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Forward2026 Resident and Fellow Trauma Paper Competition
he American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS COT) announces the call for abstracts for the 2026 Resident and Fellow Trauma Paper Competition (RFTPC).
One winning resident from each Region will attend the Annual Meeting of the Committee on Trauma in Birmingham, Alabama for 2026. The competition will pay for coach airfare to the meeting and up to a three-day hotel stay for each winning presenter (four-days for international participants).
Papers will be presented during the Scientific Session on Thursday, March 12, 2026. All regional winners are expected to attend the COT Banquet on Friday, March 13, 2026, where the winners of the Central competition will be announced.
The first place and second-place papers will be eligible for publication (after the Annual Meeting) in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
The purpose of this online component is for attendees to claim their CME credit. Please take this course to complete your evaluation and claim credit.
Target Audience
The competition is open to all general surgery residents, surgical specialty residents, and trauma fellows. Medical students are not eligible.
Learning Objectives
- Discuss current research in patient care for trauma injuries.
- Evaluate new methods for treatment of trauma patients.
In accordance with the ACCME Accreditation Criteria, the American College of Surgeons must ensure that anyone in a position to control the content of the educational activity (planners and speakers/authors/discussants/moderators) has disclosed all financial relationships with any commercial interest (termed by the ACCME as “ineligible companies”, defined below) held in the last 24 months (see below for definitions). Please note that first authors were required to collect and submit disclosure information on behalf all other authors/contributors, if applicable.
Ineligible Company: The ACCME defines an “ineligible company” as any entity producing, marketing, re-selling, or distributing health care goods or services used on or consumed by patients. Providers of clinical services directly to patients are NOT included in this definition. |
Financial Relationships: Relationships in which the individual benefits by receiving a salary, royalty, intellectual property rights, consulting fee, honoraria, ownership interest (e.g., stocks, stock options or other ownership interest, excluding diversified mutual funds), or other financial benefit. Financial benefits are usually associated with roles such as employment, management position, independent contractor (including contracted research), consulting, speaking and teaching, membership on advisory committees or review panels, board membership, and other activities from which remuneration is received, or expected. |
Conflict of Interest: Circumstances create a conflict of interest when an individual has an opportunity to affect CME content about products or services of an ineligible company with which he/she has a financial relationship. |
The ACCME also requires that ACS manage any reported conflict and eliminate the potential for bias during the educational activity. Any conflicts noted below have been managed to our satisfaction. The disclosure information is intended to identify any commercial relationships and allow learners to form their own judgments. However, if you perceive a bias during the educational activity, please report it on the evaluation.
Resident and Fellow Trauma Paper Competition Disclosure List
All relevant financial conflicts have been mitigated
Warren C. Dorlac, MD, FACS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Jeffrey A. Bailey, MD, FACS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Lacey LaGrone, MD, MPH, MA
Dr. LaGrone is an owner and received 50% equity in TogetherMADE
Deidre L. Wyrick
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Julia R, Coleman, MD, FACS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Raymond Fang, MD, FACS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Meera Kotagal, MD, FACS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Alexis M. Moran, MD, FACS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Mayur B. Patel, MD, FACS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Thomas J. Schroeppel, MD, FACS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Davis S. Shapiro, MD, FACS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Elizabeth N. Turner, MD, FACS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Christopher J. Dente, MD, FACS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Jordan A. Weinberg, MD, FACS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
David P. Blake, MD, FACS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Brian Eastridge, MD, FACS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Kyle W. Cunningham, MD, FACS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Andrew Davis, MD, FACS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Brian J. Eastridge, MD, FACS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Jared R. Gallaher, MD, FACS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Matthew E. Kutcher, MD, FACS
Dr. Kutcher received travel support for his consultancy and educational event support roles with CSL Behring and Intuitive Surgical
Nicholas Namias, MD, MBA, FACS
Dr. Namias received research funding for his PI role with Humacyte/Symvess
Timothy P. Plackett, DO, MPH, FACS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Megan T. Quintana, MD, FACS
Dr. Quintana received a consulting fee and travel support for her consultancy role with Medtronic
Kathleen S. Romanowski, MD, FACS
Dr. Romanowski received royalties, honorarium, and reimbursement for their authoring of surgical nutrition tips, consultancy, and sponsored research for UptoDate, PolyNovo, and Spectral MD
David J. Schultz, MD, FACS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Kevin M. Schuster, MD, MPH, FACS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Mary Stuever, DO, FACS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Roxanne Todor, MD, FACS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Olivia Fauver, MD
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Conor Lynch, MD
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Anna Whitlock, MD
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Chandler A. Annesi, MD
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Jessica Cao, MD
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Ava K. Mokhrari, MD
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Ricardo Fonseca, MD
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Anastasia (Sasha) Kahan, MD
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Ariyan Tabesh, MD
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Hannah Wild, MD
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Vishwathsen Karthikeyan, MD
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Elliot K. Yee
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Kyle Patterson, MD
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Maria Agustina Pienovi, MD
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Rald M.V. Groven, MD, PhD
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Samman Khalid, MBBS, MRCS
No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose
Continuing Medical Education Credit Information
Accreditation
The American College of Surgeons is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™
The American College of Surgeons designates this enduring activity for a maximum of 4.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Of the AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ listed above, a maximum of 4.50 hours meet the requirements for Trauma. *
*The content of this activity may meet certain mandates of regulatory bodies. Please note that ACS has not and does not verify the content for such mandates with any regulatory body. Individual physicians are responsible for verifying the content satisfies such requirements.
Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the learner to earn credit toward the CME of the American Board of Surgery’s Continuous Certification program.
CME Credit Claiming Information
ALL ATTENDEES MUST COMPLETE THE COURSE EVALUATION in order to claim a CME Certificate or a Certificate of Completion. The course evaluation will appear once you take and complete this course. The following requirements will need to be completed:
- Review all course materials
- Course evaluation
Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number CEP 17399 for 4.50 contact hours.
Diplomates of the American Board of Surgery
By attending an ACS-accredited activity, you may choose to participate in the automatic transfer of your CME credits to the ABS via the ACCME. If you are a physician and Diplomate of the American Board of Surgery (ABS). This is a free offering.
Opt in to Automatically Send your CME Data to the ABS
The direct automatic transfer applies to all learners who have an ACS profile, are Diplomates of the ABS, and have provided their ABS ID and date of birth in the ACS MyCME Portal on the Board Certification page.
Step-by-Step Instructions to Access MyCME and Opt in to Transmit Your CME Data:
- Log in to your MyCME Portal
- Select the Board Certification tab
- Enter the American Board of Surgery
- Enter your ABS ID
- Enter your Day and Month of birth
- Next go to the Send CME Data tab
- Toggle to Opt In (green) “Yes! I choose to Opt-in and permit the ACS to automatically transfer all my ACS -Accredited CME data.
Once you have opted to automatically transfer your CME credits to the ABS, please allow 24 hours after transferring claiming your CME credits before you log into your ABS account to confirm the credits are in your ABS CME Repository. You may opt out at any time.
For more information or to request assistance, contact [email protected]. Please note: if you have previously successfully transmitted your ACS-accredited CME credits to the ABS via ACCME, then you can skip steps 2-6, and go directly to the Send CME Data tab, and Toggle to Opt In (green).
Available Credit
- 4.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
- 4.50 Trauma
- 4.50 CE Contact hours
- 4.50 Certificate of Completion