Dr. Francesca Tolete-Velcek, former SPSA President, and member of COPP has been elected as a Fellow of the American Surgical Association. The Association was founded in 1880 and is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious surgical organization. Its members include the nation’s most prominent surgeons from the country’s leading academic medical institutions, many of whom are Chairs of the Departments of Surgery at these institutions. Membership also includes leading surgeons from around the world, making it much more than an American association. As a premier academic surgical society, the American Surgical Association strives for excellence and leadership in science, education, and patient care while promoting diversity, integrity, and innovation.
Tributes from the leadership and members of SPSA follows below;
From: ASA <admin@americansurgical.org
Date: April 26, 2024 at 6:39:55 AM PDT
To: mdvelcek@gmail.com
Subject: Welcome to the ASA
Reply-To: admin@americansurgical.org
DANIEL FABITOHernan Reyes
Dear Dr. Tolete-Velcek,
On behalf of the American Surgical Association, it is my pleasure as Secretary to inform you that you were officially elected a Fellow of the Association earlier this month, in April 2024. I would like to congratulate you and welcome you to the American Surgical Association! We suggest you review the ASA By-Laws to acquaint yourself with the responsibilities and activities of the Association, including attendance and dues requirements (Article III, Section 11, and Article V, Section 5, respectively). The ASA 145th Annual Meeting will be held April 24-26, 2025, at the Intercontinental San Diego, in San Diego, CA. You are expected to attend the Opening Session on April 24th at 8:15 AM to be introduced to the membership. You should also plan to attend the New Fellows Reception that Thursday evening at 6:00 PM. Please mark your calendar now. Further details will be forwarded to you, but please plan to attend the 2025 Annual Meeting. Please log into the Members Only Area of the ASA website to review and edit your membership profile so that we have the most current information in our files. In addition, please answer the demographic questions so that the Association may establish its diversity baseline and chart how it improves each year. You may also change your username and password, and pay your initiation fee (500 USD) and, if applicable, first year’s dues (300 USD). To log into the Members Only Area at americansurgical.org/members:Your username is currently your last name followed by first initial, in the format LastnameF.Your password is currently your birthdate with no leading zeroes and your year of birth as four digits, in the format: MM/DD/YYYY (include the slashes, and if your birth month is a single digit, then the format would M/DD/YYYY—likewise for a single digit birth day).A Certificate of Membership will be forwarded to you this summer. Welcome to the American Surgical Association, and if I can be of any assistance at any time, please call on me.
Sincerely,
Melina R. Kibbe, M.D.Secretary
Messages of Congratulations from SPSA Fellows;
Fri, Apr 26, 7:57 PM (8 days ago)
Hi! Danny,
Sharing with you this information regarding the election of Dr. Francisca T. Velcek, SPSA Past President and active member of our Society to Fellowship of the American Surgical Association , the oldest and most prestigious Surgical Association in the U.S. There are currently only a handful of Filipino-American Surgeons who are Fellows of this Association. Our congratulations to Dr. Velcek. Please share this information with members of the SPSA COPP. Thank you,
Hernan
Hernan M. Reyes, MD, FACS
7:35 AM (8 hours ago)
MAY 04, 2024
CONGRATULATIONS TO DR. FRANCIS VELCEK FOR BEING ADMITTED TO THE AMERICAN SURGICAL ASSOCIATION. SPSA IS INDEED VERY PROUD OF YOU. DANNY FABITO M.D. FACS, FPCS SPSA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
| jay seldera | 10:52 AM (5 hours ago) |  | |
Congratulations to my mentor in Pediatric Surgery. An accomplished surgeon par excellence.
Jay
| Ed Barcelona | 11:48 AM (4 hours ago) | | |
Congrats Francis!
Ed Barcelona
| Edgardo Mallari Navarro | 12:49 PM (3 hours ago) | |
| Hi Francisca T. – V. , Kudos to your admission to the ASA !!! Best wishes & regards ed m. navarro FRCA Germany www.navarr | ||
Ed Gamboa
2:35 PM (1 hour ago)
Congratulations, Dr. Francisca Velcek. Well-deserved as always.
As long as you can still fix a pediatric hernia in ten minutes flat 😊
All the best,
Ed
Edgar A. Gamboa, M.D., FACS, FICS
| Honorio Cruz | 4:41 PM (0 minutes ago) | | |
Frances,
A well deserved honor, Congratulations!!
Honorio M. Cruz, M.D. FACS, SPSA Past President
| acedocjmm@aol.com | Sat, May 4, 10:15 PM (7 hours ago) | | |
Yes, this is wonderful news. Warmest congratulations to our illustrious SPSA academician, Dr. Frances Velcek for her membership acceptance to the American Surgical Association, known for being the most difficult U.S. Surgical Association to join. You are the only Fil-Am I know of to belong to the ASA. Kudos.
Johnny
Juan M. Montero,II,MD,FACS