The Clinical Simulation Laboratory at the University of Vermont Fellowship Program has been accredited by the American College of Surgeons’ (ACS) Program for Accreditation of Education Institutes (AEI).
Currently, two surgery residents – one from the UVM Medical Center and another from Larner College of Medicine clinical teaching partner Danbury Hospital in Connecticut – are participating in the one-year Fellowship program at UVM’s Clinical Simulation Lab.
Established by the American College of Surgeons’ Division of Education, the AEI Consortium formed the Fellowship Program in 2012. UVM is now one of 10 accredited AEI Fellowship Programs.
The aim of an ACS-AEI accredited Fellowship Program is to improve the quality of surgical care by developing future leaders and scholars in the area of surgical education, simulation and training. The overall goals of the ACS -AEI Fellowship Program are to ensure that Fellows possess the requisite knowledge and skills to serve as local and national resources in the field of simulation-based surgical education and training, develop surgeons with a thorough understanding and knowledge in education theory in simulation and practice, train Fellows to serve as future leaders of simulation centers and to run an accredited Education Institute, enable Fellows through the use of their own resources to enhance the efficacy of their own programs, and ensure Fellows are trained in developing and implementing major research development projects.
The Fellowship Program of the Consortium of ACS-AEIs is a voluntary peer-review process. The Fellowship Review Committee performs an initial assessment of the program’s ability to demonstrate compliance with thirty-one Criteria in six Standards related to Curriculum, Assessment, Operations, Resources, Governance, and Advancement of the Field. A formal recommendation is then made to the Accreditation Review Committee and is voted on by the committee, at which time a decision is made whether to grant a three-year accreditation. To be eligible, an institute must be an accredited AEI in good standing or currently seeking AEI accreditation.
About the American College of Surgeons
The ACS is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and to improve the quality of care for surgical patients. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The ACS has more than 78,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. For more information, visit www.facs.org.
(This article was adapted from a news release produced by the ACS-AEI.)