Shabnam Hafiz
Director of Acute Care Surgery, Trauma Division, Wellspan Health - York Hospital
Hometown: York, PA (grew up in Los Angeles)
Number of Siblings and Birth Order: only child
First Job: my current job
Worst Job: working at a pharmacy stocking shelves
Favorite Band: no particular favorites but 70s rock and 90s hip hop (I love music of all types)
Favorite Book: this requires me to have time to read 😊 historically, The Alchemist
Bucket List Item: Go to Alaska (going this fall!)
Favorite Operation to Perform: VARD (Video Assisted Retroperitoneal Dissection) for pancreatic necrosectomy
Favorite Surgical Infection to Treat: Infected necrotizing pancreatitis
Bio: As a new member to the SIS, I hope to continue to pursue my interests in the management of surgical infections. When I was a trauma/critical care fellow at Ryder in Miami, I was intrigued by our aggressive efforts to minimize antibiotic duration. Using the data from the STOP IT trial, we were able to safely and effectively reduce antibiotic duration for our patients with complicated surgical infections. I clearly recall a dispute I had with the my Director about even using antibiotics for a hernia repair with mesh. I was flabbergasted that he recommended not even one periop dose! It went against all that I knew for even surgical prophylaxis. But here I am, five years into practice, and I’m the one fighting those fights – avoid the antibiotics! As a younger physician in the ICU, I’m met with a lot of resistance from other colleagues regarding my bravado in limiting antibiotic therapy. Since I started, we have eliminated the use of fluconazole in perforated gastric ulcer management. We have instituted a policy for shortened antibiotic duration for all perforated viscous management after source control. I’ve also managed to safely expedite the conversion of IV antibiotics to oral regimens for earlier discharge (something I’m interested in studying). All that being said, I’m a big proponent of antibiotic stewardship and I want more opportunity to better educate and arm myself for the management of surgical infections.
I hope that being a member of the SIS will allow me opportunities to grow and be a leader in the management of surgical infectious disease. I hope that my membership will also add to the experience of the group so that we can further advance our practice and I look forward to collaborating on research opportunities.