MEDIA ALERT

from the American College of Surgeons http://www.facs.org

SEN. WILLIAM H. FRIST, MD, FACS, TO ADDRESS

AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SURGEONS ON OCTOBER 20, 2003, IN CHICAGO

CHICAGO – Sen. William H. Frist (R-TN), MD, FACS, the US Senate's only physician and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, will deliver the keynote address that opens the 2003 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons, Monday, October 20, at the Arie Crown Theater in Chicago's McCormick Place (Lakeside Center).

Sen. Frist, a thoracic surgeon and Senate Majority Leader, will deliver the prestigious American Urological Association Lecture to his surgical colleagues from 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. His address – Improving American Health Care for the 21st Century - will open the 2003 Clinical Congress, which is one of the largest international meetings of surgeons in the world.

The first practicing physician to be elected to the Senate since 1928, Sen. Frist is board-certified in thoracic surgery. He was admitted into Fellowship of the American College of Surgeons in 1994. A 1978 honors graduate of Harvard Medical School, Dr. Frist is well known among his surgical colleagues as the founder and former director of the Vanderbilt Transplant Center at Vanderbilt University's Medical Center, which became a nationally recognized multi-organ transplant institution under his passionate leadership. As a practicing surgeon, Dr. Frist performed more than 150 heart and lung transplant procedures, and he successfully performed the first combined heart/lung transplant in the southeastern United States. He has written extensively about organ transplantation – including the ethical and social considerations that accompany organ donation – and other medical issues.

Health policy legislation is a prominent interest of Sen. Frist, who graduated with an undergraduate degree in health care policy from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 1974. A narrative of his professional accomplishments and interests and a link to the senator's curriculum vitae can be found online at: http://frist.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=AboutSenatorFrist.Biography

The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and to improve the care of the surgical patient. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in American and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 65,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world.

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NOTE: The American Urological Lecture is open to reporters assigned to cover Sen. Frist's remarks. All reporters must present appropriate identification and register in advance for press credentials in the Clinical Congress Press Room. The location: Level 3, Hall D1-D2, McCormick Place, Lakeside Center, Chicago. Press Room Hours are 7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. on Monday, October 20. Phone: 312-949-3283.

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Online October 16, 2003