AAST approved institutions offering fellowships in Acute Care Surgery must provide the necessary education to qualify the fellow as an acute care surgical specialist in the care of patients, in teaching, and in research. Surgeons admitted to each fellowship are required to have completed the core training requirements of an RRC-approved residency in General Surgery. Thus, the fellows should already have developed a satisfactory level of clinical maturity, technical skills and surgical judgment that will enable them to begin a fellowship in the specialty surgical field of Acute Care Surgery. The period of training must be two years and the program must comply with the institutional requirement for residency training. The key components of this training are to include trauma surgery, surgical critical care, and emergency general surgery. Below you will find resources to aid in the development of the Acute Care Surgery Fellowship program.

Program Requirements

Program Requirements

The Acute Care Surgery Committee has developed program requirements that all AAST-approved fellowship programs must follow.  Please click here to download the program requirements.

Included with the program requirements are a series of responsibilities Program Directors are accountable for and are integral to ensuring a successful relationship between the AAST and the approved sites.  Click here for the list of Program Director responsibilities.  

Guidelines and Templates

Guidelines/Templates

In addition, the ACS Committee in conjunction with Program Directors developed guides to assist with building your program.  Below you will find guidelines and templates for several important areas of your program.

Curriculum

Curriculum

In an effort to assist programs in developing their curriculum for the ACS Fellowship Program, the ACS Committee has provided the resources below:

Site Visits

AAST-approved ACS Fellowship Programs are typically reviewed every three years.  You will be contacted by staff to begin the process which will follow the steps below:

  1. Submit 2-3 dates for the revisit.
  2. Provide a virtual platform in which to conduct the site visit, such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams. 
  3. Upload the revisit PIF and required documents to the google drive (link will be provided by AAST staff)
    These materials are due 30 days prior to the site visit. If materials are not received by the deadlines indicated, it may result in fines and rescheduling the site visit. 

    PIF

    The revisit Program Information Form will need to be submitted 30 days or more before the site revisit.

    PIF

     

    Required Docs

    The required documents need to be submitted with the PIF 30 days or more before the site visit. 

    Required Documents

     

  4. Finalize and upload the site visit agenda and caselog reports to the google drive.
    These items are due two weeks prior to the site visit.

Sample Agenda

This agenda is an example of what elements and people need to be included. You may rearrange the order of events to fit your needs and participants' schedules. Typically, the site visit should take around 6 hours. 

Sample Agenda

 

Caselog Reports

Caselog reports should be pulled for the fellows from the last two academic years.

Caselog System

 

 

Contact Bridget Lindbloom if you have any questions or concerns.

Subtracks

Subtracks

The ACS Committee has introduced the Fellowship Subtracks available to programs.  These allow programs to offer additional exposure and training in specialized areas.  Fellows completing these subtracks will earn a certificate confirming their supplementary expertise.  Please click here for more information on the subtracks.

Program Requests

Program Requests

From time to time, programs may find that they need to fill an open position, request an international rotation or other elements in order to advance and improve their program.  Program requests should be made on institution letterhead addressed to the ACS Committee Chair, explaining the request and emailed to Bridget Lindbloom.  The item will be included on the next agenda for the committee's consideration.  ACS Committee meetings typically take place on the third Monday of each month.  Requests will need to be received by the second Monday of the month to be included on that month's agenda. Otherwise, it will be added to the following month's agenda

Leading Practices

Leading Practices

As the Fellowship Review Certification Committee (FRCC) reviews programs, they often discover great examples of policies, procedures and other creative solutions that programs are using.  Please click here to read about your fellow AAST-approved programs and their successes.