Education and training of the future trauma surgeon in acute care surgery: trauma, critical care, and emergency surgery

Background: Trauma surgery as a specialty in the United States is at a crossroads. Currently, less than 100 residents per year pursue additional specialty training in trauma and surgical critical care. Many forces have converged to place serious challenges and obstacles to the training of future trauma surgeons. In order for the field to flourish, the training of future trauma surgeons must be modified to compensate for these changes. Data Sources: Recent medical literature regarding the training of trauma surgeons and report of the Future of Trauma Surgery/Trauma Specialization Committee of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma. Conclusions: The new post-graduate trauma training fellowship of the future should be built on a foundation of general surgery. The goal of this program will be to train a surgeon with broad expertise in trauma, critical care, and emergency general surgery. This new emphasis on non-trauma emergency surgery required an image change and thus a new name; Acute Care Surgery: Trauma, Critical Care, and Emergency Surgery. (c) 2005 Excerpta Medica Inc. All rights reserved.