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Editor’s Note
Written by: Shannon Marie Foster, MD, FACS and Ronald Stewart, MD
Friends and Colleagues –
I hope each of you are enjoying the named days of the week (shoppers of back Friday, advocates of small-business Saturday, on-line arbiters of Cyber Monday) that have developed around Thanksgiving – that truly American holiday of turkeys, family, parades, football, and a national dog show that now includes a whopping 203 official breeds! But I digress, because we are on the eve of the most important of the named days – Giving Tuesday.
Did you know there are over 1.8 million non-profit entities including charities, foundations, and professional organizations that are all permitted to actively fundraise?
Our organization, as many others across the country, are dependent upon the generosity and financial support of its members and champions to provide the funds key to development and future impact.
Perhaps an annual review of the great work of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma is in order?
Log into the website and follow these steps to the archives and active links: My AAST. My Dashboard. Scroll to bottom to find Cutting Edge Newsletter full edition links or Cutting Edge Blog to find specific features directly. To explore the mission, goals, and products of a particular committee, follow these steps to enter the committee pages: Log in to the site, top right page headers include Donate - Committees - Member Directory. The full list of all standing and ad-hoc AAST committees will populate after Committees selection. Drop down carrot allows access to complete listing of active members of each and a red-boxed link to the committee page itself. You will find the Mission, Activities, Research, Publications, Collaboratives, and Reports and key materials informing current work. Pages are full of excellent resources and allow you to identify areas for involvement and volunteerism, thought-leading individuals with whom you may hope to collaborate, and the most up-to-date situation facing each area of our practice and profession. The work of the members in each space cannot be overstated and appreciation for this volunteer work cannot be shouted enough.
As you close this calendar year, which for many of us includes allocation of both time and money to the charities and organizations that impact your family, neighborhood, and the world in which we live – please consider the AAST.
Donate to AAST Here: https://www.aast.org/donate
Volunteer with AAST Here: https://www.aast.org/micro-volunteer-opportunities-application
May you have health and happiness in all your endeavors, or at least the support and safety to pursue them as you celebrate the season, navigate the weather, and prepare for whatever comes next.
With deepest gratitude…Happy Holidays!
SMF
Feedback, comments, questions, and participation always welcome…
shannonfostermd@gmail.con or erinlillisaast@gmail.com
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Research and Education Fund Report
Written by: Suresh K. Agarwal, Jr., MD
In this Season of Gratitude, I am thankful for everything that the field of trauma, my colleagues, and the AAST have provided to me. And I am grateful for the contributions that the members of our Association have provided. Over the past year, the Research and Education Fund (REF) donations have exceeded $ 110,000. These contributions have done an amazing job in helping our association further its mission to the development and furtherment of the field of Acute Care Surgery through the provision of scholarships to young trauma surgeons who are starting their academic careers. Their insights and academic success will build the future upon which the future of our career will grow! In addition, your offerings have encouraged the development of future trauma surgeons through the continued success of the 20for20 Fund, allowing medical students and residents to often, have their first experience with the academic and social aspects of trauma surgery through travel scholarships to attend the annual meeting.
This past year’s success could not have been possible without the leadership of Dr. Andrew Bernard. His stewardship of the REF Committee and the work of its members has led to an increase in total donations, fundraising campaigns, and corporate donations. Following his example, the vision of our President, Dr. Ronald Stewart, and the assistant of our Committee Liaison, Ms. Brea Sanders, as well as the entire AAST leadership and office, we hope that our upcoming year will be even more fruitful!
As such, this calendar year has not concluded. Opportunities to donate remain ample! Giving Tuesday, the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving, is rapidly arriving. Please remember to donate to the REF general fund or the 20for20 fund. Every donation matters, no matter how large or small, to the betterment of the future of trauma surgery. Once again, thank YOU for your gifts and your commitment!
Secretary Treasurer's Report
Written by: Clay Burlew, MD
Happy Holidays! Yes, I am guessing each of us has been inundated with holiday spirit and a little winter weather. As 2024 begins to wind down, I am happy to report that we are financially in a strong position. I owe a great deal of thanks to the leadership of the AAST Board of Managers as well as the stewardship of Sharon Gautschy and her team.
Our annual meeting in Las Vegas with the World Trauma Congress was one of the largest attended meetings to date – it was a terrific scientific program (kudos to President Reilly, Recorder Karen Brasel and WTC President Raul Coimbra) that was matched with gatherings of old and new friends alike. During the meeting we welcomed 44 Active Fellows, 150 Associate Fellows (residents, in-training fellows, and junior faculty), and 5 International Fellows. For those who couldn’t join us in Las Vegas, please mark your calendar for the 2025 annual meeting in Boston, September 9-13.
Thanks to the Research and Education Fund (REF), the AAST announced the three junior faculty research scholarship winners, who are each awarded $50,000: Dr. Melike Harfouche, Dr. Lacey LaGrone, and Dr. Grace Niziolek. We also had 29 scholarship recipients funded by the REF to attend the annual meeting. Finally, the REF continues to support the Health Policy Scholarship, the International Traveling Scholarship and the International Mentoring Scholarship. We are grateful to all who contributed to the REF, including those who raised their paddles at the “Experience AAST” auction. In the past year alone, over $150,000 was donated, which directly supports these grants and initiatives.
You still have the opportunity to contribute to the REF – the easiest way to do so is via your personal dashboard on the AAST website. Simply go to the AAST website, Log In via the button on the top right, click on “MY AAST” in the top right corner, and click on “My Dashboard”.
As always, I encourage each of you to be active in the AAST - volunteer for a committee, participate in our multi-institutional trials, attend a webinar, reach out to fellow members, or log on for our Grand Rounds. We are so fortunate to be a part of this community. I look forward to President Stewart’s year and welcome any input or questions from you. Have a happy holiday season!
Executive Director's Report
Written by: Sharon Gautschy
Happy December! As we close out 2024, we have exciting news to share:
- The AAST 83rd Annual Meeting of AAST and Clinical Congress of Acute Care Surgery with the 7th World Trauma Congress was our largest attendance, with 1,771 in-person and on-demand attendees.
- AAST elected 200 new members into AAST, including AAST Fellows, International Fellows, residents, in-training fellows, and Junior Faculty.
- AAST hired a new staff member, Patrick Croce, who will be handling scholarship applications, membership applications, financial management, critical care, patient assessment, and international committees
Get ready for 2025!
- Scholarship applications are due February 1, 2025
- The AAST abstract system closes on February 15, 2025
- A new website is coming in mid-2025 – Yippee!
- The 84th Annual Meeting of AAST will be held in Boston, MA, September 9-13, 2025
The staff and I are here for you, the members. Please reach out if you have ideas for programs, suggestions for topics for grand rounds, or anything else. Be on the lookout for the volunteer form for the annual meeting. You can volunteer as an abstract reviewer, discussant, or moderator/recorder. Be sure to fill out the form.
Have a great holiday season and a wonderful New Year! See you in 2025!
2025 JTACS NEWS
Written by: Raul Coimbra, MD, PhD
As the end of 2024 approaches, we would like to share exciting news about JTACS in 2025.
In January 2025, we will publish the first JTACS EGS algorithm on Acute Cholecystitis led by our Associated Editor, Dr. Walt Biffl. We have 8 algorithms planned for the year, as listed below:
Acute Appendicitis – Dr. Jose Diaz
Hernias – Dr. Todd Costantini
Acute Pancreatitis – Dr. Lena Napolitano
Acute Colonic Diverticulitis – Dr. Kenji Inaba
Acute Mesenteric Ischemia – Dr. Walt Biffl
Large Bowel Obstruction – Dr. Ali Salim
Small Bowel Obstruction – Dr. David Livingston
We expect that these algorithms, combined with the “What You Need to Know” article series, will provide our readers and researchers with the cutting-edge information needed for high-quality research, clinical decision-making, and patient care. We hope you enjoy the new series and provide feedback to us about them.
We will launch a new tool to be used by researchers to facilitate the search of articles containing hot topics published in JTACS in the last 5 years. The article collections will be available on the JTACS website at www.jtrauma.com
The intent is for researchers and readers to have at their fingertips the most relevant and current publications per topic published in JTACS. The collections will be updated yearly, so all the cutting-edge research published in JTACS is immediately available for your reading and for use in your own research.
2024 was an excellent year for the journal. The “What You Need to Know” series is going strong, and the feedback has been extremely positive. We, the journal editors, thank all affiliated societies for publishing in JTACS their best research and partnership. We also want to thank those who independently submitted their research articles to us. Finally, we thank the readers for your feedback and suggestions. This is your Journal, and we all benefit from a strong Journal.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. See you all in 2025.
Pediatrics Committee
The Development of the AAST Acute Care Surgery Fellowship Pediatric Subtrack
By Katherine M. Riera, MD
To improve access to specialized trauma care for children in the United States, novel surgical training programs are needed to increase the pediatric trauma workforce. Dr. Mary Fallat has been a champion of pediatric readiness throughout her career and her 2016 APSA President Address discussed the creation of hybrid training models to help augment the pediatric workforce. To quote Dr. Fallat, “the address describes how we might envision a paradigm shift in training using a different model and capitalizing on the talents of more young surgeons who want to take care of children. We are an incredible profession, but many have abdicated a need to include trauma patients and critical care in their practice of pediatric surgery. The model would include different pathways of training, enable more surgeons to be capable in aspects of children’s surgical care, and provide optimal general surgical care for more children in the United States.”
I crossed paths with Dr. Fallat at the right moment in my training as one of those young surgeons. I had entered general surgery residency planning a career in pediatric surgery, but I had changed to adult trauma and matched into an AAST ACS fellowship. I met Dr. Fallat as I was transitioning to ACS fellowship, and this allowed for my involvement as an ACS fellow interested in pediatric trauma.
Prior work by Dr. Fallat’s team found gaps in the current pediatric trauma workforce, where many adult surgeons already performed initial trauma resuscitations on children in areas without access to a pediatric trauma center. Additionally, a survey of adult ACS fellows found many had an interest for additional pediatric surgery training for their future practice in trauma, global surgery, rural/under-served, or military deployment. Given this information, the idea for a pediatric subtrack through the AAST ACS fellowship was developed to address these gaps as a hybrid training model.
Importantly, the group was multiorganizational and the subtrack received support from both APSA and AAST. We used my fellowship experience as “proof of concept” while building the subtrack. My fellowship institution was an appropriate site given it was both an adult and pediatric ACS-verified level 1 trauma center where the pediatric trauma bays were physically accessible during fellowship. Additionally, there was no pediatric surgery fellowship. The group developed goals/objectives, rotation requirements, educational curriculum (lectures and written modules), and case logs. By living the requirements we were building, this allowed for real-time troubleshooting and feedback. Care was taken using my institutional knowledge to not affect other learner experiences on the services. We anticipate that the pediatric subtrack will augment the pediatric trauma workforce where there is a lack of pediatric surgeons and fill a need for injured children in rural and underserved areas.
I am proud to be the inaugural ACS fellow for the pediatric subtrack. As I am settling in as junior faculty at the University of Rochester Medical Center, I am using my increased pediatric trauma experience to bridge the adult and pediatric trauma worlds, particularly in the adolescent trauma patients. Since starting, I have been involved in both the adult and pediatric trauma multidisciplinary review and QI/PI processes. I plan to move into the role of associate trauma medical director for both the adult and pediatric programs this fall. Additionally, I am excited to start pediatric trauma video review at our institution in the upcoming months. The pediatric subtrack has given me a strong foundation to have a presence in pediatric trauma at our institution.
I would like to especially thank Dr. Mary Fallat for mentorship, and the members of the pediatric subtrack development team for their support - Drs. Nathan Mowery, John Petty, Stephanie Savage, Nancy Parks, Mary Edwards, Amelia Collings, and Jonathan Kohler.
If you are a resident/fellow interested in the AAST ACS fellowship pediatric subtrack, please reach out with any further questions (katherine_riera@urmc.rochester.edu). If you are an AAST ACS fellowship program director interested to become a pediatric subtrack site, please visit the AAST website (https://www.aast.org/acute-care-surgery-fellowship-subtracks) and contact Bridget Lindbloom (blindbloom@aast.org) for more information.
References:
Fallat, ME. Redefining Ladd’s Path. J Pediatr Surg. 2017; 52(1), p. 3-15.