Sumner Session Preview: From Mentee to Mentor

It is the utmost honor to chair this year’s Sumner Session at VENOUS 2025. Dr. David S. Sumner was an exemplary clinician and scientist. His contributions are many; he is best known for his dedication to vascular hemodynamics and for inspiring and mentoring young surgeons. To dedicate and honor Dr Sumner’s tremendous accomplishments and to congratulate Dr. Ruth Bush as our 37^th American Venous Forum President upholding the theme of current and future leadership, the American Venous Forum Sumner Session will focus on the topic of “From Mentee to Mentor: Successful Mentorship.”

We have selected an inspiring and experienced group of vascular surgeons to provide diverse insight on their experience as a mentee and the journey to become a mentor. Our distinguished panel for VENOUS2025 will consist of Dr. William Marston (University of North Carolina), Dr. Andrea Obi (University of Michigan), Dr. Brajesh “BK” Lal (University of Maryland), Dr. Misaki Kiguchi (MedStar Georgetown University Hospital), and Dr. Jorge Ulloa (Universidad de los Andes, Colombia). The session will stimulate interesting discussion while allowing the panel to interact with the audience regarding the attributes of successful mentorship and promote the next generation of vascular specialists to learn and transform into new mentors and leaders.

Diverse Roles of Membership Committee Members

The American Venous Forum’s Membership Committee meets monthly and is tasked with identifying and meeting member needs in support of recruitment and retention efforts. The 10 current committee members come from very different backgrounds, are located in different geographic areas, and are engaged in very different types of venous practice.

For example, I am a full-time academic vascular surgeon in a large, 20+ member vascular group at Mount Sinai in New York City. Lorraine Loretz is a retired podiatric surgeon and a board-certified nurse practitioner near Worcester, Massachusetts. Moni Li is a general surgeon at the FORME Aesthetic and Vein Center associated with the Medical College of Wisconsin outside of Milwaukee. Ana Maria Botero is a vascular surgeon in Columbia, South America. JC Jimenez, Khanh Nguyen, Jake Hemingway, and Carlos Echevarria practice on the West Coast. Anil Hingorani and myself are in New York. We hope this diversity helps us represent and respond to the various needs and interests of our membership.

AVF’s International Committee Activities

With the pace of communication development, knowledge is becoming globalized, allowing the language of science and its teaching to cross any boundary.

The American Venous Forum, embedded and active in today’s world, has begun extending its scientific and educational activities to other regions, fostering cooperation that enables synergy in efforts to reach consensus in knowledge, teaching, and learning. This is part of a splendid journey, where the experience is filled with joy and success, with a landscape adorned by familiar faces.

This year, under the presidency of Dr. Ruth Bush and the brilliant coordination of the Atlanta 2025 program by Dr. Cassius Ochoa, we have two meetings during the congress focused on the inclusion of international professionals: the International Symposium and the Villavicencio Symposium. These activities enhance the scientific and human level of the international community that participates, extending a grand invitation to enjoy the highest scientific level, warmth, and collegiality.

Let’s create a vast international network borne from the heart of the American Venous Forum so that, with good science, friendship, and generosity, we can provide the healthiest environments for living a better life. Above all, let’s ensure that the patients—the primary beneficiaries of our efforts—receive from the American Venous Forum what is our fundamental mission: their well-being.

AVF Member Spotlight

AVF welcomes new members including trainees of all levels throughout the year. In this edition of Vein Specialist, AVF had the pleasure of learning about Mennatalla Hegazi, MD.

Member Spotlight Questions

Tell us about yourself and your interest in medicine.
My name is Menna; I was born in Egypt, but I grew up in a small town outside of Sacramento that nobody has ever heard of named Lincoln, named not after the president but after the guy who built the railroad that goes through the town.

If you ask my mom when I got interested in medicine, she will tell you it was when she bought me the game Operation when I was a kid, and I was really good at it. But I think I got interested in medicine when my uncle had heart surgery when I was in middle school. Unfortunately, he passed away shortly after and it was then that I really got interested in taking care of people. In medical school, everybody told me to avoid surgery at all costs if I ever wanted a life or a family, but when I did my rotations, I unquestionably loved it. I enjoyed scrubbing in, seeing anatomy, fixing problems, and I particularly cherished watching patients dramatically improve. The camaraderie within surgical teams felt like home. Plus it wasn’t true: you can have a life and do surgery.

Where are you in your residency or fellowship training? What kind of residency or fellowship?
I’m on a research year between my third and fourth clinical year in my general surgery residency.

What company or organization do you work at right now?
I am a general surgery resident at UC Irvine. Go Anteaters!

What are you currently reading or listening to?
I just finished reading Fahrenheit 451and now I’m on to the Malcolm X autobiography.

Do you have any hobbies?
I really enjoy cooking and baking. I like trying new recipes and I love how food brings people together.

Favorite place you’ve traveled?
Is it biased to say Egypt? The food is incredible, the people are so kind and there is so much to do! I’ve snorkeled in Sharm el-Sheikh; seen jellyfish off the coast of Alexandria in the Mediterranean Sea; and explored so much history and architecture– from the ancient at the Valley of the Kings to recent history with the citadels.

Fun fact that people probably don’t know about you?
Alexander Hamilton and I have the same birthday and we both went to the same college!

What is your go-to comfort food?
Spaghetti. There is never a wrong time to eat spaghetti.

What are future goals and aspirations for your career?
I see myself working in an academic institution and spending a portion of my time dedicated to global health. I’m interested in teaching and mentoring students from diverse backgrounds in an effort to improve health equity. I am also passionate about establishing partnerships with physicians abroad to create sustainable models of global health that can provide improved access to patients.

What career advice do you live by? Who gave it to you?
When I was a third-year medical student, an OB-GYN intern told me to figure out what my mission was. Outside of the actual patients and what I found interesting in medicine, she told me to find a higher purpose that I resonate with, and it would be what got me through the challenging days. For her it was women’s health, and for me it has been the opportunity to take care of whole families, especially after a bad outcome. Delivering bad news is such a unique opportunity in a patient’s care where you can have such a large impact. While you can’t always take away the suffering, you can provide comfort and doing that well helps me with the bad days. They may not remember what you said, but they will remember how you made them feel in that moment.

If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be? Why?What’s a project you’re working on right now? Why is it meaningful to you?
I’m looking into pediatric outcomes for various vascular procedures and the access that pediatric patients have to vascular surgeons. I’ve always liked working with kids, and I think there is an opportunity there to make an impact.

What are you most proud of in either your personal or professional life?
I am proud of how I have maintained my relationships through the years. I still get phone calls from friends in the middle of the night when they are going through something challenging. Being there for them despite my hectic schedule is invaluable.

When did you join the AVF?
I just joined a few months ago!

Why did you join the AVF? Or who inspired you to join the AVF?
One of my mentors recommended it to me.

What do you like most about being a member?
I like all the educational materials and opportunities that are available, especially the ones directed at trainees. It is great to have an organization that is focused on venous disease, which doesn’t always get the attention it deserves.

Who or what inspires you?
My vascular attendings! I won’t embarrass them by naming them, but not only are they technically excellent surgeons, they are amazing people. I joke with them that they are the softest group of surgeons I have ever met because of how deeply they care about their patients. They also care that deeply about their trainees. I am constantly getting emails with opportunities that they think would interest me, not to mention all the check-in lunches to check on my well-being. It inspires me how they’ve been able to maintain their empathy after years in practice.

What do you love the most about your job?
I love the opportunities to grow and learn from everybody I interact with–my attendings, fellows, other residents, nurses, PA/NPs, patients, and their families.