ACS/ASA Challenge

The ACS Accredited Education Institutes Program (ACS AEI) and the American Society of Anesthesiologists Simulation Education Network (ASA SEN) will host the ACS/ASA Simulation Quality and Safety Challenge to emphasize the advantages of using simulation for quality improvement. Winners will be invited to present at the 2025 ACS Surgical Simulation Summit in Chicago.

The Challenge

Describe a project or activity that is aimed at improving your healthcare institution’s quality or safety via the use of simulation of any kind.

The project must:

Have a clear aim.
Use simulation for quality improvement and/or safety (patients and/or staff).
Involve collaborative planning between perioperative physicians and an individual from the institution’s quality, safety, or risk management department.
Involve perioperative teams in the activity.

Eligibility

The project must involve a member from either the ACS-AEI program or the ASA SEN.

Judging Criteria

Originality
Data
Outcomes with quality implications
Potential to be reproduced/implemented at other institutions
Reach (number of healthcare providers and patients impacted)
Sustainability
Relevance

Requirements

All submissions must be received via our online submission form. You will be required to provide the following information in a succinct manner:

Description of the problem being addressed and specific aims for solving it.
How simulation is being used for the stated aim.
The names and titles of the team members involved in the project.
Description of the intended outcome (quantitative or qualitative).
Description of how hospital leadership was engaged and/or notified of the activity.
The stage of the project as of October 8, 2024:
- In proposal stage
- Data being collected
- Data collection and analysis complete
The category of your project:
- Improving quality through the use of simulation for root cause analysis
- Improving quality through the use of simulation for improving communication and/or teamwork
- Improving quality through the use of simulation for the assessment of entrustable professional activities
- Improving quality through faculty development of quality and simulation skills
- Other use of simulation for improving quality and/or safety

Awards and Presentation of Projects

All winners will be invited to present their project as a paper or poster in-person in Chicago at the ACS Surgical Simulation Summit, March 20 – 21, 2025. Presentations will take place on Friday, March 21. Please note, presenters are required to pay the applicable registration fee. Reimbursement or travel scholarships will not be provided to presenters.
First, second, and third place winners will be featured on the ACS and ASA websites and encouraged to submit their research for publication in the journal Surgery (Acceptance not guaranteed).
In addition, the first-place winner will receive complimentary registration to the 2026 ACS Surgical Simulation Summit.
Winners will be announced in November 2024.

Deadline

The ACS/ASA Challenge is now closed. Thank you to all who submitted! Winners will be contacted in November.

Announcing the Annual ACS/ASA Simulation Quality and Safety Challenge

The Challenge

Awards and Presentation of Projects

Deadline