Disclosure Information

In accordance with the ACCME Accreditation Criteria, the American College of Surgeons must ensure that anyone in a position to control the content of the educational activity (planners and speakers/authors/discussants/moderators) has disclosed all relevant financial relationships with any commercial interest (see below for definitions).

Commercial Interest

The ACCME defines a “commercial interest” as any entity producing, marketing, re-selling, or distributing health care goods or services used on or consumed by patients. Providers of clinical services directly to patients are NOT included in this definition.

Financial Relationships

Relationships in which the individual benefits by receiving a salary, royalty, intellectual property rights, consulting fee, honoraria, ownership interest (e.g., stocks, stock options or other ownership interest, excluding diversified mutual funds), or other financial benefit. Financial benefits are usually associated with roles such as employment, management position, independent contractor (including contracted research), consulting, speaking and teaching, membership on advisory committees or review panels, board membership, and other activities from which remuneration is received, or expected. ACCME considers relationships of the person involved in the CME activity to include financial relationships of a spouse or partner.

Conflict of Interest

Circumstances create a conflict of interest when an individual has an opportunity to affect CME content about products or services of a commercial interest with which he/she has a financial relationship.

The ACCME also requires that ACS manage any reported conflict and eliminate the potential for bias during the educational activity. Any conflicts noted below have been managed to our satisfaction. The disclosure information is intended to identify any commercial relationships and allow learners to form their own judgments. However, if you perceive a bias during the educational activity, please report it on the evaluation.

Presenters and Disclosures

Virginia Shaffer, MD, FACS - No Disclosures
Dr. Shaffer is an associate professor of surgery at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, and specializes in minimally invasive and open surgical treatment of diseases of the colon and rectum. She received her MD at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center San Antonio and completed general surgery residency at Emory University. Dr. Shaffer did a research fellowship in transplant immunology and subsequently did a fellowship in colon and rectal surgery at Cleveland Clinic Florida. She is board certified in both general surgery and colon and rectal surgery. Dr. Shaffer is a Fellow in the American College of Surgeons and the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. Her research interests include health services research, quality improvement, and clinical research. 

Alyssa Frager, MSN, BC-RN, AGNP - No Disclosures
Ms. Frager is the coordinator of the Rectal Cancer Program at White Plains Hospital, NY, specializing in the care of adults with chronic conditions and serving in both an administrative and clinical capacity. She helps patients diagnosed with rectal cancer by acting as a liaison between physicians in different departments and assisting with the scheduling of appointments, coordinating presurgical and postop care, and by overseeing all data collection related to these cases. 
As an advanced practice nurse, Ms. Frager performs pelvic floor therapy using biofeedback as well as anorectal manometry to help patients with other colorectal symptoms and conditions. A Dean’s List student and graduate of SUNY Binghamton, she received her BS in Nursing from the NYU College of Nursing and her Master’s of Science in Nursing and Adult Geriatric Nurse Practitioner degrees from Molloy College.

Walter R. Peters, MD, MBA, FACS - No Disclosures
Dr. Peters is senior vice-president, chief surgical officer at Baylor Scott & White Health. He served as chief of colon and rectal surgery at Baylor University Medical Center from 2015 until 2019, after spending 27 years practicing in Columbia, MO, where he served in a number of leadership positions. He completed his medical training, residency and fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, and received a Master’s in Business Administration degree from The George Washington University School of Business, Washington, D.
He has served many leadership roles within the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, the American College of Surgeons, and the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology.  He is currently Vice-Chair of the NAPRC Education Committee and is a member of the initial class of NAPRC Surveyors.

Joshua Raff, MD - No Disclosures
Dr. Raff is the director of the Digestive Cancer Program at White Plains Hospital (WPH), as well as the leader of the hospital’s GI Cancer Program Conference. He received his medical degree from the Sackler School of Medicine at Tel Aviv University in 1997. Dr. Raff completed his residency in internal medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and was a fellow of hematology and oncology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine from 2000 to 2003.

Steven D Wexner, MD, PhD(Hon), FACS, FRCS(Eng), FRCS(Ed), FRCSI(Hon), Hon FRCS(Glasg) - No Disclosures
Dr. Wexner is the director of the Digestive Disease Center and has been on staff at Cleveland Clinic Florida since 1988. He has been the chairman of the department of colorectal surgery since 1993 and holds academic appointments as professor at Florida Atlantic University, Florida International University, Ohio State University, and Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine.  
Dr. Wexner is Vice Chair of the Board of Regents of the American College of Surgeons and past President of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons Research Foundation, American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery, the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, and the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. He is a member of the executive committee of the Commission on Cancer. Dr. Wexner helped develop and is the founding Chair of the NAPRC and Editor-in-Chief of Surgery journal.

Kimberly Yee, MD, FACS - No Disclosures
Dr. Yee is the first board-certified female colorectal surgeon to practice in Westchester County, NY, and has pioneered several new technologies in the management of colorectal disease at White Plains Hospital. She performed the first transanal endoscopic microsurgical removal of a colon polyp at the WPH and also has established a new anorectal physiology lab, one of the few such facilities in Westchester County. She received her medical degree from the State University of New York Upstate Medical Center and completed both her residency in general surgery and fellowship in colon and rectal surgery at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC. She then completed a second fellowship in minimally invasive surgery at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.