The ACSrecently launched a new Strategic Plan, designed to advance organizational priorities and provide value to surgeons, the profession, and the patients they serve. The plan has four pillars and one foundational concept. This week, the ACSBrief highlights the second pillar.聽
Pillar 2: Revolutionize and Educate
The second pillar of the ACSStrategic Plan is focused on updating, expanding, and transforming ACSeducational resources for surgeons.
The ACScontinues to innovate and update evidence-based courses for use across the entire trajectory of surgical training and practice. Forthcoming launches include the 11th edition of Advanced Trauma Life Support庐 (ATLS庐), Surgical Education and Self-Assessment Program (SESAP庐) 19 and SESAP庐 19 Advanced, and resources for resident assessment, including the Objective Assessment of Skills in Surgery (OASIS), which uses simulation-based stations to measure resident performance, and a new Senior Resident Readiness Assessment (SRRA) complementing the ACSEntering Resident Readiness Assessment (ERRA).聽
Additionally, expanded offerings at ACSconferences, including Clinical Congress, will offer personalized education and new skills courses. Finally, an updated ACSartificial intelligence/machine learning course will help ensure surgeons can use this technology rigorously and safely.
Revolutionizing means extending this work beyond individual courses to update the systems and methods underlying all ACSeducational resources. The ACSis modernizing all educational platforms and content, so more surgeons can access personalized, relevant offerings. This includes the new MyATLS app, Current Trends in General Surgery online course, ACSIntegrated Curriculum for Surgical Education (ACSINCISE) medical student platform and will include a new Cancer Operative Standards webinar series coming soon.
This pillar also includes fostering greater collaborations with a wide range of specialty organizations to educate surgeons and surgical trainees. This incorporates increasing the impact of the annual Surgical Simulation Summit and related simulation courses; extending more educational opportunities to surgeons in sub-Saharan Africa via the ACSsurgical volunteerism initiative, ACSH.O.P.E.; expanding the popular Surgeons as Educators and Surgeons as Leaders courses; combining the annual ACSCancer Conference with the ACSQuality and Safety Conference to ensure the greatest value for attendees; and more.
This pillar of the ACSStrategic Plan will help surgeons advance their clinical skills by providing the rigorous learning they need to meet their patients鈥� needs.
Read more:
Introducing the New ACSStrategic Plan 鈥� Executive Director鈥檚 Update (July/August 2025 Bulletin)
Pillar 1: Advance Patient-Centered Care and Surgical Quality (August 5 ACSBrief)
Additional articles addressing the two remaining pillars and foundation of the plan will be published in the coming weeks.
