American College of Surgeons
The American College of Surgeons is an educational association of surgeons created in 1913[1] to improve the quality of care for the surgical patient by setting high standards for surgical education and practice.
Membership
Members of the American College of Surgeons are referred to as "Fellows." The letters FACS (Fellow, American College of Surgeons) after a surgeon's name mean that the surgeon's education and training, professional qualifications, surgical competence, and ethical conduct have passed a rigorous evaluation, and have been found to be consistent with the high standards established and demanded by the College.
The American College of Surgeons also has membership categories for Associate Fellows (provides an opportunity for surgeons who are beginning surgical practice and who meet specific requirements to assume an active role in the College at an early stage in their careers), surgical residents, medical students, and allied health care professionals who are not surgeons, but who interact with surgical patients.
As of 2008, total membership was over 75,000 including more than 4,000 members from outside the US and Canada, and more than 2,600 Associate Fellows. Fellows of the College are organized into 100 chapters. There are 65 chapters in the United States, 2 in Canada, 3 in Mexico, and 30 in other countries around the world.
The ACS elected its first black Fellow, Dr Louis T. Wright, in 1934.[2]
Major Activities of the College
- Sponsors a variety of continuing medical education programs, such as the annual Clinical Congress, to help surgeons keep abreast of the latest information on surgical subjects.
- Conducts various programs through its Commission on Cancer to improve the care of the cancer patient. Promotes a program that encourages hospitals to develop programs for optimal care of cancer patients and to seek, on a voluntary basis, College approval of these programs.
- Through its Committee on Trauma, works to improve the care of injured and critically ill patients--before, en route to, and during hospitalization. Conducts training courses in emergency care for ambulance personnel; sponsors courses for the management and prevention of injuries for trauma specialists as well as for physicians who do not treat trauma victims on a regular basis; and works to encourage hospitals to upgrade their trauma care capabilities. Maintains a voluntary verification/consultation program for trauma centers.
- Monitors and analyzes socioeconomic, legislative, and regulatory issues affecting the field of surgery through its Advocacy and Health Policy and Washington (DC) Office. Participates in policy development on these issues and prepares responses to Congress and federal agencies.
- Serves as a sponsoring organization for the Residency Review Committees for Colon and Rectal Surgery, Neurological Surgery, Otolaryngology, Plastic Surgery, Surgery (General Surgery), Thoracic Surgery, and Urology. Supports postdoctoral education in surgery through several scholarship programs.
- Through its Office of Public Information, provides public education services to patients with general information to help them make informed decisions about surgical care, and distributes a brochure series on frequently performed surgical procedures. Sponsors a national advertising campaign to inform the public about selecting a surgeon who is trained and board-certified in an approved surgical specialty. The Office also maintains a patient education Web site, developed by the College's Division of Education, to help surgical patients and their families make informed decisions about surgical care.
- The College has developed the Surgical Education and Self-Assessment Program (SESAP) to provide practicing surgeons with an excellent resource for lifelong learning. SESAP is based on the opinions of expert surgeons, and the published literature, and may be used to stay current, earn CME credits, or prepare for certification or recertification.
- Through the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program and the Bariatric Surgery Center Network Accreditation Program, the College promotes the highest standards of surgical care through evaluation of surgical outcomes in clinical practice.
- Established to augment the College’s ability to analyze issues and develop well-informed position statements, the ACS Health Policy Research Institute enhances the College’s presence in legislative and policymaking efforts that affect surgeons and their patients. Currently based in Chapel Hill, NC, at the University of North Carolina, one of the Institute’s first projects was studying surgical workforce issues that are currently and will, in the future, affect the care of patients around the country.
- The ACS recognizes excellence, innovation and service among its members with the Distinguished Service Award (established in 1957) as well as the Jacobson Innovation Award (established in 1994).
Publications
- The Journal of the American College of Surgeons, the College's official scientific journal, is published monthly.
- The Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons is the College's monthly news magazine for its Fellows. It contains articles that the surgeon finds helpful in the daily practice of his or her profession, columns and articles that highlight and analyze socioeconomic trends, major addresses given at the Clinical Congress, a news section, and detailed reports on College activities.
- Surgery News, the College’s official monthly newspaper, provides concise, cutting-edge reports from clinical meetings; information on the politics affecting the surgical profession and the socioeconomic scene in Washington, DC, and at the state level; FDA actions and the results of clinical trials; expert commentary; reports on the business aspects of surgical practice today; and news from the College itself.
- ACS NewsScope is a weekly electronic newsletter for Fellows of the American College of Surgeons and other interested individuals.
- Annually, the College produces more than 350 publications that focus on ways to improve surgical practice. Among the College's many publications are a professional liability/risk management manual, a practice management manual, socioeconomic publications, ACS position statements, guidelines for trauma care, cancer program publications, information on the operating room environment, guidelines for optimal office-based surgery, and a manual on the impaired surgeon.
Fictional portrayals
Drs. Kelly Brackett (Robert Fuller) and Joe Early (Bobby Troup) on the popular 1970s television series Emergency! were both listed as being Fellows of the American College of Surgeons.
In the season eight M*A*S*H episode "Stars and Stripes", Drs. B.J. Hunnicutt (Mike Farrell) and Charles Emerson Winchester III (David Ogden Stiers) are selected to write a paper for the College describing their efforts saving a soldier's life.
See also
Citations
- ^ American College of Surgeons Online - "What is the American College of Surgeons?"
- ^ Medicine: Negro Fellow. Time Magazine, 29th October 1934. [1]
External links