American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress Convenes in Chicago: September 30-October 4

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Sep 25, 2012, 02:18 ET

CHICAGO, Sept. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons—one of the largest international meetings of surgeons in the world—convenes in Chicago next week, Sunday, September 30–Thursday, October 4. McCormick Place (West) convention center will be the site for all press activities, the majority of the scientific sessions, and the scientific and technical exhibits.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Illinois Governor Pat Quinn have designated September 30-October 4, as "American College of Surgeons Days" in the city and state in honor of the Centennial celebration of the Chicago-based international surgical organization. This year's Clinical Congress will feature the launch of the College's year-long Centennial celebration, along with the College's usual outstanding educational program.

Another program highlight is a series of guest lectures by prominent leaders in surgery, including Atul Gawande, MD, MPH, FACS, practicing general and endocrine surgeon, author, and surgical patient safety expert; Michael R. Harrison, MD, FACS, an internationally renowned expert in fetal surgery, a surgical field that he pioneered; and Peter A. Singer, MD, MPH, FRSC, professor of medicine, University of Toronto, executive officer of Grand Challenges Canada, and the foreign secretary of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

During the conference, a panel session, "Joining Forces: How We Can Help Our Returning Veterans," will take place on Tuesday, October 2 at 9:45 a.m. Panelists will describe the Joining Forces program sponsored by the White House, the Department of Defense, the Veterans Administration, and numerous professional medical societies. The campaign and efforts the surgical community is making to meet the needs of returning veterans will be discussed.

Also scheduled are press briefings on surgical news topics; leading-edge, research-in-progress reports in the surgical specialties for presentation during the Surgical Forum and Papers Sessions; informative panel sessions in theme- and discipline-based tracks; dozens of video-based education selections; daily town-hall meetings for surgeons to voice their concerns on current surgical issues, and over 200 posters displaying innovative scientific research.

Additionally, more than 200 companies will display products or services that improve the quality of surgical patient care or enhance management practices within the surgical profession.

Onsite press registration will be open in the College's Press Room in the McCormick Place (West) Convention Center-West Building, Third Floor.

Press Room hours are:
Sunday, September 30: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Monday, October 1 through Wednesday, October 3: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Thursday, October 4: 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.

For press credentials criteria visit:
http://www.facs.org/clincon2012/press/credentials.html
The preliminary program can be viewed online at:
http://www.facs.org/clincon2012/index.html
For biographic information on all distinguished guest speakers, visit:
http://www.facs.org/clincon2012/press/speakers.html
For details on the College's Centennial activities, visit:
http://www.facs.org/clincon2012/acs100/index.html

About the American College of Surgeons
The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and to improve the care of the surgical patient. The College currently has 78,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world.

SOURCE American College of Surgeons