American College of Surgeons International Scholarship Programs: 40-Year History of Support for International Surgical Education

Abstract

From the time of its founding in 1913, the American College of Surgeons (ACS) has promoted educational and research collaborations with other medical associations. It is therefore fitting that a program to support international surgical scholars was formalized in 1968 with the launching of the International Guest Scholarship (IGS) program. The first scholars were funded partly by a bequest from former ACS Director Paul R Hawley, MD, FACS (Hon) (1891 to 1965). Major General Hawley, Chief Surgeon of the European Theater of Operations in World War II (Fig. 1) was an accomplished man who had received the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, and the Lasker Award from the United States. He was a man of great vision and administrative talents, who became the first director of the Veterans Administration and later the director of Blue Cross Blue Shield before assuming the position of Director of the American College of Surgeons. 1 Dr Hawley realized that funding surgeons from abroad to travel to the Clinical Congress and to American surgical institutions and programs would be beneficial and educational for the selected international scholars as well as the programs and surgeons hosting them. Over the last 40 years this program has grown in scope and vision. We take the 40th anniversary of the founding of the IGS program as an opportunity to review its evolution and evaluate the accomplishments of the ACS international outreach program.