31st Annual Conference of the Professions

Friday, May 26, 2017

8:30 am - 12:00 pm

Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children

T. Boone Pickens Conference Center

Our Keynote Speaker

Brian H. Williams, M.D.

Trauma Surgeon and Associate Surgery Professor, UT Southwestern

Brian H. Williams, M.D., is an associate professor of Surgery in the Division of Burn/Trauma/Critical Care at UT Southwestern. After graduating with military honors from the United States Air Force Academy, Dr. Williams was served six years of active duty as an aeronautical engineer.

He earned his medical degree at the University of South Florida College of Medicine and completed his general surgery residency and a trauma research fellowship at Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He then completed fellowships in trauma surgery and surgical critical care at Emory University School of Medicine/Grady Memorial Hospital. Dr. Williams joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2010. Among his many leadership roles and areas of involvement on campus, he is Program Director for the General Surgery Residency Program. Dr. Williams was honorably discharged from the Air Force in 2006 and continues to serve as an admissions liaison officer for the Academy. He is a member of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, the National Medical Association, the Society of Black Academic Surgeons, and the Society of Critical Care Medicine, among others. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Dr. Williams found himself unexpectedly in the spotlight on the night of July 7, 2016, when 12 Dallas police officers and two civilians were shot following a peaceful protest by members of the Black Lives Matter movement. He was the lead surgeon on call when Parkland’s trauma team was called upon to care for several of those victims.

This activity was approved for 2.5 CLE Accredited Ethics Credits, .4 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for religious professionals, and 2.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s).

Panel Discussion

Betsy Julian, J.D., Founder/Senior Counsel of the Inclusive Communities Project

Michael Waters, D. Min., Founding Pastor of Joy Tabernacle African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church

Brian Williams, M.D., Trauma Surgeon and Associate Surgery Professor, UT Southwestern

The panel was moderated by Dallas County Judge, the Honorable Clay Jenkins, J.D.

Welcoming remarks were delivered by Dallas Mayor Michael S. Rawlings

About the Conference

The Conference of the Professions brings together members of law, medicine, and theology in the Dallas area to discuss common challenges—ethical and otherwise—facing these professions. The conference is a joint effort and collaboration between the Dallas County Medical Society, Dallas Bar Association, SMU Maguire Center for Ethics & Public Responsibility, SMU Dedman School of Law, SMU Perkins School of Theology and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.