A Year of New Resources for Surgeons

I often use this end-of-year column to highlight ACS resources and opportunities for members. The resources listed below also appear in our Annual Report, released on December 1, which includes many other notable ACS achievements from 2025.

Please access the resources that resonate with you. All offerings in this column are available now or soon to come in the new year.

For Trauma Surgeons Across Disciplines

• Best Practices Guidelines for Management of Chest Wall Injuries and Best Practices Guidelines for Management of Genitourinary Injuries: At this year’s Trauma Quality Improvement Program Annual Conference, we released the newest ACS best practices guidelines for the management of chest wall injuries. Our guidelines document on genitourinary injuries was released earlier this year.
• Updated Resources for Optimal Care of the Injured Patient: In July, we released the 7th edition of this document, an important part of the ACS Trauma Verification, Review, and Consultation Program. If you are engaged with or interested in these standards, please download them today.
• ATLS^® 11: This summer, we launched the 11th edition of our Advanced Trauma Life Support^® (ATLS) program, including updates to the MyATLS app. Please learn more on the ACS website.
• Bridging Forces: Military-Civilian Partnership Portal: This web resource builds on ACS efforts to support military surgeons by helping trauma and military surgical departments establish partnerships. These connections can bolster learning, efficacy, and disaster readiness on both sides. See the full portal on facs.org.

For Surgical Oncologists

• Optimal Resources for Rectal Cancer Care: This year, the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer^® (NAPRC^®) released a new version of these standards. New standards take effect in January and are available now for all interested in the NAPRC.
• Complex Cancer Surgery Resource Guide: This new resource expands on the benefits available to Commission on Cancer (CoC)-accredited hospitals and is available to accredited programs via our online portal.
• New CoC accreditation options: This year, CoC accreditation was expanded to Canadian hospitals and pediatric hospitals. We also are establishing standards to accredit rural hospitals in the near future. I strongly encourage surgical oncologists engaged in quality improvement in these hospitals to connect with us.
• Quality, Safety & Cancer Conference: Beginning in 2026, we have combined the ACS Cancer Conference with the ACS Quality and Safety Conference, so attendees can receive the benefits of both conferences with a single registration. The integrated conference will now be known as the Quality, Safety & Cancer Conference (QSCC).

For Quality Improvement Teams

• QSCC: Surgical teams interested in quality improvement for any type of surgical patient are encouraged to attend QSCC (July 30-August 2, 2026, in Orlando, Florida). Registration will open in the new year.
• Find a Hospital search feature: Quality Program participants are highlighted in a search engine that facilitates patients and families finding hospitals verified by ACS Quality Programs. The search page contains contact information, maps, and information on Quality Program participation and will help patients and families feel confident about the care they receive.
• ACS Quality Improvement Basics course: Our experience with successful quality improvement programs has expanded worldwide. This year, we adapted the ACS Quality Improvement Course: The Basics for low- and middle-income countries. Our global surgery volunteer initiative, ACS Health Outreach Program for Equity in Global Surgery (ACS H.O.P.E.^®), has presented the course in Rwanda, Zambia, and Ethiopia, via our three long-standing surgical teaching hubs.

For General Surgeons and General Surgery Trainees

• Surgical Education and Self-Assessment Program (SESAP^®): SESAP, a premier educational resource, helps practicing general surgeons gain expertise through hundreds of case-based, multiple-choice questions. The new 19th edition is available now.

For All Surgeons

• An online hub focused on optimizing surgeons’ workplaces: For the past several years, the ACS has maintained online Practice Management and Clinical Practice hubs as a convenient way for surgeons at all career stages to access meaningful information on these topics. In the new year, we will add a portal offering resources on unionization, collective bargaining, and workplace standards.
• An opportunity to advocate: The ACS advocates relentlessly for all US surgeons, and I urge you to join us in the fight. You can raise your voice year-round on local, state, and federal levels via the ACS advocacy center,  SurgeonsVoice, our SurgeonsPAC, and other advocacy opportunities. We need your voice right now. The 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule included planned reductions to work relative value units and an inappropriate efficiency adjustment. The first reduction of 2.5% is slated to take effect on January 1. Please raise your voice by signing a letter asking your Congresspeople to rescind these cuts and protect surgeons’ pay. We know ACS members’ actions thus far are having an impact on members of Congress.
• Annual Report: Please read the entire Annual Report to see many more ACS accomplishments and offerings this year.

Resources for All Surgeons

What matters most to the ACS is what matters to you: helping to ensure the best possible care for our patients and enhancing opportunities for every surgeon to thrive. As this year draws to a close, I remind you that the ACS—The House of Surgery^®—is your home as a surgeon, whatever your specialty, location, or practice type.

If there is more that we can do to make this true for you, please contact me directly. I welcome your voice, now and throughout the year.

Happy holidays.

Dr. Patricia Turner is the Executive Director & CEO of the American College of Surgeons. Contact her at executivedirector@facs.org.