ACS Trauma Committee Launches Basic Endovascular Skills for Trauma (BEST) Course

The American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS COT) introduced a new course: the Basic Endovascular Skills for Trauma© (BEST). The BEST course is the third surgical skills course to be offered by the COT, complementing the Advanced Trauma Operative Management and the Advanced Surgical Skills for Exposure in Trauma courses.

Participants in the BEST course learn standardized methods for critical care of time sensitive injuries. The course is being offered at the University of Maryland’s RA Cowley Shock Trauma Center – and the COT plans to expand it to four more locations within the next year, including the Texas Trauma Institute/University of Texas at Houston and the University of California at Davis.

“BEST was originally developed at the University of Maryland's Shock Trauma Center as a means to teach basic endovascular techniques to trauma and acute care surgeons who have limited or no formal endovascular training,” said Megan Brenner, MD, FACS, creator and Chair of the BEST Course.

Course participants will earn Continuing Medical Education credit hours for completing the course, all of which meet the requirements for Trauma, Surgical Critical Care, and Self-Assessment. The course is currently open to trauma and acute care surgeons. Registration is available through the center offering the course or by contacting the ACS at BEST@facs.org to be connected with a course location.

For more information on the BEST course, visit www.facs.org/best.