Advanced Trauma Life Support FAQs

All participants in a Student or Student Refresher course will receive a copy of the current Advanced Trauma Life Support®.

• All prospective course sites must be visited and approved by the Committee on Trauma State/Provincial (S/P) Chair. For information on how to contact your S/P Chair, please contact your Regional Program Coordinator.
• Training of ATLS faculty (course directors, instructors, and coordinators) will be required if there are no local ATLS faculty on site.

A list of staff members is available.

• 2.5-day Student course: 16 credits
• 2-day Student course—16 credits
• 1-day Student Refresher course—5.5 credits
• 2-day instructor course—16.5 credits
• 1.5-day Instructor courses—12 credits
• 1-day Instructor course—8 credits

After the successful completion of the ATLS Student or Student Refresher course, your ATLS status is current for four years from the last date of the course. Students have up to six months after their status expires to take a Student Refresher course.

Please contact your Regional Program Coordinator.

Please contact the site coordinator with whom you registered for the course.

Please contact your Regional Program Coordinator.

If you are identified as having instructor potential in an ATLS Student or Student Refresher course, you may take an ATLS Instructor course. Upon successful completion of the Instructor course, an ATLS course director or state faculty member will critique you as you teach a lecture, skill station, and initial assessment station in an ATLS Student course.

A list of ATLS staff members and the geographic areas they manage is available.

An ATLS instructor status is current for four years. Instructors have up to six months after their status expires to complete the reverification process.

Please contact your Regional Program Coordinator.

Please contact your Regional Program Coordinator.

ATLS Faculty manuals are only available to current ATLS faculty and Instructor course participants. If you have a current ATLS faculty status and need a new manual, please contact the site coordinator of the location where you teach most of your courses.

Due to changing criteria in the awarding of CME credits, the ACS will not be offering CME credits for faculty members teaching the ATLS course. The American Medical Association will also not approve Direct Credit Applications submitted by faculty for teaching in an ATLS course.

Please contact your Regional Program Coordinator.

Please contact the Regional Program Coordinator for the country you are moving from. It is important that you have information regarding the courses you have taken, and if you are an instructor, please have documentation of the different courses in which you have taught. A list of Regional Program Coordinators is available.

A list of ATLS staff members and the geographic areas they manage is available.

Information about the requirements and training process for educators can be found in the Educator Guidelines.

• The educator’s first responsibility in an Instructor course is the planning stage. The educator is responsible for the following:
• Corresponding with the coordinator and course director before the course and submitting any additional materials for mailing to Instructor course participants.
• Disseminating information about teaching and learning, principles of adult education, and teaching strategies for the lecture and skills stations.
• Observing and evaluating the teaching qualities of each participant during the lecture microteaching sessions and skills-teaching sessions.
• Acting as a role model of a successful teacher and effective communicator.
• Demonstrating successful teaching strategies through interaction with course participants.
• Conducting microteaching sessions while offering constructive, critical analysis of each candidate’s teaching effectiveness.
• Suggesting areas of improvement and future development of the instructor candidate.

Yes. Educator status is valid for four years from the last date of the course in which they were successfully critiqued as an Educator Candidate. An educator must teach in four Instructor courses in their four year verification period.

Yes. All ATLS educators with an e-mail address on file will receive a link to the online update. If you do not receive an e-mail to update, please contact your Regional Program Coordinator. A list of Regional Program Coordinators is available.

A list of ATLS staff members and the geographic areas they manage is available.