Yale Surgical Society

About Us

The Yale Surgical Society (YSS) connects graduates, trainees, and faculty across the Yale Surgery community. The Society celebrates Yale’s longstanding traditions of surgical excellence, mentorship, and service—honoring the legacy of generations of Yale surgeons while strengthening the community for the future.

Mission

The Yale Surgical Society exists to:

Strengthen professional connections and the camaraderie formed during surgical residency and fellowship training at Yale.
Support current trainees through mentorship, advocacy, and shared clinical and academic expertise.
Preserve and advance Yale’s values of surgical excellence, scientific inquiry, innovation, and service.
Engage and connect alumni of Yale’s surgical training programs and former faculty through events, publications, and ongoing collaboration with the Yale School of Medicine Department of Surgery.

History

Founded in 1994, the Yale Surgical Society was created by Yale Surgery graduates and faculty dedicated to building a lasting alumni community. Early efforts—including establishing bylaws, hosting alumni gatherings at national surgical meetings, and publishing a newsletter—rapidly expanded YSS into a vibrant professional network.

Over the years, YSS has grown into an international community with signature traditions including an annual grand rounds lectureship, celebration of the graduating chiefs, American College of Surgeons (ACS) alumni reception, reunion events, scholarship support for residents and lectureships.

Today, as an endowed entity of Yale University, the Society continues its founding mission: connecting generations of Yale surgeons, supporting surgical education and training, and advancing scholarly and clinical excellence.

Membership

The Yale Surgical Society (YSS) welcomes all surgical residency graduates and current or former Yale Surgery faculty.

Annual member contributions help support the Society’s programming, including the YSS Annual Reunion Dinner.

Please direct membership inquiries to Executive Secretary, Wendy.Folsom@yale.edu
Dues can be paid online.

Upcoming Events

Yale Surgery at American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress
YSS & Department of Surgery Reception
Marriott Marquis Washington, DC
Cherry Blossom, 2nd Floor

Sunday, September 27 | 6:00-8:00pm

This gathering is an opportunity to reconnect with fellow Yale Surgery alumni, current faculty, residents, and friends of the Department while celebrating the strength and impact of our surgical community. Whether you completed your training at Yale recently or many years ago, we hope you will join us for an evening of camaraderie, networking, and conversation.

Please RSVP to Wendy Folsom (wendy.folsom@yale.edu) by email if you plan to attend.

Leadership

Officers and Executive Committee
Position	Name
President	Cassius Iyad Ochoa Chaar, MD, MPH, MS HS’09
Vice President	Farlyn Charlot, DPM
Secretary	Benjamin Resio HS’22
Treasurer	Melanie Sion, MD
Past Presidents	Warren Widmann, MD HS’67 Robert Schlessel, MD HS’80 John Elefteriades, MD HS’81 Bauer Sumpio, MD, PhD HS’86 Walter Longo, MD HS’90 Melissa Perkal, MD HS’89 Michael O’Brien, MD HS’96 Andrew Graham, MD HS’66
Members at Large	David Colen, MD Vikram Reddy, MD HS’08