Surgical Skills Competition: So You Think You Can Operate?

The Resident and Associate Society Education Committee hosts yearly competitions at ACS Clinical Congress. The Surgical Jeopardy and So You Think You Can Operate? competitions are a great way to test your surgical knowledge and skills against residents worldwide.

How to Participate

Surgical Skills Competition: So, You Think You Can Operate?

Saturday, October 19, 2024, from 3:30–5:30 pm, San Francisco, CA

So, You Think You Can Operate? is an interactive skills competition designed to pit resident teams against one another for the educational benefit of all attendees. Stations will mimic everyday surgical situations and tasks to test surgical trainees' skills and teamwork.

Multiple stations for various surgical tasks are set up, with each station assigned a cohort of judges (committee residents and senior college representatives). Junior-senior teams from eight institutions will rotate through stations lasting approximately 10 minutes and be scored based on station-specific criteria. The team with the highest cumulative score will win institutional glory and bragging rights.

The Resident and Associate Society will send a Call for Teams each year through the Association of Program Director's Listserv and to ACS chapter leaders. Resident members cannot submit teams due to the support requirement from program directors and chapters.

Each team should consist of two residents: one junior resident (clinical years 1-3) and one senior resident (clinical years 4 or 5) at the time of the competition. Many ACS chapters hold local Surgical Jeopardy competitions, and the winning team is submitted for the national competition.

Teams are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, with priority given to teams from ACS Chapters and teams that have not competed. Due to time constraints for the length of the competition, a maximum of eight teams will be accepted. Both team members must be able to travel to the Clinical Congress. ACS does not pay for the travel or accommodation for contestants.

All applications are due Monday, August 5, 2024.

Don't hesitate to get in touch with RASnews@facs.org with any specific questions.