Three Special Sessions on timely, late-breaking topics to be offered at Clinical Congress 2021

The Virtual Clinical Congress 2021 will feature three Special Sessions to be held at 12:00 noon Central Time Monday, October 25, through Wednesday, October 27. Detailed descriptions of these Special Sessions follow.

Monday, October 25

SL341 — Surgery Residency Training beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic: Perspectives from the ACS Academy of Master Surgeon Educators™

The 2021 Symposium of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Academy of Master Surgeon Educators will highlight perspectives from the Academy regarding future transformational changes in surgery residency training that will result from the work of the Academy’s Special Committee to Address Challenges and Opportunities Relating to Surgery Residency Training during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Leaders of the Subcommittees and the Editorial Review Group of the Academy’s Special Committee will highlight the work of their groups, and leaders of the Academy will share their vision for the future.

Presentations at the symposium will describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on surgery residency training during various phases of the pandemic, especially with regard to residents, medical students, and faculty; highlight the novel education and training methods that have been successfully adopted by surgery residency programs during the pandemic; describe the organizational adaptations to address challenges associated with the pandemic and define strategies to ensure optimal surgery residency training during future crises; and discuss the peer-reviewed online educational resources developed by the Academy during the pandemic and strategies to maintain and advance these resources in the future.

Tuesday, October 26

SL442 — Should COVID-19 Vaccination Be Mandatory?

As we emerge from the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, the question has arisen whether vaccination, widely accepted among public health experts as the optimal pathway to safely returning to normal life, should be mandatory. With the rapid evolution of new and potentially more virulent or more contagious variants, the issue of vaccination of the population has received significant national attention. This timely session will feature a point-counterpoint debate by experts on surgical ethics as to whether vaccination against COVID-19 should be mandatory.

Wednesday, October 27

SL544 — Late-Breaking Quality Initiatives in Surgery

This session will feature ACS leaders who will discuss four Quality Programs being released by the College: The ACS Quality Improvement Course; the Quality Verification Program; the Geriatric Surgery Verification Program; and the ACS Value-Based Surgery Program, THRIVE (Transforming Healthcare Resources to Increase Value and Efficiency). This session will highlight these new programs and how surgeons can further improve the care they provide through participation in these initiatives.