On Monday, the American College of Surgeons named UAB Assistant Professor of Surgery Graeme McFarland, M.D., its 2019 Gerald B. Healy, M.D., FACS, Mentorship Traveling Fellow.

 McFarland said he plans to use the fellowship’s $5,000 travel stipend to visit Joseph L. Mills Sr., M.D., at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Mills serves as the chief of the Baylor College of Medicine’s Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy and the medical director of the Baylor St. Luke’s Diabetic Foot and Wound Care Center.

Dr. Graeme McFarland

“I am very excited about the opportunity afforded to me by the American College of Surgeons with the Gerald B. Healy, M.D., FACS, Mentorship Traveling Fellowship,” McFarland said. “I look forward to learning from Dr. Mills who is a pioneer in the field of peripheral artery disease and limb salvage.”

McFarland said he is excited to have the opportunity to learn more about how to effectively organize and manage a limb preservation program, which Mills and his team have already successfully implemented at Baylor.

“I hope to use this experience to improve our efforts here at UAB as we develop and grow our Advanced Limb Preservation Program,” McFarland said.

This annual mentoring fellowship program was established in honor of Gerald B. Healy, M.D., FACS, by Healy’s friends and colleagues in order to support professional and academic mentorship for young surgeons. By funding inter-institutional travel and visits with successful mentors, the ACS aims to use this fellowship to encourage the development of new ideas, innovative approaches and well-informed attitudes about safety, quality and professionalism.