Purpose
This scholarship will be awarded to surgeons
specifically working in acute care surgery: trauma
and emergency general surgery in countries
other than the U.S. and Canada to improve the
quality of acute care surgical services. Preference
will be given to applicants from developing
nations. The scholarship, in the amount of
$5,000, provides the scholar with an opportunity
to attend the annual meeting of the American
Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) in
Dallas, TX, September 18–19, 2019, and to visit
one or two Level I Trauma Centers and/or the
Trauma Quality Improvement Program (TQIP)
headquarters at the American College of Surgeons
in Chicago, IL, to learn about the standards for a
trauma program/database and the importance
of multidisciplinary Acute Care surgery care.
The awardee will receive gratis registration to
the annual meeting of the American Association
for the Surgery of Trauma and to one available
postgraduate course at the meeting. Assistance
will be provided to obtain preferential housing
in economical hotels in the AAST meeting and
Trauma Center/TQIP cities. Hotel and travel
expenses will be the responsibility of the awardee,
to be funded from the scholarship award.
In order to qualify for consideration
by the selection committee, all of the
requirements must be fulfilled.
Basic Requirements
- Applicants must be graduates of
schools of medicine who have
completed their surgical training and
are practicing attending surgeons.
Applicants must be members in good
standing of the American College of
Surgeons (Associate Fellow or Fellow)
and one of the societies listed at
aast.org/international scholar-
scholarship.
- Applicants must be at least 30 years
old, but under 50, on the date that
the complete application is filed.
- Applications will be accepted for
processing only when the applicants
have been in surgical practice,
teaching, or research for a minimum of
one year at their intended permanent
location, following completion
of all formal training (including
fellowships and scholarships).
- Applicants must show evidence of
commitment to high-quality acute
care surgery, to surgical teaching,
and to improving access to surgical
care in their community.
- Applicants must submit a fully
completed application form, located
on the ACS website, facs.org. The
application and accompanying materials
must be prepared using a computer and
submitted in English. Submission of a
curriculum vitae only is not acceptable.
- Preference will be given to
applicants who have not already
experienced training or surgical
fellowships in the U.S. or Canada.
- Unsuccessful applicants may reapply
only twice and only by completing
and submitting a current application
form provided by the College together
with new supporting documentation.
- Applicants must submit independently
prepared letters of recommendation
from three of their colleagues. One
letter must be from the chair of the
department in which they hold a
clinical or academic appointment or
from a Fellow of the American College
of Surgeons residing in their country.
The Chair’s or the Fellow’s letter is
to directly address the applicant’s
commitment to high-quality acute
care surgery, surgical teaching,
and improving access to acute care
surgery locally. The other two letters
of recommendation should be from
colleagues who can address the
applicant’s acute care surgical, clinical,
and teaching abilities and practice.
Letters of recommendation should
be submitted by the individuals
making the recommendation.
- The scholarship must be used in
the year for which it is designated.
It cannot be postponed.
Awardees are expected to provide
a written report upon their return
home, specifically focusing on the
value of the visit to the awardee
and the potential beneficial
effect to the acute care surgical
patients in the country of origin.
All applications for the year 2019 and
all of the supporting documentation
must be received by the ACS
International Liaison no later than
April 15, 2019, in order for an
applicant to receive consideration
by the selection committee. All
applicants will be notified of the
selection committee’s decision in
May 2019. Applicants are urged to
submit their completed applications
and supporting documents as early
as possible in order to provide
sufficient time for processing.
2019 ACS/AAST International Scholarship Brochure
2019 ACS/AAST International Scholarship Application
Contact
Supporting materials and questions should be directed to the ACS International Liaison at kearly@facs.org or 312-202-5021 (facsimile).