There is much to value about the American College of Surgeons, from our commitment to clinical excellence to the ways in which we recognize and celebrate outstanding colleagues. At this time of year, many of us look with anticipation to our annual meeting, the Clinical Congress.
In fact, this conference precedes the founding of the ACS in 1913. The meeting remains one of the largest conferences of surgeons in the world and is an important place for us to access educational opportunities, present cutting-edge research, and enjoy camaraderie with colleagues.
This year, Clinical Congress will be held in Chicago, Illinois, from October 4 to 7. Please make a point to attend the new Windy City Welcome Reception, held immediately after Convocation on the evening of Saturday, October 4. This opening social event for all attendees and their families will highlight Chicago cuisine and culture and offer everyone a chance to network.
The conference will begin the next day with the Opening Ceremony and the Martin Memorial Lecture, this year presented by David J. Skorton, MD, president and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges. Thematic sessions on artificial intelligence, quality, and education will follow that day, as will a wide range of Named Lectures, panel discussions, and networking events over the course of the conference.
Additional offerings will include the new Resident and Associate Society Lounge, a place for early career surgeons to connect in the Exhibit Hall, and a reception on Sunday afternoon to honor Ajit K. Sachdeva, MD, FACS, FRCSC, FSACME, who will retire from his role as Senior Vice President, Education on October 31, 2025. (Dr. Sachdeva will continue leading the Academy of Master Surgeon Educators through September 2026.)
ACS Foundation
While at Clinical Congress this year, please visit the ACS Foundation booth. Every member should know about its vital work advancing our mission of healing all with skill and trust.
When the ACS was a new organization, philanthropic generosity was crucial to our first efforts in quality improvement, research, and support for our colleagues. In recent years, ACS fundraising has continued to help fund some projects that advance surgical excellence but lack the potential to generate self-sustaining revenue. The ACS Foundation has helped fund extraordinary achievements since 2005, including research and mentoring scholarships, travel awards, and ACS Stop the Bleed courses, which have engaged more than 5 million people in more than 170 countries since 2016.
Philanthropic giving helped ensure that the Excelsior Surgical Society, our home for active-duty and retired military surgeons, could convene an important meeting this year. The group was founded in Rome, Italy, at the close of World War II, and met there again this February in recognition of its 80th anniversary. The event also commemorated the 10-year anniversary of Excelsior being a part of the ACS. Generous donations ensured active-duty military surgeons could attend.
In addition, gracious donors have helped fund specific projects this past year. A gift of $510,000 from a long-standing industry donor, Coloplast Corporation, helped the ACS maintain the Ostomy Home Skills Kit, an interactive simulation program for patients and caregivers to learn and practice skills for postoperative ostomy care. As a result, kits with practice equipment, instructional materials, and self-assessment are available now at a very low cost.
Particularly notable was a $1 million gift from Peter and Marshia Carlino to fund the Surgical Adhesions Improvement Project. The project launched with a summit last September, in which surgical adhesions experts from around the world helped create a workgroup now pursuing multiple research studies. The Carlino Family has donated an additional $300,000 to fund laboratory research on adhesions.
Our most outstanding donor is Pon Satitpunwaycha, MD, FACS, a retired general surgeon from Seattle, Washington, who practiced in Houston, Texas, for many years. This year, he added a $2 million donation to his long history of donations to the ACS. Dr. Pon (as he is called) is the most generous individual donor in the history of our organization, having donated cumulatively more than $5 million. His previous gifts have funded educational and mentoring programs that have positively impacted thousands of surgeons and surgical trainees in more than a dozen countries. (Read more.)
With the entire ACS, I am sincerely grateful to Dr. Pon, the Carlino Family, Coloplast Corporation, and all our donors. The impact of our Foundation reminds me why I, too, have been a Foundation donor for years: giving is a crucial element of extending our impact.
When you visit the Foundation booth at Clinical Congress next month, please ask about the scalpel lapel pin. You may see that many surgeons wear the pin proudly to demonstrate their commitment to advancing the profession through philanthropic giving. Please visit the booth and Foundation Board members and staff.
Register for Clinical Congress Now
Clinical Congress registration is now open. You can explore this year’s program planner today. Sign up at facs.org/clincon2025.
