I attended the annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) in Boston, October 21-25, 2018 as recipient of the 2018 ACS Italy Chapter International Scholarship. This experience was made possible through the Resident and Associate Society of the American College of Surgeons (RAS-ACS) International Scholars Exchange Program and the ACS Italy Chapter. My first day at the congress was really intense: I attended the surgery resident program at Clinical Congress that was focused on essential skills for surgery residents. I met there my hosts: Dr. Raphael Sun and Dr. Madaline Torres and I had the pleasure to meet the RAS-ACS members and also the chair Dr. Afif Kulaylat. They introduced me to Dr. Neumeier, the program chair, who gave a motivating and enriching speech. I also had the privilege to attend a talk by Dr. Bass, immediate past-president of the American College of Surgeons: she spoke about medicine, about surgery, about being a good doctor and a good surgeon, but also how to be a good teacher and when and how she started developing her leadership skills. It was a pleasure for me listening to this great woman who can only be an example for all the residents like me, especially the women.
During the first day I also had the opportunity to meet other residents, from other countries. It was interesting getting to know how their residency programs work, and enlighten differences between the educational systems, which can represent a beginning point for improving each-other training.
I will never forget the Convocation of the new ACS Fellows and Inaugural Ceremony of the Clinical Congress: it was very touching and I’m dreaming of becoming a fellow one day!
The Clinical Congress was full of several different sessions concerning a wide range of surgical specialities: I attended many interesting sessions and I focused on Trauma Surgery and Surgical Oncology; there were so many leaders from all over the world and it was great to listen to them discussing surgical innovations and development.
I also found video-sessions very interesting because they provided a chance to debate many different topics. I think that the exhibition hall was really useful, because we had the chance to learn about new technologies and also try new instruments. For example, Dr. D. Demetriades gave a lecture about Civilian and Military Trauma: he was brilliant and his talk was very inspiring.
There were also several informal social events planned which was another way to meet surgeons from all over the U.S. and other countries, exchange experiences and build a network.
I think the whole ACS Clinical Congress was very stimulating and contributed to improve my surgical knowledge and I am grateful for this amazing experience. Moreover this meeting was the perfect moment to connect between young surgeons.
I want to take this opportunity to thank Professor M. Chiarugi, MD, Vice-President of the Italy Chapter and Professor Giuseppe Nigro, MD, President of the Italy Chapter, who gave me the chance of attend the Clinical Congress, the RAS-ACS Membership Committee that was incredibly welcoming and kind to me.
I’m going to keep in contact with all the residents that I met in Boston, and I really hope I will have the chance to attend the next Clinical Congress of American College of Surgeons in San Francisco next year.
