MOST INTERESTING CASE PRESENTATIONS

ELIGIBILITY 
The competition is open to all general surgery residents and surgical specialty residents. Medical students are not eligible. Having presented at the national level is not a disqualifier to submitting an abstract.

Send two copies of each abstract to be presented (one blind copy with only the paper’s title for judging and one version with the principal author’s name, institution, phone, and e-mail address) to the SW PA Chapter Office by Monday, April 26, 2021.  The abstracts will be reviewed with a number being selected for presentation at the May 17th event.  Each selected presenter will be notified in early May. 

Presentations will be judged by a panel of surgeons with cash prizes awarded to the top three “Most Interesting Cases.”  1^st Place $500, 2^nd Place $300, 3^rd Place $200

The “Most Interesting” case will be submitted for publication in the ACS Case Reviews in Surgery.

The recently launched ACS Case Reviews in Surgery (ACS Case Reviews) publishes case reports in various surgical specialties six times a year. The content of each case report should be something of interest to practicing surgeons and describe experiences that may not be routinely seen or was treated in a unique fashion. Case reports that involve patients who have common surgical problems—where the clinical presentation and/or challenges of management produced knowledge and insights that have educational value—are also worthy of submission to ACS Case Reviews. Case reports will be reviewed with the understanding that the work has not been published by, and is not under consideration at, any other journal. All manuscripts are peer reviewed.

As per submission guidelines, residents can submit to ACS Case Reviews if an ACS Fellow is included as one of the case report authors. Chapters would judge submitted entries and the winner of the competition would receive guaranteed review of the publication in ACS Case Reviews and a free one-year subscription to the journal (annual subscriptions are $125 with CME and $75 without CME).

SPECIFICATIONS FOR PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS

• The abstract should be no more than one page (approximately 500 words) and provide adequate information and objective data to evaluate the abstract properly.
• The abstract should be submitted electronically, preferably as a Word document or PDF. It is permissible to single-space the abstract.
• At the top of the first page, the full title of the abstract and full name of the principal author, with academic degrees, are to be stated.
• At the bottom of the first page, a footnote should be included to provide the principal author’s mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail address. This contact information is very important.
• A short video can be included as part of your submission
• Abstracts not submitted in this manner will not be accepted

Abstracts are to be submitted to MIC2021@acms.org.  Any questions, please contact Michelle Besanceney at 412/321-5030 or michelle@acms.org.

Download a PDF to share 

In an effort to simplify the sharing of legislative activity taking place in the states, the ACS has created dashboards of all the bills and issue that are tracking with break downs by state, legislative process, etc.

https://www.quorum.us/dashboard/external/cyrvUhlUDyYJvaQGxXlQ/

This is a live link with links to other issue specific dashboards that will update as new bills are added or bills move along the process.

Well-being affects how engaged you feel with your patients, colleagues, work, and social support system. It drives your sense of professional and personal sense of purpose, confidence, mental and emotional energy, physical health, and much more. Well-being needs to be fostered at all levels—from individual to systemic as well as throughout a surgeon’s entire career. Join us for... Reframing Surgeon Well-Being: How the Trauma Model Informs Approaches to Well-Being Solutions at Systemic Levels Wednesday, January 20 | 3:00–4:00 pm CT This webinar will apply the trauma model to surgeon well-being and address various issues, factors, and drivers at all levels of well-being and an organization. Panelists will also discuss the cultural and environmental change needed to prioritize well-being, highlight new perspectives to de-stigmatize surgeon well-being, and share experiences of engaging leadership to prioritize well-being.

Details and Registration

U.S. Senators John Boozman (R-AR), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Tom Cotton (R-AR), and Susan Collins (R-ME) on December 10 introduced the Holding Providers Harmless from Medicare Cuts During COVID-19 Act of 2020 (S.5007) in the U.S. Senate. A version of the bill (H.R. 8702) was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year. The legislation would provide a critical lifeline for two years to specialties facing drastic Medicare payment cuts on January 1, 2021.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services calendar year 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule affirmed new policy changes that are detrimental to surgeons and surgical patients. Starting in the new year, CMS plans to increase the payment levels for stand-alone office and outpatient E/M codes, which will result in payment cuts to specialty medicine due to statutory requirements for budget neutrality under the MPFS. H.R. 8702/S. 5007 would provide a payment adjustment to surgeons and other medical specialties, ensuring surgeons will not see payment cuts next year.

Visit SurgeonsVoice to take action to urge your Member of Congress to cosponsor H.R. 8702/S. 5007!

For more information on legislative action related to the Medicare payment cuts, contact Carrie Zlatos, ACS Senior Congressional Lobbyist, at czlatos@facs.org.

Interesting Topics in Surgery

We are seeking speakers to tell us their interesting topics in surgery.  This is an open oration looking for participants to offer insight into new research fields, ideas, stories, or perspectives on meaningful work, wellness, or surgical purpose.

This event is virtual and requires you to create an 8-10 minute power point with voice over. 

SPEAKER GUIDELINES

Download Guidelines

You should have something truly important or unique to share and any surgical talk that profoundly challenges us to think differently on big issues or offers unique solutions to problems are encouraged.  Pivotal research or techniques may be discussed.

Speakers should tell a story or argue for an idea. You may not use the speech to sell products, promote yourself, books, webinars, consulting practices, or businesses. Every talk’s content must be original and give credit where appropriate. Speakers cannot plagiarize or impersonate other persons, living or dead.

TALK GUIDELINES

Speakers should be able to communicate in a 10 min speaking slot.  Videos within the presentation are not permitted.

  Slide 1:  title slide

  Slide 2:  your name, photo, PGY-year and where you are doing your residency

  Create an 8-10-minute power point with voice over and format as an MP4.

For recording your slide presentation with narration, please see the

instruction to access the following URL.

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/record-a-slide-show-withnarration-and-slide-timings-0b9502c6-5f6c-40ae-b1e7-e47d8741161c

Then, please make your file in the format of MP4.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/turn-your-presentation-into-avideo-c140551f-cb37-4818-b5d4-3e30815c3e83?ui=en-us&rs=enus&ad=us

SUBMISSION INFORMATION

Submissions must be sent to itis@acms.org by February 15, 2020.

Selected orations will be presented at the virtual seminar on March 1, 2020.

If you have questions, please contact the ACS-SWPA office at acs-swpa@acms.org

With the resurgence across the country of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) case numbers across the country, our societal vigilance on physical distancing and personal protection must be maintained and strengthened while waiting for the availability of safe and effective vaccines as well as other preventative and therapeutic measures. As we head into the coming months, the American College of Surgeons believes there should be a consistent policy that protects essential medical services including surgery.

Surgeons have been at the forefront of patient care throughout the pandemic, redeploying to care for patients in intensive care units and emergency departments, as well as leading hospital responses to responding to COVID-19. Surgeons continue to care for COVID-19 patients while also handling surgical patient care.

Complete Article

Nuances of patient characteristics demand a sophisticated approach to pain management.

Master the complexities of perioperative pain management with the real-life strategies highlighted in this new online program. Challenging patient scenarios across preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative periods are used to demonstrate the array of pain management approaches essential for effective surgical care.

The course includes eight interactive, case-based modules:

 

1. Understanding Pain Mechanisms
2. Risks of Perioperative Opioids
3. Expectation Setting
4. Multimodal Pain Therapy
5. Outpatient Postoperative Opioid Prescribing
6. Pre-Existing Opioid Use
7. Substance Misuse History
8. Pain Management at the End of Life: Final Hours to Days

Detail and Registration

The recent virtual ACS Clinical Congress 2020 was a remarkable success! More than 30,000 people—nearly 16,000 of whom were international—registered to participate in this free surgical education event, which offered attendees cutting-edge content that focused on the latest scientific advances in surgery, contemporary surgical practice, systems of surgical care, quality and outcomes, leadership, patient safety, surgical education, and more. And the entire content of the virtual Clinical Congress and the opportunity to earn more than 200 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ will be available through December 31, 2020!

The program included Named Lectures, the Symposium of the Academy of Master Surgeon Educators, Special Sessions on timely topics, Panel Sessions, Scientific Forum Sessions, Video-based Education Sessions, Posters, and sessions aimed at surgical trainees and medical students. The different formats were aimed at facilitating learning and supporting the transfer of new knowledge and skills to surgical practice. The on-demand system allows selection and saving of sessions of interest for future access based on learning needs.

More Info

 

Faculty Research Scholarship

The American College of Surgeons is offering two-year faculty research fellowships, through the generosity of Fellows, Chapters, and friends of the College, to surgeons entering academic careers in surgery or a surgical specialty. The fellowship is to assist a surgeon in the establishment of their research program under mentorship with the goal of transitioning to becoming an independent investigator. Applicants should have demonstrated their potential to work as independent investigators. The fellowship award is $40,000 per year for each of two years, to support the research. The deadline is November 30, 2020.

Full details are available here: https://www.facs.org/member-services/scholarships/research/acsfaculty.

Attention Chapter Members

The American College of Surgeons, SWPA Chapter has made updates to the bylaws of the organization. 

A complete copy is available here.  2020-Bylaws-Final-For-Approval.pdf

Changes have been highlighted to help you review the new language.

Watch your email November 1st for your ballot to approve the revised bylaws.

Please contact us at acs-swpa@acms.org if you have any questions about these updates.