The mission of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Operation Giving Back (OGB) program is to leverage the passion, skills, and humanitarian ethos of the surgical community to effectively meet the needs of medically underserved populations. OGB is sponsoring or supporting the following sessions and activities at this year’s Clinical Congress. Surgeons at all stages of their career and in all specialties are encouraged to participate in these sessions.
OGB hosted a Didactic Course, Global Health Competencies for Surgeons: Cognitive and System Skills, aimed at helping participants gain an understanding of the concepts essential for volunteering in low-resource surgical environments. This course helped prepare international volunteers to understand characteristics of situational ethics, cultural competency, tropical diseases relevant to surgery, personal preparedness and health considerations, responsibilities as health professionals, and the scope of essential surgical procedures as defined by the Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition.
The following OGB sessions will take place at Clinical Congress:
Monday
9:45–11:15 am
Humanitarian Surgical Outreach at Home and Abroad: Reports of the 2019 Volunteerism and Humanitarian Award Winners
Moscone Center South, 154
This plenary session will showcase the 2019
ACS/Pfizer Surgical Volunteerism and Humanitarian Award recipients, who will share insights into their motivations, accomplishments, and lessons learned in humanitarian surgical outreach. As innovators and leaders in surgical outreach, the honorees’ stories will offer a robust portrayal of this complex work. Together, they will form the basis for a lively question-and-answer segment at the conclusion of the session.
11:30 am –1:00 pm
Global Engagement
Moscone Center South, 153
The Global Engagement Panel Session will highlight various ongoing projects through OGB, including collaborations between ACS and the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA) to build workforce capacity in the region and promote the training of women surgeons, and the ACS OGB-Puerto Rico project to provide surgical care to uninsured persons on the island of Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
1:00–2:00 pm
Medical Student Global Surgery Interest Group Meeting
This meeting is open to medical student members interested in global surgery.
2:00–3:00 pm
RAS Global Surgery Interest Group Meeting
This meeting is open to Resident and Association Society members interested in global surgery.
3:00–5:00 pm
Global Surgery Program Leaders Meeting
This meeting is open to academic global surgery leaders.
4:15–5:45 pm
Global Surgery and Humanitarian Outreach I
Moscone Center North, 21
This Scientific Forum session is dedicated to global surgery and humanitarian outreach.
6:00–7:30 pm
OGB Reception
Tuesday
8:00–9:30 am
No Woman No Care: The Case to Incorporate Women into the Global Surgery Workforce
Moscone Center South, 154
This Panel Session will describe gender imbalances in the surgical and obstetric workforce in low- and middle-income countries and discuss strategies for increasing female representation. Without raising the number of women in surgery globally, we will be unable to address the significant workforce deficit that leads to inadequate access to surgical care worldwide.
9:45–11:15 am
Multifaceted Approach to Humanitarian Medical Outreach and Capacity Building:
Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Moscone Center West, 2002–2004
This session will address how to design an integrated approach to humanitarian outreach using best practices in quality, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and optimal service delivery.
4:15–5:45 pm
What Works? Success in Global Surgical System Strengthening: From Problems to Solutions
Moscone Center South, 301–302
This Panel Session will focus moving beyond problem recognition to impactful solution implementation in the realm of global surgery. Through a critical assessment of success stories and pitfalls, participants will learn to identify scalable tactics, reduce duplicative efforts, and facilitate collaborations.
Wednesday
7:00–7:45 am
Global Surgery and Opportunities for the Young Surgeon: How Can I Get Involved?
Moscone Center North, 20
Participants in this Town Hall will be able to identify opportunities for young surgeons in global surgery, understand challenges in this career path, and describe advantages of global surgery for personal and professional growth.
7:00–9:00 am
OGB Committee Meeting
9:45–11:15 am
#GlobalSurgery: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on Harnessing the Power of Social Media
Moscone Center South, 153
Social media provides opportunities for the global surgeon to maximize patient education, media promotion, evaluation, collaboration, and publications. This Panel Session will shed light on the diverse uses of social media in global surgery work and how such platforms can foster connectivity and collaboration.
12:45–2:15 pm
Global Surgery and Humanitarian Outreach II
Moscone Center South, 152
This Scientific Forum session is dedicated to global surgery and humanitarian outreach.
2:30–4:00 pm
Global Surgery and Humanitarian Outreach III
Moscone Center North, 20
This Scientific Forum session is dedicated to global surgery and humanitarian outreach.