Behind The Knife: The Surgery Podcast

You click an order set and ten seconds later the labs, imaging and meds are in. A drug interaction alert fires, and you override it without reading. A sepsis score in the corner of the chart flags your post-op patient. Who built those defaults, who set that alert threshold, and was that score ever validated on surgical patients? Join Drs. Kevin Kniery, Mason Pearce, and Genevieve Melton-Meaux, a practicing colorectal surgeon and the American College of Surgeons' first Chief Health Informatics Officer, as they kick off the Clinical Informatics for Surgeons series. They explain what clinical informatics actually is (hint: not the help desk), how it is already running your operative day, and the few habits that let any surgeon shape the tools everyone else is stuck with.
Hosts:

Genevieve Melton-Meaux, MD, PhD, Colon and Rectal Surgeon; Senior Associate Dean for Health Informatics and Data Science, University of Minnesota; Chief Health Informatics Officer, American College of Surgeons; Chair, AMIA Board of Directors 

Kevin Kniery, MD, FACS, Vascular Surgeon, Brooke Army Medical Center

Mason Pearce, MD, General Surgery Resident and Clinical Informatics Fellow, University of South Florida; Behind the Knife Education Fellow 

Learning objectives:

Define clinical informatics, distinguish it from information technology, and describe how physicians train and certify in the subspecialty (ACGME-accredited fellowship, ABPM/ABPath board exam).

Identify four everyday systems that shape surgical care (order set defaults, medication alerts, embedded risk scores, OR scheduling logic) and recognize them as clinical design decisions.

Explain alert fatigue as a patient safety problem and why independent external validation of predictive models matters, using the Epic Sepsis Model as an example.

Describe the three core areas of the surgeon informatician: clinical decision-making and care process improvement; health information systems, data and analytics; and leadership and change management.

Apply practical habits for informatics literacy: question a risk score's data and validation, report faulty alerts, and join the committees that maintain order sets and decision support.

References:

Felisberto M, Lima GDS, Celuppi IC, et al. Override rate of drug-drug interaction alerts in clinical decision support systems: a brief systematic review and meta-analysis. Health Informatics J. 2024;30(2):14604582241263242. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38899788/

Ashton M. Getting rid of stupid stuff. N Engl J Med. 2018;379(19):1789-1791. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30403948/

Rajamani G, Diethelm M, Gunderson MA, et al. Crowdsourcing electronic health record improvements at scale across an integrated health care delivery system. Appl Clin Inform. 2023;14(2):356-364. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37164355/

Wong A, Otles E, Donnelly JP, et al. External validation of a widely implemented proprietary sepsis prediction model in hospitalized patients. JAMA Intern Med. 2021;181(8):1065-1070. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34152373/

Osheroff J, Teich J, Levick D, Saldana L, Velasco F, Sittig D, Rogers K, Jenders R. Improving Outcomes with Clinical Decision Support: An Implementer's Guide. 2nd ed. HIMSS Publishing; 2012. ISBN 9780984457731. Book; not indexed in PubMed. Source of the CDS Five Rights framework. https://www.routledge.com/Improving-Outcomes-with-Clinical-Decision-Support-An-Implementers-Guide-S…

Gardner RM, Overhage JM, Steen EB, et al. Core content for the subspecialty of clinical informatics. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2009;16(2):153-157. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19074296/

Zhao J, Forsythe R, Langerman A, Melton GB, Schneider DF, Jackson GP. The value of the surgeon informatician. J Surg Res. 2020;252:264-271. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32402396/

Anderson TN, Jenkins PD, Doberne JW, Mohan V, Thanawala RM. Defining the clinical informatics knowledge gap in general surgery: evaluation of resident experience and perspectives. J Surg Educ. 2025;82(11):103682. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40911943/

Lyu HG, Doherty GM, Landman AB. Surgical informatics: defining the role of informatics in the current surgical training paradigm. J Surg Educ. 2020;77(1):9-12. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31477548/

AMIA. AMIA's role in the clinical informatics subspecialty and history (ABMS approval 2011; first exam October 2013). AMIA's Role in CIS and History

Turner PL. Exploring artificial intelligence at the ACS. Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons. October 2024. Exploring Artificial Intelligence at the ACS | ACS

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How do we care for ourselves while caring for others?
Surgery is a demanding profession that requires resilience, sacrifice, and the ability to navigate high-stakes decisions. However, depression, anxiety, burnout, and the emotional consequences of complications are realities that many surgeons face but often struggle to discuss openly.
In this episode of the Behind the Knife/Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (ASGBI) collaborative series, our guests share their personal experiences navigating mental health challenges throughout their careers, confronting stigma, finding support, and learning that being a successful surgeon does not require being perfect.
Hosts

Dr. Agnes Premkumar — Behind the Knife Surgical Education Fellow, General Surgery resident (US)

Dr. Gita Lingham — President, Moynihan Academy, trainee association within the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (ASGBI) (UK)

Dr. Elizabeth McLennan — Vice President, Moynihan Academy, trainee association within the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (ASGBI) (UK)

Guests

Dr. Luke Elms — Board-certified general surgeon specializing in abdominal wall reconstruction and hernia surgery; host of The Hernia Gods podcast.

Dr. Elizabeth “Liz” Miller — Former neurosurgical trainee and current occupational health physician, mental health advocate, and author of Mood Mapping.

Resources Mentioned
Mood Mapping — Dr. Elizabeth “Liz” Miller
A practical guide to understanding and managing emotional well-being through mood awareness, self-reflection, and strategies such as exercise, music, spending time outdoors, and connecting with others.
The Hernia Gods Podcast — Dr. Luke Elms
A podcast exploring the humanity behind surgery, including imposter syndrome, complications, professional identity, self-doubt, and the shared experiences of surgeons at every career stage.
Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

Doctors' Support Network
https://www.dsn.org.uk/. A peer-support initiative discussed by Dr. Miller, emphasizing compassion, connection, and reducing the stigma associated with mental health challenges among physicians.
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The scrub tech holds up two boxes, “SURGICEL or EVARREST?”, and you realize nobody ever taught you the difference. Patrick Georgoff, MD, John McClellan, MD, Kevin Kniery, MD, and Nick Teman, MD, break down topical hemostatic agents, one of the most used and least taught tools in the OR. You’ll get a simple two-question model for picking the right product: can your patient make their own clot, and can a patch reach the bleeding? Through trauma, vascular, and cardiac cases, the team covers when these agents earn their keep and when two minutes of pressure (no peeking!) will do the job. Bottom line: hemostatic agents speed up hemostasis, but they’re a targeted adjunct to good surgical technique, not a substitute for it!
Hosts:

Patrick Georgoff, MD, Duke

Nick Teman, MD, University of Colorado

John McCllelan, MD, UNC

Kevin Kniery, MD, Madigan Army Medical Center

Topical Hemostatic Agent PDF link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Qv9V_0l20CTXKQ_83newveIahmxzlpcb/view?usp=sharing
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Join the Behind the Knife Surgical Oncology Team as we discuss the MATTERHORN trial and the addition of perioperative immunotherapy to FLOT for resectable gastric and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma!

Hosts:

Timothy Vreeland, MD, FACS (@vreelant) is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and Surgical Oncologist at Brooke Army Medical Center.

Daniel Nelson, DO, FACS (@usarmydoc24) is an Associate Professor of Surgery and Surgical Oncologist at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Chattanooga.

Lexy (Alexandra) Adams, MD, MPH (@lexyadams16) is a Surgical Oncologist at Brooke Army Medical Center.

Joe (Joseph) Broderick, MD, MA (@joebrod5) is a General Surgery research resident between his second and third year at Brooke Army Medical Center.

Galen Gist, MD (@gistgalen) is a third-year General Surgery resident at Brooke Army Medical Center.

Learning Objectives:
In this episode, we review the evolution of perioperative therapy for resectable gastric and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma, from the MAGIC and FLOT4 trials to the MATTERHORN trial, a phase III randomized controlled trial investigating the addition of perioperative durvalumab to FLOT. We discuss the mechanism of checkpoint inhibition, the trial design, the event-free and overall survival results, the pathologic and nodal response data, and the open questions this trial raises for surgeons.
References used in the making of this episode:

Cunningham D, Allum WH, Stenning SP, et al. Perioperative chemotherapy versus surgery alone for resectable gastroesophageal cancer. N Engl J Med. 2006;355(1):11-20. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa055531

Al-Batran SE, Homann N, Pauligk C, et al. Perioperative chemotherapy with fluorouracil plus leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and docetaxel versus fluorouracil or capecitabine plus cisplatin and epirubicin for locally advanced, resectable gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (FLOT4): a randomised, phase 2/3 trial. Lancet. 2019;393(10184):1948-1957. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32557-1

Janjigian YY, Al-Batran SE, Wainberg ZA, et al. Perioperative durvalumab in gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancer. N Engl J Med. 2025;393(3):217-230. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2503701

Tabernero J, Al-Batran SE, Wainberg ZA, et al. Final overall survival and the association of pathological outcomes with event-free survival in MATTERHORN: a randomised, phase III study of durvalumab plus FLOT in resectable gastric/gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. Presented at: European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2025; October 17, 2025; Berlin, Germany. Abstract LBA81.

Shitara K, Rha SY, Wyrwicz L, et al. Pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy versus chemotherapy as perioperative therapy in locally advanced gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancer: final analysis of the randomized, phase III KEYNOTE-585 study. J Clin Oncol. 2025;43(29):3152-3159. doi:10.1200/JCO-25-00486

Kang YK, Terashima M, Kim YW, et al. Adjuvant nivolumab plus chemotherapy versus placebo plus chemotherapy for stage III gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction cancer after gastrectomy with D2 or more extensive lymph-node dissection (ATTRACTION-5): a randomised, multicentre, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2024;9(8):705-717. doi:10.1016/S2468-1253(24)00156-0

André T, Tougeron D, Piessen G, et al. Neoadjuvant nivolumab plus ipilimumab and adjuvant nivolumab in localized deficient mismatch repair/microsatellite instability-high gastric or esophagogastric junction adenocarcinoma: the GERCOR NEONIPIGA phase II study. J Clin Oncol. 2023;41(2):255-265. doi:10.1200/JCO.22.00686

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In this episode of the Behind the Knife Global Surgery Series, we explore what it actually takes to build a meaningful career in global surgery. Global surgery is not a single specialty or job title—it is a broad field that intersects with clinical care, education, research, policy, advocacy, implementation science, and health-system strengthening. So how do trainees and early-career surgeons find their place in it?

Host Mike M. Mallah is joined by Dr. Barnabas Alayande and Dr. Lacey LaGrone for a candid discussion about the personal and professional paths that brought them into global surgery. Dr. Alayande shares how experiences with limited access to healthcare in Nigeria shaped his decision to pursue medicine and ultimately global surgery, while Dr. LaGrone discusses her focus on translating evidence into clinical practice and building scalable approaches to knowledge dissemination.

Together, they discuss why purpose matters, why global surgery should be viewed as a field rather than a job title, and why aspiring global surgeons should first become excellent at something that allows them to add real value. The conversation also examines mentorship, the difference between visibility and impact, the importance of integrity in partnerships, and the personal sacrifices that can accompany a career devoted to this work.

For medical students, residents, fellows, and junior faculty interested in global surgery, this episode offers practical advice: develop meaningful expertise, seek mentors who are genuinely invested in your growth, focus less on recognition and more on impact, and keep doing the next right thing—excellently.

Hosts/Guests:
Mike M. Mallah, MD, FACS, FICS
Director of Global Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina
@MikeMMallahMD
@MUSCGlobalSurg
mallahm@musc.edu

Barnabas Alayande, MD
Chair, Center for Equity and Global Surgery
University of Global Health Equity, Rwanda
General Surgeon, Surgical Educator, and Global Surgery Leader
@DrBarnabasAlay

Lacey LaGrone, MD
Associate Director of Research, Medical Center of the Rockies
Associate Clinical Faculty, University of Colorado
Co-Founder, Together Made
Acute Care Surgeon, Surgical Intensivist, and Global Surgery Leader

Papers noted:
·   Abimbola S. The foreign gaze: authorship in academic global health. BMJ Global Health. 2019;4:e002068. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2019-002068
·   Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown https://gregmckeown.com/books/essentialism/

Topics discussed: Career pathways in global surgery; finding your “why”; global surgery as a field rather than a specialty; developing expertise; implementation science; mentorship; visibility versus impact; ethical partnerships; professional sacrifice; work-life balance; and advice for the next generation of global surgeons.
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