The Academic Surgical Congress (ASC) in Las Vegas, Nevada in February 2015 was a fantastic conference that was attended by over 1000 members, with more than 85 international members. The growth and participation of both domestic Academic Global Surgeons and the AAS international membership has steadily increased and influenced the dynamics of the program and the organization. This year there were 2 separate Global Surgery abstract sessions as well as a Global Surgery Breakout session where the book Disease Control Priorities 3rd edition was launched!
The highly attended breakout session was presented by internationally respected leaders in Global Surgery and focused on the economics of providing better healthcare for citizens around the world. Discussions about existing and effective platforms for delivery of trauma care, strategic initiatives for global surgical quality and safety, understanding of economics and the value of research in global surgery were vibrant and informative.
In December 2014, the AAS Executive Board voted to join the G4 Alliance. The Global Alliance for Surgical, Obstetric, Trauma, and Anesthesia Care is an advocacy-based organization dedicated to building political priority for surgical care as part of the global development agenda. The G4 Alliance is committed to advocating for the neglected surgical patient and is driven by a mission of providing a collective voice for increasing access to safe, essential and timely surgical, obstetric, trauma and anesthesia care as part of universal health coverage. The AAS was one of the first surgical member-organizations to join this alliance to help shape global surgery policy, advocacy, and fundraising.
Also, we are very excited that during the 2015 ASC, the third annual $10,000 Global Surgery Research Fellowship grant was awarded, five travel grants were given to international AAS members with abstracts accepted to the ASC, and five International Visiting Professorship Awards were distributed. We hope to further increase the number of Global Surgery abstracts submitted to the 2016 ASC, so please spread the word! Other projects in the works include a textbook in the “Success in Academic Surgery” series on Global Surgery that is currently being authored. We hope that it will serve as a guide for physicians, nurses, and surgeons looking to develop a career in the field.
Our plans for the future include improving and increasing our connections and communication with more countries, and developing international mentorship programs among other initiatives. Please look to the AAS website for more information on these activities and more. We look forward to making the AAS and the ASC the home of Academic Global Surgery!
What do you think is important in Global Surgery?
Where do you think we could have the most influence?
How would you like to participate?
Update from the American Association of Medical Colleges