Alan Langnas, D.O., has been awarded the Francis Moore Excellence in Mentorship in the Field of Transplantation Surgery Award by the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.
The award, given to Dr. Langnas in January, acknowledges the efforts of established surgeons for their stewardship of fellowship trainees and junior faculty.
A recognition by peers
The American Society of Transplant Surgeons, of which Dr. Langnas is a past president, represents all the transplant surgeons in the United States, and is responsible for accrediting all the training programs in the United States.
Receiving the Francis Moore Excellence in Mentorship in the Field of Transplantation Surgery Award represents, in Dr. Langnas’ words, “an acknowledgement and recognition by your peers.
“Mentoring represents a huge part of what I do. Besides taking care of patients, a huge component of why I do what I do is to help further the field by training and mentoring the next generation of people coming through.”
“The mission of an academic medical center such as UNMC is to turn out the outstanding health care professionals of tomorrow,” said UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D. “The effect of a mentor like Dr. Langnas is far-reaching — he has impacted not only his students, fellows and residents, but also all the people they’ve gone on to help.”
Dr. Langnas called the honor “unexpected” and “greatly appreciated.”
“What is so great about this is that I know the other people who have received this in the past, and those are people I’ve always looked up to around the country,” he said.
Dr. Langnas has long been a part of the educational fabric at UNMC, arriving here in 1988. He points to former surgery chair Layton “Bing” Rickers, M.D., as one of his own mentors.
“He was a fantastic role model, and he really demonstrated — in a real, tangible way — how terribly important it is to support and grow young faculty members in a positive way,” Dr. Langnas said. “I took note of that, that’s for sure.”
It would seem he did. Dr. Langnas’ nomination, sent to ASTS without his knowledge by a UNMC colleague, gathered letters of support from around the country.
“When Alan trains fellows, he really pushes you in terms of your skills and your thinking,” said Wendy Grant, M.D., who jokes that although she is a faculty member at UNMC and Dr. Langnas’s colleague, she is still in her “15th year” of a transplant fellowship with him. “He teaches very much by a ‘just do it’ approach without ever putting patients, fellows, residents, or trainees in any danger. He has very high expectations which are entirely appropriate – of himself and the team.”
Dr. Langnas is proud of the surgeons and faculty members, such as Dr. Grant, that his department turns out.
“Transplantation surgeries, particularly the types of transplants that we do, are challenging operations that don’t have a lot of room for error. I like to think we’ve always set the bar pretty high,” he said. “However good people may think they are when they show up, they get brought to a much higher level.
“You have to help them get through the trials and tribulations, the rite of passage of being a young surgeon, because those can be quite challenging. The operations we embark on are a high-stakes game, so it takes a concerted effort to make sure everybody stays on a successful path, for the best interests of the patient.”
Congratulations, Dr. Langnas! You certainly deserve it!
Well done, and well deserved! Alan mentors those outside surgery, as well, and I often seek his advice.
Congratulations Dr. Langnas! You truly deserve it!
Kudos to a professional who's always looking ahead.