Wright State Boonshoft School of Medicine surgery resident receives professionalism award

Justin Fox (center) received the Chassin Award for Professionalism in General Surgery, while attending the ACS Clinical Congress with Randy Woods, director of Wright State’s Surgery Residency Program, and Mary McCarthy, Elizabeth Berry Gray Chair and professor of surgery.

Justin P. Fox, M.D., chief resident in general surgery at the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, received the inaugural Jameson L. Chassin Award for Professionalism in General Surgery from the American College of Surgeons (ACS) recently in Washington, D.C.

The award was presented during the college’s annual business meeting at its annual Clinical Congress, which is one of the largest international meetings of surgeons in the world.

The Chassin Award recognizes a chief resident in general surgery who exemplifies the values of compassion, technical skill and devotion to science and learning. The award is administered by the ACS Division of Education and will now be granted on an annual basis.

The American College of Surgeons established the new award with gifts from the Chassin family, colleagues and friends of the late Jameson L. Chassin, M.D., FACS, who was a skilled surgeon, teacher and scholar in New York City.

Fox’s philosophy on professionalism left an impression on the selection committee and Carlos Pellegrini, M.D., FACS, president of the American College of Surgeons, who mentioned Fox’s philosophy statement when he presented the award to Fox.

In his philosophy statement on professionalism, Fox said, “I believe that the patient-physician relationship is, at its core, an intimate exchange between two human beings; brought about by illness or injury; understood through empathy; and directed toward a shared outcome. More simply, it is one person helping another at their most vulnerable. This core relationship underscores all of our other professional responsibilities: technical excellence, advancement through research and advocacy in health care policy. It is with this in mind that I have approached patient care and research while encouraging others to do the same.”

Fox graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, physics and mathematics in 2003. He earned his medical degree from the Uniformed Services University in Washington, D.C., in 2007. He entered the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine general surgery residency program as an Air Force candidate in 2007.

After three years of general surgical training, Fox expressed an interest in health outcomes research and enrolled in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar’s Program at the Yale School of Medicine. After completing the two-year program, Fox returned to mentor others in the surgical residency program at Wright State. He will complete his residency in June 2014 and pursue a fellowship in plastic surgery at the University of Pennsylvania.