Renee Makowski, left, and Kimberly Ma, second-year students at VUSM, are part of Remedy, a program that collects unused medical supplies which are distributed to poor and under-developed nations.
photo by Dana Johnson
John L. Tarpley, M.D., professor of Surgery and program director for Vanderbilt's general surgery residency, has been named an honorary fellow of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons.
The award is given to outstanding surgeons who have mentored minority students and championed diversity in the field of surgery.
“Dr. Tarpley has a long history of advocating for training minority surgeons at Vanderbilt and nationally,” said Steven C. Stain, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Surgery at Meharry Medical College and professor of Surgery at Vanderbilt. “He has successfully lobbied internally and nationally to place top-rated minority students in the Vanderbilt program.”
James A. O'Neill Jr., professor emeritus and former chair of the section of Surgical Sciences, is a past honorary fellow of the SBAS. Since the 1989 founding of the SBAS, fewer than 30 people have been named honorary fellows of the society and Vanderbilt is one of the few institutions with more than one honoree.