Postgraduate Skills Courses

Saturday, October 7 | Sunday, October 8 | Monday, October 9
Tuesday, October 10 | Wednesday, October 11

Saturday, October 7, 2006

SC01: Mammography for the General Surgeon

5 credits, Verification Level I
Saturday, October 7 | 1:00–6:15 pm
Chair: Darius Francescatti, MD, FACS, Chicago, IL

Anticipated course registrants include practicing general surgeons and general surgery residents who are interested in developing a greater in-depth understanding of the art of mammographic interpretation. This one-day course will emphasize the acquisition of fundamental skills in viewing and analyzing the normal mammogram. In a stepwise fashion the characteristics of the abnormal mammogram will be delineated and categorized into analytic patterns. Mammographic calcifications, nodular density, asymmetry on mammography, and architectural distortion will be discussed. Pathologic to image correlation of mammographic images will be stressed. Breast sonography, a vital component in the analysis of image-detected breast cancer, will be incorporated into clinical scenarios to parallel more closely and reflect the decision-making process faced by general surgeons in practice today but will be used in this course solely as a correlative means of analysis. The important aspects of formulating a clinical treatment plan based on mammographic findings will be facilitated and reinforced by an interactive case presentation format between course participants and the surgical faculty.

Sponsored by the Committee on Emerging Surgical Technology and Education

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Sunday, October 8, 2006

SC02: Fundamentals of Breast Imaging for the General Surgeon

4 credits, Verification Level I
Sunday, October 8 | 8:00 am–12:15 pm
Chair: Darius Francescatti, MD, FACS, Chicago, IL

This course is an introductory (survey) course emphasizing the use of modern methods of breast imaging in the care of the breast patient. Anticipated registrants include the practicing general surgeon and general surgery resident interested in acquiring a foundational base in modern breast imaging modalities. Didactic course material will cover a wide range of imaging methodologies including mammography, breast sonography, magnetic resonance imaging, and the positron emission tomography scan. Emphasis will be directed to the use of mammography and breast sonography in the clinical assessment of the breast patient. Interactive audience participation will be facilitated by using clinical vignettes illustrating the necessity of clinical to pathologic to image correlation in establishing a diagnosis and treatment plan. The analysis and discussion of clinical vignettes will be incorporated by interactive audience participation with the course faculty.

Sponsored by the Committee on Emerging Surgical Technology and Education

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SC03: Surgical Education: Principles and Practice

6 credits, Verification Level I
Sunday, October 8 | 8:30 am–5:00 pm
Co-Chairs:
Mary Maniscalco-Theberge, Col., MD, FACS, Washington, DC
Michael R. Marohn, DO, FACS, Baltimore, MD

The objective of this course is to enhance the teaching skills of surgeons active in student and/or resident teaching. The principles of adult learning needs assessment, questioning and feedback skills, and performance evaluation will be reviewed. In addition, participants will develop a thorough understanding of the practical applications of these principles, both in and out of the operating room. This course includes a workshop with interactive, small group discussion.

Sponsored by the Committee on Continuous Professional Development

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SC04: Vascular Ultrasound: New Applications and Laboratory Management

7 credits, Verification Level II
Sunday, October 8 | 9:00 am–5:30 pm
Chair: David C. Han, MD, FACS, Hershey, PA

The objective of this course is to provide the practicing surgeon and surgeon-in-training with core education and training in the indications, techniques, advantages, and limitations of ultrasound examinations in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with vascular disease. Emphasis is given to those procedures that require surgeon involvement in image and Doppler signal acquisition. Topics to be covered include vascular ultrasound physics and the use of ultrasound in the diagnosis and treatment of carotid artery occlusive disease, abdominal aortic aneurysms, and venous disease. Special emphasis will be given to ultrasound-guided venous interventions as well as treatment of femoral pseudoaneurysms. Selected topics in vascular laboratory management will also be discussed, including billing and coding, data management and reporting, and credentialing and accreditation. The hands-on workshop skills session will provide the surgeon with an opportunity to apply new knowledge in order to obtain optimal ultrasound images to improve therapy and direct treatment.

Sponsored by the National Ultrasound Faculty

Fee includes workshop

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SC05: Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation

4 credits, Verification Level I
Sunday, October 8 | 1:00–5:15 pm
Chair: Peter Beitsch, MD, FACS, Dallas, TX

The objective of this course is to introduce the practicing general surgeon to the physics and principles, indications for, and technical aspects of catheter insertion and radiation delivery, as well as the initial outcomes from accelerated partial breast irradiation.

Sponsored by the Committee on Emerging Surgical Technology and Education

Fee includes workshop

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Monday, October 9, 2006

SC06: Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS)

No FLS Examination: 6 credits, Verification Level I
With FLS Examination: 6 credits, Verification Level III
Monday, October 9 | 9:45 am–5:15 pm
Co-Chairs:
Gerald Fried, MD, FACS, FRCSC, Montreal, QC
Nathaniel Soper, MD, FACS, Chicago, IL
Lee Swanstrom, MD, FACS, Portland, OR

The course will be based on the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) Program, a collaborative effort between the American College of Surgeons and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons. The introductory course will begin with an overview of the history, science, and development of the FLS Program. It will continue with various chapters from the FLS curriculum, such as physiology, intraoperative considerations, basic laparoscopic procedures, and procedural complications. Part of the course will cover the psychomotor and technical skills required in basic laparoscopic surgery. The course syllabus will outline the content of both FLS CD-ROMs and will include sample questions from the FLS test.

After completing the course, those participants who registered for the examination and received the advance materials will be able to take the FLS examination at the FLS testing center during the Clinical Congress. These candidates will receive the FLS CD-ROMs before the course and will be expected to review the materials. Other participants will be given the CD-ROMs at the time of the course. Approximately 10 FLS trainer boxes will be available for training and practice during breaks and at the conclusion of the course.

Those interested in taking the examination must register no later than September 18, 2006, in order to receive materials in advance of the course.

Sponsored by the Committee on Emerging Surgical Technology and Education

No FLS Examination

With FLS Examination

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SC07: Team Training in Surgery: Lessons from Aviation

6 credits, Verification Level I
Monday, October 9 | 9:45 am–5:15 pm
Co-Chairs:
Jack Barker, PhD, Miami, FL
Donald W. Moorman, MD, FACS, Boston, MA

Approximately 25 years ago, mechanically sound aircraft were crashing because of crew errors. To reduce these errors, Crew Resource Management (CRM) training, which emphasizes leadership and teamwork skills, was initiated. The goal of this course is to introduce surgeons and other team members such as anesthesiologists and nurses to the techniques that will help the team reduce errors. Topics will include team functioning and leadership models, communication techniques, error science, mental models, pre-and postoperative briefings, competence, and a culture of accountability. The format is interactive, allowing individuals several opportunities for hands-on teamwork practice. A team-training module from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center will be presented. Multidisciplinary teams from hospitals are welcome to attend and participate, which will help introduce team training into the teams’ medical centers.

Sponsored by the Committee on Emerging Surgical Technology and Education

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SC08: Using Advanced Multimedia in PowerPoint Presentations

6 credits, Verification Level I
Didactic and workshop
Monday, October 9 | 9:45 am–5:30 pm
Chair: William D. Hardin, Jr., MD, FACS, Birmingham, AL

The objective of this course is to teach participants how to use electronic multimedia tools to create a robust scientific presentation. Participants will spend a full day learning the aspects of creating a multimedia PowerPoint presentation, including the use of still images, sound, and video. They will learn how to publish and present this work in multiple media such as an auditorium presentation, a CD distribution, and on the World Wide Web. There will be one workstation for each participant.

Sponsored by the Committee on Informatics

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SC09: Breast Ultrasound

7.5 credits, Verification Level II
Monday, October 9 | 9:45 am–5:45 pm
Chair: Victor J. Zannis, MD, FACS, Phoenix, AZ

The objective of this course is to introduce the practicing general surgeon to a focused module in diagnostic and interventional breast ultrasound. The program will consist of lectures and hands-on skill stations using a variety of ultrasound equipment. Live models and phantom breast moulages will be used to develop skills in breast ultrasound imaging and ultrasound-guided breast biopsy.

Sponsored by the National Ultrasound Faculty

Fee includes workshop

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SC10: Lymphatic Mapping and the Significance of Sentinel Node Biopsy

7 credits, Verification Level I
Monday, October 9 | 9:45 am–5:45 pm
Chair: Armando E. Giuliano, MD, FACS, Santa Monica, CA

The objective of this course is to teach basic intellectual and practical aspects of sentinel lymph node dissection. Participants will learn about the use of sentinel node biopsy for melanoma and breast cancer. They will learn different techniques to perform the procedure and will understand the use of radioisotopes and lymphoscintigraphy. In addition, the histopathologic evaluation of sentinel node and the controversies surrounding special techniques will be discussed.

Sponsored by the Committee on Emerging Surgical Technology and Education

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Tuesday, October 10, 2006

SC11: Minimally Invasive Colorectal Surgery

Part I, Lectures: 6 credits, Verification Level I
Part II, Hands-On: 8 credits, Verification Level II
Tuesday, October 10 | 8:00 am–2:30 pm (Lectures)
Wednesday, October 11 | 8:00 am–5:00 pm (Hands-On)
Chair: Peter W. Marcello, MD, FACS, Burlington, MA

This course will review the role of laparoscopy in colorectal surgery and other techniques, including transanal endoscopic microsurgery and advanced endoscopic procedures. There will be a didactic session and a hands-on workshop.

Co-sponsored by the Committee on Emerging Surgical Technology and Education and the Advisory Council for Colon and Rectal Surgery

Part I, Lectures

Part II, Hands-On (approval of application for Part II and registration for Part I required)

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SC12: Preparing Your Community: How to Structure a Mass Casualty Disaster Response

7 credits, Verification Level I
Tuesday, October 10 | 7:30 am–4:30 pm
Chair: Jeffrey S. Hammond, MD, FACS, New Brunswick, NJ

A mass casualty disaster is a major manmade or natural event that produces such numbers of injured victims all at once that on-site medical resources are overwhelmed and unable to care for all, requiring external assistance. Societal infrastructure is disrupted. The most common and most likely disasters to confront us are those involving bodily injury, thus mandating the integral involvement of surgeons in planning and care. The medical management of true mass casualty disasters differs markedly from the routine care of injured patients in emergency rooms and trauma centers, requiring a paradigm change in concepts, approaches, and mindset. The purpose of this course is to educate surgeons in an all-hazards approach to the basic principles and practices of planning, organization, and medical care for this unique and challenging setting, including threat assessment, epidemiology, injury patterns, triage, incident command, available resources, and post-event recovery. A daylong seven-hour course is planned as a skills course, involving both didactic lectures and interactive disaster scenarios. Participants will learn the level of anticipation and decision making necessary for a successful disaster response.

Sponsored by the Committee on Trauma

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SC13: Laparoscopic and Open Intraoperative Ultrasound in Abdominal Surgery

8 credits, Verification Level II
Tuesday, October 10 | 8:00 am–5:30 pm
Co-Chairs:
Maurice E. Arregui, MD, FACS, Indianapolis, IN
Junji Machi, MD, FACS, Honolulu, HI

The objective of this course is to provide the practicing surgeon and surgical resident with basic, advanced, and updated education and training in abdominal ultrasound, as it is used in the diagnosis and treatment of abdominal diseases. Laparoscopic and open intraoperative ultrasound is the main focus of the course, although human transabdominal ultrasound scanning will be practiced to understand the normal anatomy of abdominal organs. This one-day course will consist of lectures and individual hands-on sessions. Human models, excised liver, and phantom moulages, including new abdominal ultrasound phantoms, will be used to develop skills in laparoscopic and open intraoperative ultrasound imaging and ultrasound-guided procedures. Endoscopic ultrasound will also be discussed.

Sponsored by the National Ultrasound Faculty

Fee includes workshop

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SC14: The Minimally Invasive Approach to Breast Biopsy: Stereotactic Technique and Application

8 credits, Verification Level II
Tuesday, October 10 | 7:30 am–5:00 pm
Chair: Philip Z. Israel, MD, FACS, Marietta, GA

The objective of this course is to introduce the surgeon to the principles and practice of stereotactic biopsy as a minimal access means of obtaining tissue samples for diagnosing indeterminate or suspicious mammographic lesions. An overview of radiation safety issues as related to stereotaxis, as well as the technical efficacy and cost analysis of stereotactic versus other alternatives, will be presented. It is highly recommended that the postgraduate skills course Fundamentals of Breast Imaging for the General Surgeon (SC02) be taken prior to this course.

Sponsored by the Committee on Emerging Surgical Technology and Education

Fee includes workshop

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SC15: The Personal Data Assistant (PDA)

6.5 credits, Verification Level I
Tuesday, October 10 | 8:30 am–4:30 pm
Chair: M. Michael Shabot, MD, FACS, Los Angeles, CA

This hands-on computer course will highlight the role of personal data assistants (PDAs) and the use of interactive information for the surgeon’s daily practice. The workshop session is designed for beginners who have never owned or used a PDA and will feature a hands-on use of PDAs by the participants. The use of the ACS case logging system will also be covered in this course. A PDA will be provided to participants.

Sponsored by the Committee on Informatics

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SC16: Ultrasound Course for Residents

5 credits, Verification Level II
Tuesday, October 10 | 12:00 noon–5:30 pm
Co-Chairs:
Heidi Lee Frankel, MD, FACS, Dallas, TX
M. Margaret Knudson, MD, FACS, San Francisco, CA

This course is intended to provide residents in training with an introduction to ultrasound and to the basic skills needed to use ultrasound during their rotations. This course includes didactic sessions in the physics of ultrasound instrumentation, scanning techniques, and clinical applications. The hands-on stations will provide practice in breast, vascular, abdominal, chest, neck, and FAST examination as well as interventional procedures including ultrasound guidance.

Sponsored by the National Ultrasound Faculty

Fee includes workshop

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Wednesday, October 11, 2006

SC17: Ultrasound Instructors Course

4 credits, Verification Level III
Wednesday, October 11 | 8:00 am–12:30 pm
Chair: Reid B. Adams, MD, FACS, Charlottesville, VA

This course is designed to provide learners with the didactic information and hands-on experience necessary to develop and offer an American College of Surgeons ultrasound course in their institution or through one of their member societies. This course offers the “how to” for setting up a course. The candidate instructors also go through a proctored teaching exercise to ensure they possess the requisite skills for teaching this material.

Sponsored by the National Ultrasound Faculty

Fee includes workshop

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SC18: Thyroid and Parathyroid Ultrasound

7 credits, Verification Level II
Wednesday, October 11 | 8:00 am–4:30 pm
Chair: Robert A. Sofferman, MD, FACS, Burlington, VT

The objective of this course is to introduce the practicing surgeon to office-based examination of the thyroid and parathyroid glands and related pathology. The distinction of normal from malignant lymphadenopathy will be emphasized with a demonstration of the comprehensive examination of lymph node basins in cervical zones I–VI. The process of ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (FNA) of thyroid nodules and enlarged lymph nodes will be demonstrated in didactic lecture format. In addition, the hands-on skill sessions will allow the surgeon to learn varied techniques of FNA in phantom models. Patient volunteers with thyroid and parathyroid pathology and normal glands will be used for the skill sessions. A DVD demonstrating real-time examination of the salivary glands, cervical lymph nodes, and normal and abnormal thyroid and parathyroid lesions will be given to the course participant for his or her future reference. Credentialing and coding issues will also be discussed.

Sponsored by the National Ultrasound Faculty

Fee includes workshop

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SC19: Bariatric Surgery for All Surgeons

8 credits, Verification Level I
Wednesday, October 11 | 8:00 am–5:00 pm
Chair: Henry Buchwald, MD, PhD, FACS, Minneapolis, MN

This intense, one-day course is planned for the bariatric surgeon, the aspiring bariatric surgeon, and for nonbariatric surgeons who want to learn more about the specialty of bariatric surgery and who may have occasion to treat bariatric patients. The course will feature didactic presentations, including operative videos, discussion panels, and a special lecture from the president of the International Federation for Surgery of Obesity. The participants in this continuation course will learn the background data for the surgical management of morbid obesity (etiology, prevalence, comorbidities, energy metabolism, and biochemistry); the technique, mortality and morbidity, long-term problems, and results for the current bariatric procedures (laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding, standard and long-limb Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, biliopancreatic diversion/duodenal switch, and sleeve gastrectomy); about experimental bariatric procedures (pacing and balloons); about bariatric surgery for the elderly and for children; and emergency care of the bariatric patient. In addition, the participant will be introduced to the role of the bariatrician and allied health personnel. Finally, outcomes of bariatric surgery, cost/benefit and life expectancy after bariatric surgery, and the role of the public and media will be discussed. Although bariatric surgery is being performed increasingly by laparoscopic technique, there are excellent data questioning the validity of this trend; this question will be addressed in a debate.

Sponsored by the Committee on Emerging Surgical Technology and Education

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SC20: Advanced Technology in Image-Guided Diagnosis and Treatment of the Breast for Ultrasound and Stereotactic Imaging

8 credits, Verification Level II
Wednesday, October 11 | 8:00 am–5:30 pm
Chair: Richard E. Fine, MD, FACS, Marietta, GA

Advances have been made in the technology used to diagnose and treat diseases of the breast. One of the biggest advances is the increased use of ultrasound imaging for diagnosis and therapeutic, minimally invasive procedures using stereotactic and ultrasound guidance. This course will offer participants an opportunity to learn about three specific image-guided procedures: (1) Breast biopsy devices, which include needle core devices, vacuum-assisted devices, and large intact-sample devices; participants will learn about the indications for biopsy and therapeutic potential demonstrated through case examples of varying lesion types (such as calcifications versus masses and probably benign versus highly suspicious). (2) Image-guided assisted lumpectomy; participants will learn about the use of intraoperative ultrasound along with localization devices placed with image guidance (ultrasound, stereo, and magnetic resonance imaging) to improve margins and reexcision rates. (3) Image-guided ablative therapy for benign and malignant disease; participants will learn about cryoablation, radio-frequency, laser, and microwave. In addition, participants will learn about the dilemmas surgeons face in using image-guided technology for biopsy, specifically dealing with difficult lesions, patients and pathology, and image interpretation to indicate the need for surgery. Finally, participants will learn about the credentialing and certification process required for surgeons to use stereotactic and ultrasound technology.

Sponsored by the National Ultrasound Faculty

Fee includes workshop

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SC21: Computers and the Internet for the Practicing Surgeon

5.5 credits, Verification Level I
Wednesday, October 11 | 8:30 am–3:30 pm
Chair: Ronald B. Hirschl, MD, FACS, Ann Arbor, MI

This workshop-only, hands-on computer course will educate the surgeon on how to use the Internet in one's daily practice, including the use of search engines; how to access the literature; available resources for evidence-based medicine and decision support, educational and clinical tools, drug databases; the ACS portal; and case activity log.

Sponsored by the Committee on Informatics

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