By Joey Johnson, MD and Bryant Oliphant, MD, MBA
The OTA will sponsor its second ever Future Trauma Leader (FTL) position on the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Central Committee on Trauma (COT). This position is a unique opportunity for an early career (first five years of practice) orthopedic trauma surgeon to be introduced to the highest levels of national trauma care and policy development. The COT is responsible for trauma center verification, education (ATLS), political advocacy for regional and national trauma care and the development of best practice guidelines.
The FTL spot is a 5-year commitment: 2 years as an FTL and a further 3 years on the central COT as a Mentoring for Excellence in Trauma Surgery (METS) participant, to complete projects begun during the FTL cycle. This is a significant time commitment but comes with exposure to trauma care policy and mentoring within the COT at the highest levels. The current OTA sponsored FTL has been involved with development of combined pelvic and urologic trauma best practice guidelines, writing a textbook chapter on disaster preparedness, position statements on prehospital antibiotics and development of the MSK section of ATLS 11 amongst other projects. Additional opportunities exist within the COT for healthcare advocacy, education and systems development focused on the care of traumatized patients at the state, regional and national levels.
The ideal candidate for this position is someone interested in collaboration between the OTA and COT to help further develop and improve the mechanisms of trauma care. The time commitment for this is substantial, requiring twice in person yearly meetings, regular mentorship zoom calls and frequent remote committee meetings to develop trauma related work products for the COT. Participation on the Central COT is a career defining achievement for most trauma surgeons and the OTAs’ ability to sponsor an FTL position on the COT is an opportunity afforded to no other subspecialty organization.
The application process for this will begin this spring and applications close in July. This process requires a CV, written statement of interest and two letters of support (one from a chairman and one from a division director) for the applicant of interest. Please feel free to reach out to current FTL Joey Johnson (josephpjohnson@uabmc.edu) or COT/OTA liaison Bryant Oliphant (bryantol@med.umich.edu) for further details regarding this opportunity.
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