By: Connie Harris
For Steven J. Eskind, M.D., the connection to Vanderbilt spans a lifetime and generations beyond.
From attending Vanderbilt football games as a child with his father, a Vanderbilt trained physician who practiced at hospitals across Nashville, to his own decades-long career as a surgeon and educator, Vanderbilt has been an integral part of Steven Eskind’s life.
This deep and multi-faceted relationship is the foundation for the Eskind Chair in Surgical Education. Eskind and his wife, Laurie, established the chair in 2022 to support a faculty member in the Section of Surgical Sciences at the School of Medicine, in the role of vice chair of education or a comparable position in education leadership. The gift, Eskind notes, stems from his personal experience.
“My role as an educator became very important to me,” he explains. “The main reason Laurie and I wanted to make this contribution to Vanderbilt was to encourage others to commit themselves to the tradition of excellence in education I value so deeply—the teaching of students and residents within this department.”
After completing medical school at Tulane University, a general surgery residency at Vanderbilt, and a vascular surgery fellowship at Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans, Eskind returned to Nashville. He practiced private general and vascular surgery at St. Thomas Hospital for more than 30 years, at a time when the hospital was a crucial site for training Vanderbilt surgical students and residents.
Following retirement from private practice, Eskind accepted the role of surgery clerkship director for the Vanderbilt School of Medicine’s Department of Surgery, a position he held for 15 years. He was responsible for organizing and teaching the required surgery rotation for all 100 second-year medical students each year. Even after stepping down as director, he remains involved in all aspects of clerkship teaching. This sustained commitment has given him an expansive view of Vanderbilt graduates’ impact on local, regional and national health care.
“My connection to Vanderbilt began with my father, but throughout my career it was amplified, especially when I began working with the Vanderbilt residents as an attending,” Eskind said. “Now, after working with the medical students, my perspective is solidified: the students are incredibly savvy and intellectually inquisitive. Ultimately, I have had the chance to see many of them function as physicians after they graduate, and I am very proud of their skill and quality.”
That sentiment between teacher and student is mutual. In 2022, Eskind was selected for the Robert D. Collins Award for Teaching Medical or Graduate Students or Practicing Physicians in the Lecture Setting. He was also honored by fourth-year medical students in 2019 with the Thomas E. Brittingham, M.D. Clinical Teaching Award, recognizing exceptional teachers, mentors and role models.
Now, one of the residents he was privileged to know has been named the inaugural holder of the Eskind Chair in Surgical Education. Christina Edwards Bailey, MD, MSCI, FACS, was awarded the position this past summer. Eskind holds Dr. Bailey in high regard, remembering her from her residency and often encountering her in their work.
“She’s a splendid recipient of this position,” he affirms. Having previously been the residency program director and committed to teaching medical students, Bailey perfectly fulfills the vision Eskind holds for the endowed chair.
Eskind’s advice to potential donors is straightforward: reflect on the impact Vanderbilt had on your own life. “This is your opportunity to pay back, to allow future graduates to achieve their own goals just as you were once supported in yours,” he suggests.
The establishment of this chair is a significant step in formalizing the Steven and Laurie’s devotion to Vanderbilt and a commitment to ensuring excellence in medical and surgical training for years to come. Upon Dr. Eskind’s full retirement or emeritus status, the chair will be renamed the Steven and Laurie Eskind Chair in Surgical Education.