Each year, Clinical Congress brings together thousands of surgeons to learn from one another, strengthen our profession, and improve the care we provide patients. As preparations for the meeting near completion, this month’s issue of the ACS Bulletin offers a preview of what attendees can expect when we gather in my hometown, Washington, DC, September 26–29.
Clinical Congress remains one of the few meetings where surgeons from every specialty, practice setting, career stage, and geographic region come together to learn from one another and address the issues that affect us all.
As surgery continues to evolve, so must our flagship educational meeting. Over the past several years, we have steadily improved Clinical Congress by shifting to a Saturday-through-Tuesday schedule, focusing more acutely on innovation and forward-thinking offerings, enhancing attendee safety and security, improving the overall meeting experience, and strengthening the welcome we extend to surgeons’ families at Convocation.
This year, we are taking another important step forward.
What’s Changing
As part of our broader effort to modernize ACS education, we have substantially redesigned Clinical Congress programming.
We have redoubled our efforts to enhance the qualities that define Clinical Congress. The meeting continues to offer educational sessions that unite surgeons around shared clinical, scientific, professional, and societal challenges. Bringing together surgeons with diverse backgrounds and perspectives remains one of the meeting’s greatest strengths. Often, these are sessions that cannot be found anywhere else.
At the same time, we have made it easier than ever for every attendee to identify the sessions most relevant to their own practice and professional goals, to ensure each surgeon receives the maximum possible benefit of attending the meeting.
New Educational Opportunities
Among this year’s additions is the new Best of Grand Rounds Series, featuring outstanding speakers nominated by their surgical colleagues for delivering exceptional lectures. These sessions will reprise these well-received talks so all attendees can enjoy them. Joseph V. Sakran, MD, MPH, MPA, FACS, will speak on the power of personal narratives; Edward M. Barksdale Jr., MD, FACS, who is the 2025–2026 Second Vice President of the ACS, will share strategies for building resilience; and Tovy H. Kamine, MD, MBA, FACS, will describe surgery in space.
We are also honored to welcome many speakers, including:
- Ketanji Brown Jackson, Justice, Supreme Court of the United States
- Martin A. Makary, MD, MPH, FACS, former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration
- Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, FACS, president of the National Academy of Medicine
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping surgical care, and Clinical Congress is evolving alongside it. Reflecting our commitment to bring the best and most up-to-date information, and in response to strong interest from previous meetings, we are offering AI sessions cosponsored with the American Medical Informatics Association at Clinical Congress 2026. The sessions will examine the impact of AI on clinical informatics, robotic surgery, healthcare policy, and other areas of surgical practice.
These additions support a broader goal: ensuring that every surgeon, regardless of specialty, career stage, or practice setting, can find education that is immediately relevant while also being exposed to ideas that shape the future of our profession.
To that end, the program features numerous cross-disciplinary sessions addressing issues relevant to every surgeon. Topics include advocacy, ethics, perioperative care, education, global surgery, and insights into locum tenens practice.
I also look forward to moderating a session on Sunday, September 27, “How to Gain Control of Our Lives and Reclaim Our Autonomy.” The session will feature Board of Regents Vice Chair Douglas E. Wood, MD, FACS, FRCSEd, and Regent Phil Wolinsky, MD, FACS, as well as representatives from colorectal surgery and orthopaedic trauma, for a discussion of the ACS Board’s important work on workforce challenges affecting current and future surgical practice.
For more details, please see the cover story in this issue.
Traditions That Endure
Even as we advance in fresh and exciting ways, the meeting remains grounded in the educational excellence that has defined Clinical Congress for more than a century.
Attendees will find scientific sessions covering both emerging advances and practical techniques in areas ranging from hernia repair to laser surgery to neoadjuvant therapy. As always, the conference will cover a wide range of surgical disciplines, from trauma care to surgical oncology, urology, rural surgery, and beyond.
We also continue the longstanding traditions of Convocation, Named Lectures, and award presentations. These touchstones recognize excellence in surgery and celebrate the individuals whose work has advanced our profession.
Finally, as always, we provide important opportunities to strengthen the professional relationships that sustain us throughout our careers. This year, we have added a Networking Coffee pilot program that will offer dedicated times and places for colorectal, pediatric, vascular, and plastic surgeons to connect with members of their own specialties. I also highly encourage attendees to engage with career-stage groups, including the Medical Student Society, Resident and Associate Society, Young Fellows Association, and Senior Fellows Society, which will each offer specific events and resources. These opportunities for camaraderie and networking will enrich surgical careers at every step.
Looking Ahead
Clinical Congress has always been larger than any individual element. The meeting exists to help each surgeon pursue individual excellence while advancing surgery collectively.
As our profession faces rapid scientific, technological, and workforce changes, the need to learn from one another has never been greater. Clinical Congress provides a forum to explore new ideas, evaluate emerging technologies, and discuss the challenges that will shape the future of surgical care.
See you in DC in September!
Register Now
Program details, travel information, and registration are available now. Early bird rates end on August 10, so register today at facs.org/clincon2026.
