June 3-5, 2010 (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday)

Honored Guest — John L. Tarpley, MD, FACS, FWACS

John L. Tarpley, MD, FACS, FWACS, Professor of Surgery and Anesthesiology, joined the faculty of the Vanderbilt University Department of Surgery and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center Department of Surgery in 1993. He serves as the general surgery residency program director, he is a master clinical teacher at the medical school, and is the chief of general surgery at the VA. Dr. Tarpley graduated from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 1970, followed by the completion of his surgical training at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. At that time, with a deep commitment to surgical education for underserved populations, he served at the Baptist Medical Centre, Ogbomoso, Nigeria from 1978-1993 where he continues to visit annually to teach and to cultivate long-time relationships. During this same time period, he was on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins Department of Surgery and the Loch Raven VAMC in Baltimore. Esophageal cancer, international health, the history of medicine, and the role of spirituality in clinical medicine are areas of particular interest.

While at Vanderbilt, Dr. Tarpley served as the Residency Coordinator from 1994 to 2000 and has served as the General Surgery Program Director since 2000. He has taught medical school electives on spirituality and medicine, on history of medicine, and on international medicine. Dr. Tarpley has received many local and national teaching awards. He works closely with the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health and is working towards an international rotation for surgery residents.

The Society for Black Academic Surgeons elected him as an honorary member in 2005 in recognition of his service for underrepresented minorities. He served as the president of the Association of Program Directors in Surgery in 2007-2008 and as the president of the Association of VA Surgeons in 2008-2009.

Click here information on past meetings.

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