The scope of resident education and leadership development evolves through graded autonomy obtained during the course of general surgery residency. As a junior resident, priorities include establishing clinical competency and knowledge, while also exploring future career options.
During the latter stages of residency, the focus progresses to leadership development and self-guided surgical education.1 National conferences offer a wide and impactful platform to develop leadership skills and further surgical education. These conferences afford opportunities to network within a surgical area of interest, explore other styles of surgical practice, and showcase current research.
Research abstracts presented at national conferences have a 68% chance of being accepted for manuscript publication and are more likely to be published in a high-impact journal compared to abstracts not accepted at national conferences.2
Despite these benefits, there remains a paucity of published work outlining the potential advantages for residents who attend national conferences. This article provides an outline for residents on how to find established national conferences and become active participants at these meetings, and offers best practices for networking.
In deciding which national conferences to attend, the subspecialty of interest and aim of the society that best reflect the goals of the individual should be prioritized. The ACS recognizes 14 surgical disciplines: cardiothoracic surgery, colon and rectal surgery, general surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, gynecologic oncology, neurological surgery, ophthalmic surgery, oral-maxillofacial surgery, orthopaedic surgery, otolaryngology, pediatric surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery, urological surgery, and vascular surgery.3
Below, there is a nonexhaustive list of active surgical societies within each of the various surgical specialties. Generally, the mission of a society will focus on one of the following principles: academic endeavors/accreditation, subspecialty surgery, educational techniques, or a specific pathology. For example, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons is geared toward establishing a standard of care for plastic surgery patients while encouraging competent surgical technique during training and beyond.4 The American Council of Educators in Plastic Surgery’s mission is developing, promoting, and supporting plastic surgery education that meets a predefined set of plastic surgery curriculum standards.5
Certain societies focus on a particular pathology, such as the Surgical Infection Society, which aims to provide training and scientifically validated guidelines on the management of surgically related infections. The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation is dedicated to cures for inflammatory bowel disease. Within the realm of surgical education, the Association for Surgical Education is an established society geared toward enhancing the education provided by surgery mentors to their respective mentees.
Conferences also provide education on specific aspects of practice, such as the ACS Leadership & Advocacy Summit, ACS Surgical Simulation Summit, and the ACS Quality and Safety Conference. It is important to identify national conferences that align with the resident’s career goals and specialty of interest.
The acquisition of new knowledge is one of the most important benefits of attending conferences. Conferences feature lectures and presentations by various experts in their respective fields discussing current trends and shifts in clinical practice, emerging techniques and treatments, and comprehensive topic reviews that can be informative to participants of all experience levels.
Many exhibitors and sponsors promote their products, and some may offer demonstrations, which can provide opportunities for residents to engage with novel tools that might not be readily available at their home institutions. Additionally, conferences may offer hands-on training courses and examinations; these can sometimes be included with conference registration at no additional cost, such as Stop the Bleed training at the ACS Clinical Congress.
Two courses that merit particular mention include the Fundamentals of Endoscopic Surgery and Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery exams offered at the annual meeting of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons.6 Attending this conference enables residents to complete necessary graduate medical education coursework that may otherwise be challenging to obtain at their home program.
Strategies for Reducing Costs
While there are many benefits to attending conferences, they can sometimes be outweighed by the financial costs of attendance. The basic costs include registration fees, travel, food, and lodging. Optional social events and educational activities usually require additional fees and are often necessary to maximize the benefits from conference attendance.
One estimate found that for medical students, who often have comparable registration fees to residents, the total cost of conference attendance was about $800 per conference.7 While many surgical residency programs offer trainee reimbursement for conference attendance, reimbursement may be capped or limited to a predetermined number of meetings.
It is important for trainees to clarify the reimbursement policies of their programs. If costs are a concern for conference attendance, an alternative option is virtual attendance. Particularly following the global pandemic, many conferences now offer virtual attendance options. These virtual conferences provide an enriching academic experience through participation in lectures and other educational activities without a time commitment and often with a reduced cost.
However, the format of virtual conferences can make networking more challenging, and attendees may be subject to technical difficulties such as disruption of livestreamed content.8 Many organizations offer previous livestreamed content for review at a later date. For instance, an on-demand library of educational content from Clinical Congress 2024 is now available until February 24, 2025. Both in-person and virtual attendees may access content by visiting facs.org/clincon2024.
Another important way to offset costs is through presenting research at conferences, as these activities often will be covered by a resident’s department. Certainly, there are multiple challenges for the development and progression of research projects during training, including competing clinical duties, American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination preparation and testing, and scheduling conflicts. Therefore, identifying research mentors and developing projects that lead to presentations require advance planning.
While deadlines vary between individual conferences, abstract submission windows typically open 3-to-6 months prior to the conference date. Other advantages of presenting research—outside of the financial benefit—include engaging a national audience, identifying potential collaborators, and generating ideas for future projects. Trainees should research which conferences are worthwhile for their education and which are most beneficial for presenting and networking. It is expected that these priorities may change throughout the course of training.
Value of Networking and Mentorship
Possibly the most important reason to become engaged in national conferences as a trainee is to embed oneself early in the networking arena.9 These conferences are places where surgeons of all backgrounds meet to reconnect and establish new relationships.
Effective ways to engage in national conferences include identifying committee meetings to join and projects to become involved with, which can lead to introductions to leaders who are most actively advancing the surgical field. Examples of such committees include the ACS Resident and Associate Society (RAS-ACS), which specifically focuses on issues important to trainees and young faculty.
As a trainee, identifying a mentor while attending the meeting can enrich the experience. The value of mentorship in surgery has been well studied and requires an investment from both parties, which can be easier to establish outside of the hospital environment.10
The atmosphere at national meetings is generally more collegial with faculty being more accessible and receptive than they might be otherwise during their day-to-day routines. These individuals can help provide valuable introductions, support residents at their presentations, facilitate more socially engaging conversations, and invite residents to important events.
Attending national conferences is beneficial for resident education and surgical leadership development. The benefits include exposure to new and emerging surgical knowledge and techniques, providing a platform to showcase academic endeavors, and plentiful networking opportunities. However, while there are many benefits to attending conferences, time and financial challenges may require that surgical residents identify a select few national conferences that align with their career goals.
Careful consideration of all factors will allow surgical residents to maximize the educational benefits of conference attendance and nurture the beginning of a lifelong engagement within the broader surgical community.
