The 2024 AATS Aortic Symposium, the 20th biennial symposium in a series that spans 38 years, is a two-day meeting focused on the pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment of aortic aneurysms and dissections. This conference is designed for cardiovascular and thoracic surgeons, cardiac anesthesiologists, CT residents, perfusionists, ICU and OR nurses and those involved with the care of individuals with aortic disease. Invited faculty presentations comprise most of the curriculum, with the remainder based on accepted abstracts. The Aortic Symposium has come to be regarded as the primary international forum for this aspect of cardiothoracic surgery.
ACCME Accreditation Statement
The American Association for Thoracic Surgery is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
AMA Credit Designation Statement
The American Association for Thoracic Surgery designates this live activity for 14 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Desired Learning Outcomes
At the end of this activity, participants will be able to:
- Analyze the natural history, evaluation, and imaging of aneurysms involving the ascending, arch and thoracoabdominal aorta, and design a management plan for their treatment, including the use of endovascular and open surgical approaches;
- Implement surgical options for replacing or preserving the aortic valve during aortic root replacement;
- Evaluate operative strategies for open arch, descending and thoracoabdominal aneurysm procedures, as well as aortic dissection procedures;
- Discuss approaches to cerebral and spinal cord protection during aneurysm surgery.
Successful completion of this CME activity enables the learner to earn credit toward the CME requirement of the American Board of Surgery’s Continuous Certification program. It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit learner completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABS credit.
**American Board of Surgery (ABS) Update**
In February 2023, The American Board of Surgery (ABS) announced that, as of July 1, 2023, all CME will be automatically transferred to the ABS through the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME®) PARS system. This is part of their ongoing commitment to reduce the administrative burden on diplomates and enhance the value of the ABS Continuous Certification Program. As part of this improvement, the manual reporting feature (the ability to individually input CME information) in the ABS portal will no longer be necessary and is now retired. Another change in process is the AATS must report the CME you claim for activities within 30 days.
More information, including the original press release from ABS may be found here.
**American Board of Thoracic Surgery (ABTS) Update**
The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and the ABTS are pleased to announce its collaboration to streamline physicians CME reporting requirements for Continuing Certification. Starting in November 2023, all accredited CME providers in the ACCME system are welcome to register CME activities that meet ABTS Continuing Certification requirements and to submit learner completion data in the Program and Activity Reporting System (PARS). Physicians can now browse activities registered for ABTS Continuing Certification credit in the CME Passport, an online CME search tool. The ABTS joins nine other ABMS member boards who have transition to PARS for Continuing Certification. This collaboration should minimize the amount of time Diplomates spend on CME record-keeping for Continuing Certification.
Please note that the AATS Aortic Symposium CME credit claim site will be open from April 28, 2024 – May 23, 2024. On May 24, 2024, the AATS will send all CME credits claimed directly to ABS. The AATS will not be permitted to submit credits claimed for this meeting after May 24, 2024