Fundamentals of Communication in Surgery

Who We Are

FCS was developed by a team of surgeons with expertise in skills education, ethics, and palliative care.

Margaret ‘Gretchen’ Schwarze, MD

The FCS Program was founded by Dr. Gretchen Schwarze. Dr. Schwarze is a board-certified vascular surgeon, bioethicist, and nationally recognized expert in surgical decision making, informed consent, advance directives and end-of-life care. Her research focuses on improving communication between patients and surgeons so that patients can avoid unwanted treatment and make decisions that align with their health priorities.

FCS began when Dr. Schwarze was presenting her research on communication at the American College of Surgeons. After the presentation, one of the surgeons in the room, Dr. Adham Saad, asked “What kind of communication training do residents at your institution get?”

The question made Dr. Schwarze realize: even at her own institution, surgical residents received little to no specialized communication training. Together, Gretchen and Adham gathered a team of surgeon-educators to develop FCS, a scalable, skills-based communication curriculum that could be integrated into the busy schedules of surgical residents and programs.

Courtney Morgan, MD

Vascular Surgeon

University of wisconsin

Technical Skills, Education

Kimberly Kopecky, MD

Surgical Oncologist

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Ethics, Palliative Care

Emily Rivet, MD, MBA

Colorectal surgeon

Virginia Commonwealth University

Palliative Care, Education

Adham Saad, MD

Minimally Invasive surgeon

University of South Florida

Technical Skills, Education

Amber Shada, MD

Minimally Invasive surgeon

University of Wisconsin

Technical Skills, Education

Ana De Roo, MD, MSc

colorectal surgeon

University of Wisconsin

Communication, Research

Lauren Taylor, MD

Thoracic Surgeon

Central Virginia VA Health Care System

Ethics, Research

Muneera Kapadia, MD, MME

Colorectal Surgeon

University of North Carolina

Communication, Education

Anna Newcomb, PhD, MSW, LCSW

Healthcare communication educator

INOVA Fairfax Hospital

Communication, Education

Erin Strong, MD, MBA, MPH

Surgical oncologist

INSTITUTION

Palliative Care, Education

Katherine Hill, MD, MS

General Surgeon

West virginia University

Palliative Care, Communication, Education

Carly Sobol, MD

Vascular surgery resident

university of wisconsin

Research, Education

Robert Sorrell Bynum, MFA

FCS Project Coordinator

University of wisconsin

Communication, Web design, Administration

Margaret ‘Gretchen’ Schwarze, MD

FCS began when Dr. Schwarze was presenting her research on communication at the American College of Surgeons. After the presentation, one of the surgeons in the room, Dr. Adham Saad, “What kind of communication training do residents at your institution get?”