The Division of Education welcomes abstract submissions to the following programs to be considered for presentation at the 94th Annual Clinical Congress, October 12-16, 2008 in San Francisco, CA.

Abstracts are to be submitted on-line only. Submission period: January 2, 2008 - 5:00 p.m. (CST), March 1, 2008. Late submissions are not permitted. Abstract specifications and requirements are posted on the ACS web site at http://www.facs.org/. Duplicate submissions (one abstract submitted to more than one program) are not permitted.

Abstract Program information (20K PDF)

Surgical Forum (oral presentation):
contact Kathryn L. Matousek at (312) 202-5336, or kmatousek@facs.org;
Papers Session (oral presentation):
contact Beth Brown at (312) 202-5325, or ebrown@facs.org;
Scientific Exhibits (poster presentation):
contact Kay Anthony at (312) 202-5385, or kanthony@facs.org;
Video-Based Education (video presentation):
contact Gay Lynn Dykman at (312) 202-5262 or gdykman@facs.org

Sunday, October 12, 2008  RAS Annual Meeting

9am – 12 noon

Moscone Convention Center, San Francisco

All Resident and Associate Fellow members are welcome to attend this annual meeting where committees are formed, goals are set, and a new secretary is elected.

2008 RAS Symposium:
"Economics of Medicine: Is it Threatening Surgical Education?"

Sunday, October 12, 2008 | 1:00–4:00 pm
Location: Moscone Convention Center

Department of Surgery Chairs are no longer just MDs.  They are MBAs, PhDs, and JDs.  Each has varied interests.  Also, the current healthcare environment is squeezing the profit out of surgical practice.  This reduction in profit prevents many practices from being solvent and makes it difficult for surgeons to cover the costs of the practice (i.e. staffing, insurance, supplies, etc.). These economic pressures can be distracting to busy surgeons or even force them out of academia and teaching environments. The Resident and Associate Society (RAS) poses the question:  "The Economics of Medicine: Is it Threatening Surgical Education?" The combination of these and other pressures forces departments to run like a business and for private practitioners to become more selective about the patient profiles they treat.  The essence of the question posed by the 2008 RAS-ACS Symposium is:  Are these challenges insurmountable or do they force the field of surgery to become more creative, efficient, and effective with educational efforts?  During our upcoming symposium at the 2008 Clinical Congress in October, we will explore this topic from several perspectives:

1. CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services):  a significant portion of the U.S. GNP is devoted to healthcare; what is the return for this investment
2. Pro:  too focused on money, no time to teach, some have left academia for industry in the interest of making money
3. Con: there is no need for education to suffer;  departments and private practitioners can be profitable if they follow a business model
4. RAS Perspective:  how have residents and young surgeons been impacted by training and teaching in this environment?

Please use the Scientific Program Registration form to sign up.

Attendance is open to all RAS members, as well as students and Fellows. An open microphone discussion will promote audience participation in the symposium.

We hope to see you there.

 

2008 Clinical Congress

Other sessions of special interest:

General Session
Professional Communication in Surgery: Developing Effective Skills to Improve Patient Interactions
Tuesday, October 14
2:30 pm – 4:00 pm

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by the American College of Surgeons, Chicago, IL 60611-3211