American College Of Surgeons

Programs: The mission of the acs division of research and optimal patient care (dropc) is to improve the quality of surgical care by enabling all surgeons to apply the best scientific evidence available in all aspects of their daily practice with respect, compassion, and dignity for all patients. The dropc promotes the practice of evidence-based surgery by developing new knowledge through basic and clinical research, the setting and verification of standards, development of best practices and guidelines, educational activities, and the collection and measurement of outcomes. The dropc is comprised of three focus areas: 1. Cancer - the commission on cancer (coc) is a consortium of professional organizations dedicated to improving survival and quality of life for cancer patients through standard-setting, prevention, research, education, and the monitoring of comprehensive quality care. The coc accreditation program sets standards for quality, multidisciplinary cancer care delivered in more than 1,500 hospital settings in the united states and puerto rico. Other coc programs include the cancer physician liaison program, the national accreditation program for breast centers, and the national cancer database. 2. Trauma - the committee on trauma (cot) and the trauma programs staff oversee and support various didactic and experiential trauma courses, the national trauma registry, the national trauma data bank, the stop the bleed awareness campaign, the verification/consultation program for hospitals, the trauma system consultation program, and regional trauma organization of state/provincial activities. The cot is also active in pre-hospital trauma care, injury prevention and control, performance improvement and patient safety, rural trauma, disaster management, and outcomes studies. 3. Continuous quality improvement (cqi) - the dropc's continuous quality improvement (qi) programs provide the infrastructure for several qi programs, as well as for conducting health services research, clinical research, laboratory research, meta-analyses, clinical trials, outcome studies, research hypothesis generation, and the development of evidence-based practice guidelines. The major qi programs within cqi include the acs national surgical quality improvement program (acs nsqip) and the acs bariatric surgery center network (acs bscn).

educational programs - the college's educational programs help meet the needs of surgeons, surgery residents, medical students and patients. The programs provide surgeons with opportunities for maintenance of certification, for lifelong learning, and for meeting the core competencies. In addition to providing continuing medical education activities, the division of education has developed patient educational materials relative to surgical care. Division efforts include staffing numerous education committees and the following programs: the acs clinical congress is an annual educational conference for surgeons, including four days of lectures, panel sessions, postgraduate courses, presentations of scientific papers and research, video-based education sessions, and other educational activities. In october 2016, attendance at the clinical congress included over 12,000 physicians. The publication, selected readings in general surgery (srgs), provides a broad, topic-oriented analysis of the current surgical literature and is available in print, online and cd-rom formats. Srgs reviews the entire specialty of surgery every two to three years for surgery residents and practicing surgeons, and has approximately 2,800 - 3,000 subscribers. The web-based program entitled fundamentals of laparoscopic surgery (fls) is a joint program of the american college of surgeons and the society of american gastrointestinal and endoscopic surgeons (sages). Fls is a comprehensive education module designed to teach and assess proficiency in the domains of physiology, fundamental knowledge, and technical skills required for basic laparoscopic surgery. The program was distributed to over 1,500 surgery residents, fellows, and practicing surgeons during the past fiscal year.

the college has a member services division. Through member services, the college continues to remain a major professional association, with over 80,000 members. The diverse membership represents all surgical specialists, and member surgeons are provided with programs and services that help them adapt to a changing health care environment. The division evaluates all applications for fellowship based upon defined fellowship requirements for practicing surgeons, as well as admits associate fellow, resident, medical student and affiliate members. The division also staffs several committees including the international relations committee, scholarships committee, and 13 surgical specialty advisory councils. The division supports the 270 board of governors who advise and council the board of regents, and supports the activities of 112 domestic and international chapters.

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