As a general surgery resident, Mark Hall, M.D., learned plenty about navigating the body’s biggest cavity while treating intra-abdominal pathologies.

He learned about the inner workings of a hospital surgery department, too, thanks to serving as administrative chief resident during his fifth year in the KU School of Medicine-Wichita program. Hall was chosen as the first recipient of the Dr. Alex Ammar Leadership Award, named for the former longtime chair of the school’s Department of Surgery.

“I was extremely grateful to be the inaugural recipient of the award,” Hall said. “It’s special to me to have Dr. Ammar’s name on it because of the guidance and leadership he’s provided to the surgical community in Wichita to help maintain its strength over the decades.”

The award was created by the department to recognize a senior resident who’s demonstrated leadership, organizational skills, a collaborative spirit and sound decision-making. 

Brett Grizzell, M.D., who succeeded Ammar as department chair, said naming an award after his predecessor was “an obvious and well-deserved decision.” Ammar chaired the department from 1998 until his retirement in December 2024 and led the city’s biggest surgical group, Wichita Surgical Specialists, during most of that period.

“He probably trained nearly every (surgery) resident and faculty member in Wichita with the exception of a few,” Grizzell said. “You probably couldn’t give him a big enough recognition.”

Ammar called the award “the most special recognition of my career. It highlights my passion for physicians recapturing control of health care, ultimately for the benefit of our patients. Having this award recognizing residents who exemplify the qualities of a leader is particularly rewarding to me personally, but more importantly, to the future of American health care.

“Congratulation to Dr. Hall for his contributions — past, present and future — for making a difference.”

Hall said Ammar had retired from operating by the time he arrived in Wichita but the two “did have brief interactions at residency and hospital events, and it was always evident he still had a lot of passion and belief in the training program and residents produced by Wichita.”

The award was funded by donations from the community.

Hall, a native of northwest Arkansas, started aiming at a medical career in high school, inspired by his mother, who’s a nurse, and his interest in biology. He graduated from the University of Arkansas Medical School in Little Rock before coming to Wichita for his residency.

“I really developed an interest in intra-abdominal anatomy and pathology early on in medical school,” he said. “The more I was exposed to it, the more I realized I loved a lot of what general surgery had to offer.”

In addition to his rotation in general surgery, with its focus on treating intra-abdominal organs such as the gall bladder, liver, spleen and digestive tract, his rotation in trauma surgery, another facet of general surgery, also made an impression. “The immediate ability to make a difference in a patient’s outcome was very satisfying,” he said.

As administrative chief resident, Hall helped with scheduling resident rotations and off time and other organizational tasks while serving as a liaison among residents, hospitals and the program leadership. There are 36 residents in the program, which is active at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis and St. Joseph hospitals, Wesley Medical Center, and the Dole VA Medical Center.

“I think probably the most difficult part is mediating problems among residents and then solving problems for a large workforce and a complicated work environment,” he said.

The work typically took him about two to five hours per week, although occasionally it was two to three times that. He expressed his appreciation to Dawn Fountain, the residency program coordinator; Michael Porter, M.D., the program director; and Kyle Vincent, M.D., the associate director.

Grizzell said the administrative chief resident’s scheduling work alone is a complex task.

“Residents change rotations every seven to eight weeks,” he said. “Every single day must have coverage of every service. You have multiple hospitals, people leaving on vacation, maternity leave, illness.”

Additionally, Grizzell said, Hall maintained good relationships with the hospitals and was a “very strong educator” of residents in classes below him.

Hall’s tenure as administrative chief resident was the first year the residency program reached its current size, having added a resident to each incoming cohort over a five-year period. “It’s hard to make sweeping changes to any residency program but we were able to make it happen,” he said.

Hall is now in the first year of a two-year surgical oncology fellowship at Saint John’s Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, California.

“My favorite part about surgical oncology is the expertise required for both the non-operative and operative aspects of caring for patients with cancer,” he said.

For now, he’s primarily interested in surgery, not another administrative role. “I want to provide a broad variety of cancer surgery options to a medium-to-large community,” he said.

But he can see a time when he might be interested in helping lead a residency program, surgery department or hospital.

“I’m interested in being at the table, so to speak.”

Above, left: Brett Grizzell, M.D., left, is pictured with Mark Hall, M.D.