
Acute Care Surgery Committee Update
by Clay Cothren Burlew, M.D., Ph.D
The members of the Acute Care Surgery Committee have been busy this past year. We have had three areas of focus: fellowship maturation, educational efforts, and professional collaborations.
In the arena of fellowship maturation, the ACS Committee oversaw the re-visit of three of the AAST-approved ACS fellowships: Yale, Wright State, and Baystate. Upcoming site visits include Indiana University, Hartford Hospital, University of Florida-Gainesville, and Emory University. Of note there are currently 21 approved programs, and 37 fellows are slated to graduate in 2018. To date, there are 127 fellows who have completed AAST-approved two-year fellowships. Drs. Nicole Stassen and Preston Miller are spearheading the fellowship examination effort with committee support from Drs. Rhee, Dente, deMoya, Joseph, Mohr, Rappold, and Yeh. They have modified the end-of-year-exam to reflect the evolving ACS curriculum, developed a formal document regarding the specifics of test question writing, and identified a new process of question writing/storage.
On the education front, our educational module initiative continues to expand. Following the original development of 48 thoracic and vascular modules, Drs. Stephanie Savage and Joe Galante are leading the effort in the second round of modules. A total of 36 additional modules are planned including 25 EGS, 4 trauma systems, and 7 additional trauma specific modules. Module utilization is tracked for each fellow with feedback provided monthly to program directors.
The ACS Committee continues to build its collaborative relationships within the AAST and with other national groups. With the Education Committee, two of our committee members participated in the 2018 Grand Rounds: Dr. Rick Miller (“Compassion, Fatigue & Physician Burnout”) and Dr. Marc deMoya (“Controversies in the Top Three Itises: Appendicitis, Cholecystitis, Diverticulitis”). Our committee will also contribute speakers and moderators to the MOC session at the 77th AAST Annual Meeting and 4th World Trauma Congress in September. Additionally, we will support two lunch sessions at the Annual Meeting: “SBO: OR Before Sunset or Let the Sun Set?” and “The Difficult Cholecystectomy” (jointly sponsored with SAGES). ACS Committee members are also collaborating with the Patient Assessment Committee (development of an EGS data dictionary), the Geriatric Trauma/EGS Committee (joint research ideas for MITC), the Military Committee (possible ACS-specific fellowship tract), and the Palliative Care Committee (incorporation into fellowship training).
On a national front, members from the Board of Managers and the ACS Committee participated in a successful joint conference with SSAT and SAGES this past January and also at the 2018 SAGES annual meeting, which took place in April. These conferences have set the stage for continued collaboration between the AAST and SAGES, SSAT, and ASCRS. We continue our close relationship with the SCCPDS, contributing content to the 2nd edition of the SCCPDS Fellowship Guide. Several members will participate in the Pan-American Trauma Society’s upcoming annual meeting in August. Finally, the ACS, MITC, and Patient Assessment Committees are working with EAST’s EGS Committee on the development of an EGS research collaborative network.
I would like to thank the members of our committee for their incredible efforts over the past year. I would like to acknowledge Dr. Kim Davis for her successful baton pass of the chairmanship of this committee and for her ongoing involvement. I would also like to thank Dr. John Fildes and the program directors’ subcommittee and the Board of Managers. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the dedication and hard work of Bridget Lindbloom and Sharon Gautschy.