Kurt F. Heiss, MD, professor of surgery of the Emory Division of Pediatric Surgery, is serving as chair of the Section on Surgery (SOSu) of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), an organization of 67,000 pediatricians that sponsors CME programs for pediatricians and sub-specialists, has the largest pediatric publishing program in the world, and has released hundreds of policy statements ranging from advocacy issues to practice recommendations.
The primary missions of the SOSu are to present a scientific program that will provide state-of-the art techniques and information for pediatric surgeons, and to serve in a consulting capacity to the AAP Board of Directors to make recommendations for educational programs, policy statements, and other actions on matters relating to the surgical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults.
Dr. Heiss has been an Emory faculty member since 1991. His clinical specialties include inflammatory bowel disease and endocrine surgery. He served as chief of surgery of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) at Egleston from 1997-2000, president of the medical staff at CHOA Egleston from 2003-2004, and vice chair of education of the Department of Surgery of the Emory University School of Medicine from 2006-2009. He has served as the medical director of quality for surgical services at CHOA at Egleston since 2009.
Dr. Heiss' academic interests include the development of innovative methods for surgical residents to learn the fundamentals of surgery, the design of continuing medical education programs for pediatric surgeons that standardize care and limit variation in treatment approaches, and quality and outcomes research at the regional and national level.
