2026 Biennial Meeting of the Virginia Mason Surgical Association - VMSA

This private event is open to Members of the Virginia Mason Surgical Association, current Virginia Mason surgical residents, and invited faculty and guests.

Greetings! Preparations are well underway for the 2026 Biennial Meeting of the Virginia Mason Surgical Association to be held September 17-19, 2026.  We are excited to reconnect, share stories and surgical cases, gain knowledge and rekindle old friendships.

The meeting will kick off on Thursday evening with a hosted after-dinner cocktail hour hosted at the top of the Sorrento from 7:00-9:00 pm, followed by two days of meetings highlighted by the annual Ryan lectureship given by Amy Wagner, MD, VMSA Alumni (2009) Pediatric Surgeon at Wisconsin Children’s; Dan Besett, MEd., local and international educator, who will share strategies for inspiring culture change; and our guest faculty speaker, Tam Pham, MD, Harborview Burn Surgery Director delivering, “Career Transitions, Moving In and Out of Leadership”.

This year we are emphasizing contributions of women in surgery, lifelong education and increased resident participation in the event. Of course, we wanted to keep the crowd favorites—‘best case’ or ‘biggest save’, closing cocktail hour at the Sunset club—but this meeting we are also adding a thrilling Family Feud (with prizes!) as well as more organized social offerings outside of the traditional meeting hours.

Registration fees have not increased: $400 for an Alumni, $500 for Alumni and significant others. We are asking for all Alumni to consider sponsoring a surgical resident, $400 for full sponsorship and $200 for partial sponsorship. CME will continue to be available this year (Agenda is in development, we anticipate 11-12 hours ).

Hotel Sorrento: To help defray costs and make getting to the events easier we were able to negotiate a very favorable room rate at the Sorrento at $209/night. Please book your stay before September 1st to receive this preferred rate by calling the Hotel Sorrento Front Desk at (206) 622-6400 and reference our group name VM Surgery Conference. 

The link for room reservations is in the Hotel section above. You must make your reservation using our special conference link before September 1.  Thank you for helping the event be financially viable as well.

Please contact Mary Paul Stewart in Continuing Medical Education at (206) 341-0567 or email if you require assistance with registration.

1. Identify pregnancy risk factors in fetal gastroschisis.
2. Realize how adherence to fundamental principles of wound care and surgical technique are essential in field hospital situations.
3. Reflect on the benefits of surgical mission work.
4. Consider the benefit of pursuing global surgery fellowship and the incorporation of global surgery into practice.
5. Assess the link between strong relationships and achieving high standards.
6. Cite resources available for the impaired physician.
7. Realize the varied impacts that come with litigation.
8. Differentiate confidence from competence in medical decision-making and recognize how confidence, credentials, and authority can make unsupported medical claims more persuasive.
9. Evaluate medical claims by distinguishing established evidence from mechanistic reasoning, inference, and speculation — identifying where the evidence ends and the story begins.

Online Registration is closed.

$400 Member
$500 Member + Guest
$0 VM Surgical Resident
$0 VM Surgical Resident + Guest

OPTIONAL: If you can help defray the meeting costs of our current surgical residents, we offer two options. Thank you for considering!

• Full Resident Sponsorship: (Resident Fund #0068 - tax deductible) - $400.00

• Partial Resident Sponsorship: (Resident Fund #0068 - tax deductible) - $200.00

If you require assistance in the registration process or have any questions, please contact Mary Paul Stewart in Continuing Medical Education. Email [email protected].

The Virginia Mason Medical Center is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The Virginia Mason Medical Center designates this live activity for a maximum of 11.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

American Board of Surgery (ABS): Successful completion of this CME activity, enables the learner to earn credit toward the CME requirement(s) of the American Board of Surgery’s Continuous Certification program. It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit learner completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABS credit.

Parking: Parking is not included with registration. Virginia Mason's downtown parking facilities are limited and reserved for patients, therefore we offer this map of public lots with walking routes to the Lindeman Pavilion.

Public transportation: Metro Bus routes serving the First Hill neighborhood include 2, 10, 12, 60, 193, and 303. Please consult the Metro Trip Planner for route information and schedules.

Hotel Conference Rate:  To help defray costs and make getting to the events easier we negotiated a very favorable room rate of $209/night at Hotel Sorrento.

Please book your stay before September 1st to receive the preferred rate. Please call the Hotel Sorrento Front Desk at (206) 622-6400 and reference our group name VM Surgery Conference.