UF surgeon takes on national roles with surgical journal, American College of Surgeons

University of Florida Health surgeon Kevin E. Behrns, M.D., chairman of the UF College of Medicine’s department of surgery and the Edward R. Woodward professor of surgery, has accepted roles as co-editor-in-chief of the journal Surgery and as a member of the executive committee of the American College of Surgeons’ board of governors.

Behrns said he wants to help the journal establish a dynamic social media presence, enhance its electronic edition and mobile accessibility, and find engaging new ways of communicating with young surgeons.

He and other leaders from Surgery, which is published by Elsevier, also will continue working to enrich the journal’s content on basic science, clinical, health policy and surgical-education topics. Currently, the journal is best known for its robust basic science content.

Behrns has served on the editorial board of Surgery for more than 10 years and succeeded former co-editor Andrew L. Warshaw, M.D., surgeon-in-chief emeritus at Massachusetts General Hospital and the W. Gerald Austen professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School. Behrns’ co-editor is Michael G. Sarr, M.D., a professor of surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

In his new role on the American College of Surgeons’ board of governors executive committee, Behrns will chair the college’s membership services pillar. This group manages humanitarian medical efforts, such as the organization’s response to the 2010 earthquake that struck Haiti. The membership services pillar also coordinates awards from the college’s industry partners to surgeons who have contributed significantly to global health efforts, such as medical mission trips. A third role of the group is to oversee the college’s chapters throughout the world.

As a member of the executive committee, Behrns also will provide input on college matters related to quality, education, health policy and finance.

“The major goal is to see how we can strengthen the domestic and international chapters so that they can remain strong and undertake grassroots efforts for health policy and finance, for local education, for all those kind of things,” he said.