harkins Reception at the ACS Clinical Congress in Chicago, IL on October 2, 2012.
Finally, please join me in thanking Dr. Steve Cabrales for his devotion to the Society and leadership as President since 2008.
Best wishes,
Ted Kohler, MD
President
Nam T. Tran, MD
Secretary/ Treasurer