Disclosure Information

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.  ACCME considers relationships of the person involved in the CME activity to include financial relationships of a spouse or partner.

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. 

Feeding Tube Task Force

Debra Arnow, DNP, RN, NE-BC
Vice President, Patient Care Services & CNO
Children’s Hospital & Medical Center
Omaha, NE

Clint Bowers
Feeding tube patient

Jan Cannon-Bowers, PhD
Director of Research
USF Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation
Orlando, FL

Teri Coha, APN, CWOCN
Pediatric Surgery
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital
Chicago, IL

Janice C. Colwell, MS, RN, FAAN
Ostomy Care Services
University of Chicago Hospital
Chicago, IL

Maureen Emlund, RN, MSN, CPN
Clinical Simulation Manager
Dominican University
River Forest, IL

Lisa A. Gorski, MS, APRN, BC, CRNI, FAAN
Clinical Nurse Specialist
Wheaton Franciscan Home Health
Milwaukee, WI

Frederick L. Greene, MD, FACS
Clinical Professor of Surgery, UNC School of Medicine
Medical Director of Cancer Data Registry, Levine Cancer Institute
Charlotte, NC

Anne Marie Herlehy, DNP, RN, CNOR
Administrative Director, Perioperative and Cardiovascular Services
Alexian Brothers Medical Center
Elk Grove, IL

Sue Kozik
Mother of pediatric feeding tube patient

Dennis H. Kraus, MD, FACS
Director, Center for Head & Neck Oncology
New York Head & Neck Institute, North Shore-LIJ Cancer Institute

Arlet G. Kurkchubasche, MD, FACS
Associate Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics
Alpert School of Medicine, Brown University
Providence, RI

Daniel Teitelbaum, MD, FACS, ASPEN
Professor of Surgery
C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI

Surgical Patient Education Committee

Ajit K. Sachdeva, MD, FACS, FRCSC, Co-Chair
John M. Daly, MD FACS, Co-Chair
Eileen M. Duggan, MD
David V. Feliciano, MD, FACS
Frederick L. Greene, MD, FACS
B. J. Hancock, MD, FACS, FRCSC
Dennis H. Kraus, MD, FACS
Michael F. McGee, MD, FACS
Beth H. Sutton, MD, FACS
Michael J. Zinner, MD, FACS

ACS Surgical Patient Education Program

Director
Ajit K. Sachdeva, MD, FACS, FRCSC

Assistant Director
Kathleen Heneghan, PhD, MSN, RN, PN-C

Manager
Nancy Strand, RN, MPH

Program Administrator
Amanda Bruggeman