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ForwardChicago Symposium on Trauma
Chicago, IL US
May 5, 2026 to May 8, 2026
Advance Your Skills in the Management of Penetrating Trauma!
This immersive educational activity is designed to elevate the care of acutely injured patients, with a focused emphasis on penetrating trauma. Through engaging didactic sessions, real-world case discussions, and expert-led demonstrations, participants will explore evidence-based and emerging approaches to thoracic, vascular, noncompressible torso, and penetrating brain injuries.
Bringing together leaders from academic, civilian, and military trauma systems, the program offers a unique, multidisciplinary perspective on trauma management across urban, rural, and battlefield settings. Participants will strengthen their ability to perform rapid triage, initiate timely life-saving interventions, and coordinate care from the point of injury through definitive recovery.
Two optional one-day, hands-on workshops deepen the learning experience in a state-of-the-art simulation center featuring preclinical live operating environments. The pre-workshop is designed for surgeons in training, medics, and early-career surgeons, delivering focused instruction in core trauma skills through high-fidelity simulation and live model practice. The post-workshop is built for advanced surgeons and their operative teams, emphasizing complex, time-critical trauma management using simulation and live preclinical operating room scenarios. Participants will tackle high-stakes procedures including aortic and caval control, damage-control laparotomy, complex vascular exposure and repair, pelvic hemorrhage control, advanced airway rescue, temporary vascular shunting, and management of severe thoracoabdominal injuries.
Gain organized, high-impact strategies for managing complex penetrating injuries, enhance the critical role of rapid transport, blood resuscitation, and damage-control surgery, and learn innovative techniques and technologies that are reshaping modern trauma care.
Don't miss this one-of-a-kind event and register today!
Don't miss this one-of-a-kind event and register today!
Target Audience
This activity is designed for academic, military, and community trauma surgeons as well as other surgical sub-specialists, intensivists, ER physicians, nurses, PAs, technologists, and other healthcare professionals who care for critically ill trauma patients.
Learning Objectives
After this activity, participants will be able to:
- Describe adjunctive technologies used in damage-control resuscitation for complex penetrating trauma.
- Explain the challenges of providing trauma care across urban, rural, and combat environments.
- Differentiate cavitary triage categories and damage-control priorities in patients with concomitant penetrating injuries.
- Select evidence-based approaches for the immediate resuscitation and operative management of penetrating injuries to the neck, thorax, trunk, junctional regions, and extremities.
- Demonstrate key trauma procedures and surgical exposures relevant to exsanguinating patients in simulation-based training environments.
- Integrate multidisciplinary strategies to optimize trauma team coordination and communication from prehospital care through definitive management.
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2026 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Session | Topic / Title | Speaker(s) / Panelists | Moderator |
| 7:00am | – | Registration and Breakfast | – | – |
| 8:00am | – | Welcome Address & Housekeeping Notes | Dr. Selwyn Rogers | – |
| 8:15am | – | Navigating the Maze to Become a Master Surgeon | Dr. Kenneth Mattox | – |
| 9:00am | Vascular Trauma Session (LaSalle I) | Temporary Liberal Shunts: Is Liberal Temporary Vascular Shunting Better or Worse for Patients? | Dr. Timothy Plackett | – |
| 9:20am | Vascular Trauma Session (LaSalle I) | Debate: Does REBOA Have an Undisputed Role in Penetrating Trauma? | Dr. Purvi Patel & Dr. Abid Khan | – |
| 9:50am | Vascular Trauma Session (LaSalle I) | Management of Subclavian Artery Trauma: Hypotensive, No Pulse in the Wrist, What Is the Right Incision? | Dr. Juan A. Asensio | – |
| 10:10am | Vascular Trauma Session (LaSalle I) | Panel: Open Vascular Repairs: Are Vascular Surgeons Better Qualified to Manage Vascular Trauma than the Trauma Surgeon? | Panel: Dr. Timothy Plackett, Dr. Purvi Patel, Dr. Juan A. Asensio, Dr. Ashley Williamson, Dr. Kenneth Mattox, Dr. Anna Ledgerwood | Moderated by: Dr. Abid Khan |
| 10:45am | – | Break | – | – |
| 11:00am | Hepatobiliary Trauma Session (LaSalle I) | Bullets Through the Surgical Soul: UChicago Experience with the Trauma Whipple | Dr. Jennifer Cone | – |
| 11:00am | Nursing Session (Huron) | Difficult Case Studies: What is Lost and Nursing Considerations | Dr. Priya Prakash & Sharnae Phagan | – |
| 11:20am | Hepatobiliary Trauma Session (LaSalle I) | Packed, Pringled and Prayed, Can IR Help? | Dr. Jeff Leef & Dr. Kenneth Wilson | – |
| 11:30am | Nursing Session (Huron) | Don’t Go Breaking My Bowel! | Justin Mis | – |
| 11:40am | Hepatobiliary Trauma Session (LaSalle I) | Panel Discussion: How do you Survive “Tiger Country”? Damage Control Strategies for the Right Upper Quadrant | Panel: Dr. Kenneth Mattox, Dr. Anna Ledgerwood, Dr. Jennifer Cone, Dr. Kenneth Wilson, Dr. Jeff Leef | Moderated by: Dr. Abid Khan |
| 11:50am | Nursing Session (Huron) | Difficult Decisions in Flight Medicine | Candice Schaper, MSN, RN | – |
| 12:15pm | – | Lunch | – | – |
| 1:15pm | – | Keynote Address | Dr. Anna Ledgerwood | – |
| 2:00pm | – | Asking the Trauma Icons: Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Afghanistan and Chicago: What are your Greatest Lessons for us All? | Dr. Kenneth Mattox, Dr. Anna Ledgerwood, Dr. Juan A. Asensio, Dr. Bryan Cotton, Dr. Kim Nagy | Moderated by: Dr. Kenneth Wilson |
| 3:00pm | – | Break | – | – |
| 3:15pm | Damage Control & Transfusion Medicine Session (LaSalle I) | Anesthesia and Resuscitation in Damage Control: Can Anesthesia Catch Up to Correct Coagulopathy following Traumatic Hemorrhagic Shock? | Dr. Julie Gillespie | – |
| 3:35pm | Damage Control & Transfusion Medicine Session (LaSalle I) | Resuscitative Fluid: Crystalloids Have Come and Gone; Will Component Therapy Go the Same Way? | Dr. Grace Chang | – |
| 3:55pm | Damage Control & Transfusion Medicine Session (LaSalle I) | What Should be Included in the Optimal MTP Cooler? | Dr. Bryan Cotton | – |
| 4:15pm | Damage Control & Transfusion Medicine Session (LaSalle I) | Panel: Damage Control Resuscitation & Transfusion Medicine: Maximizing Blood Delivery from Both Sides of the Drape | Panel: Dr. Julie Gillespie, Dr. Grace Chang, Dr. Bryan Cotton, Dr. Priya Prakash, Dr. Purvi Patel | Moderated by: Dr. Toba Bolaji |
| 5:00pm | – | Closing Remarks | – | – |
THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2026 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Session | Topic / Title | Speaker(s) / Panelists | Moderator |
| 7:00am | – | Registration and Breakfast | – | – |
| 8:00am | – | Welcome Address & Housekeeping Notes | Dr. Selwyn Rogers | – |
| 8:10am | – | The Extreme Knife & Gun Club | Dr. James Cole | – |
| 8:55am | – | Transition for Breakout | – | – |
| 9:00am | Thoracic Trauma Session (LaSalle I) | Rib Plating: Does Surgical Stabilization of Rib Fractures Benefit the Elderly? | Dr. Mike Anstadt | – |
| 9:00am | Nursing Session (Huron) | The ED Thoracotomy: Indications, Processes, and Restoring Order in the Chaos | Dr. Toba Bolaji | – |
| 9:25am | Thoracic Trauma Session (LaSalle I) | Esophageal Trauma: We missed the Hole in the Intrathoracic Esophagus for one 6-days, how do we fix it? | Dr. Ryan Boudreau | – |
| 9:30am | Nursing Session (Huron) | Live Simulation Based Walkthrough of ED Thoracotomy: Mannequin Set-Up; Thoracotomy Trays; Rapid Infuser; Team Members/Roles | Dr. Toba Bolaji, Joel Hufano, Melissa Bales, Peter Marquardt & John Pentek | – |
| 9:50am | Thoracic Trauma Session (LaSalle I) | Management of Thoracic Trauma in the ICU: The ICU Chest X-Ray Remains Cloudy following a Gunshot Injury; Is it Time to Replace the Chest Tube? | Dr. Sam Kingsley | – |
| 10:15am | Thoracic Trauma Session (LaSalle I) | This What They Told me to do, so I did it. Was it the Right Thing to Do?!: Case Presentations | Dr. Mike Anstadt, Dr. Ryan Boudreau, Dr. Sam Kingsley, Dr. Kenneth Mattox, Dr. Anna Ledgerwood | Moderated by: Dr. Timothy Plackett |
| 10:55am | – | Break | – | – |
| 11:10am | Head and Neck Trauma Session (LaSalle I) | Debate: Penetrating Neck Injury: Obtunded Patient, Bright Red Blood Squirting from the Carotid Artery, Fix or Ligate? | Dr. Diane Haddad & Dr. Phillip Dowzicky | – |
| 11:40am | Head and Neck Trauma Session (LaSalle I) | Penetrating Brain Injury: Gunshots to the Head, What Can be Done? | Dr. Ali Mansour | – |
| 12:00pm | Head and Neck Trauma Session (LaSalle I) | Is TXA Beneficial in Treating Traumatic Intracerebral Hemorrhage? | Dr. Susan Rowell | – |
| 12:20pm | Head and Neck Trauma Session (LaSalle I) | Panel: Devastating Brain Injury: Doc, Do Everything to Keep Him Alive: How Do We Approach the Impossible Conversation? | Panel: Dr. Diane Haddad, Dr. Grace Chang, Dr. Ali Mansour, Dr. Phillip Dowzicky, Dr. Susan Rowell | Moderated by: Dr. Selwyn Rogers |
| 12:45pm | – | Lunch | – | – |
| 1:45pm | – | Panel Discussion: Fellows/Residents Ethical Decision-Making Dilemmas: The Surgery Went Well, but Now Comes the Follow-up Care but Without Health Insurance | Panel: Dr. Hasan Alam, Dr. Selwyn Rogers, Dr. Jennifer Wolf, Dr. Richard Gonzalez, Dr. Richard Fantus, Dr. Mallory Williams | Moderated by: Dr. Diane Haddad |
| 2:45pm | – | Break | – | – |
| 3:00pm | Trauma Systems Session (LaSalle I) | Penetrating Injuries in Children: Does the Presence of an Adult Trauma Surgeon Matter? | Dr. Justin Hatchimonji | – |
| 3:30pm | Trauma Systems Session (LaSalle I) | Panel Discussion: Challenges of Building a Trauma System: We Made the Chicagoland Trauma Systems; Here is What We Learned | Panel: Dr. Richard Fantus, Dr. Selwyn Rogers, Dr. Mallory Williams, Dr. Hasan Alam, Dr. Richard Gonzalez | Moderated by: Dr. Priya Prakash |
| 4:15pm | Trauma Systems Session (LaSalle I) | Panel Discussion: Partnering with Communities and Building Trust: Doc, You Don’t Even Live in the Same Zip Code as Me, Why Should I Trust You? | Panel: Dr. Tanya Zakrison, Dr. Stephanie Bonne, Dr. Franklin Cosey-Gay, Dr. Andrew Wheeler, Tony Woods | Moderated by: Dr. Priya Prakash |
| 5:00pm | – | Closing Remarks | – | – |
The agenda is subject to change.
DoubleTree Magnificent Mile
300 E Ohio Street
Chicago, IL
606311
United States
DOUBLETREEE MAGNIFICENT MILE
Tucked between Magnificent Mile shopping and Navy Pier attractions, DoubleTree Magnificent Mile makes exploring Chicago easy. It's a 10-minute walk from 360 CHICAGO, Millennium Park, and the CTA Red Line. Relax with a cocktail in the lobby or enjoy a drink after a rooftop swim in the summer. It offers workout equipment in some rooms plus a separate fitness center.
Reservations
A discounted room block has been secured for symposium participants. To reserve accommodations at the conference rate, visit our dedicated booking website. We encourage you to make your reservation early to ensure availability.
Parking
A discounted room block has been secured for symposium participants. To reserve accommodations at the conference rate, visit our dedicated booking website. We encourage you to make your reservation early to ensure availability.
Parking
If you are driving, you are welcome to park onsite or find other options in the area. The hotel offers on-site garage parking. Symposium participants may take advantage of a reduced daily rate of $40.00 (normally $67.00). Parking validations will be provided at the registration desk during the symposium.
TRAVEL
Discover why Condé Nast Traveler readers voted Chicago the Best Big City in the U.S. for a historic ninth year in a row. To help plan your stay in Chicago, visit Choose Chicago.
ACCESSIBILITY The University of Chicago is committed to providing equal access appropriate to need and circumstances and complies fully with legal requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you are in need of special accommodation, please contact our office via email.
The University of Chicago reserves the right to cancel or postpone this conference due to unforeseen circumstances. In the unlikely event this activity must be cancelled or postponed, the registration fee will be refunded; however, the University of Chicago is not responsible for any related costs, charges, or expenses to participants, including fees assessed by airline/travel/lodging agencies.
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO COURSE DIRECTORS
Toba Bolaji, DO
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Abid D. Khan, MD
Associate Professor of Surgery
Associate Professor of Surgery
Sharnae Phagan, MSN, RN, TNS, TCRN
Trauma Program Manager
Selwyn O. Rogers, Jr. MD, MPH
James E. Bowman Jr. Professor of Surgery
Executive Vice President, Community Health Engagement
Founding Director, Trauma Center
Chief, Section of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery
Trauma Program Manager
Selwyn O. Rogers, Jr. MD, MPH
James E. Bowman Jr. Professor of Surgery
Executive Vice President, Community Health Engagement
Founding Director, Trauma Center
Chief, Section of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery
Kenneth L. Wilson, MD
Professor of Surgery
Professor of Surgery
Disclosure Declarations
As a provider accredited by the ACCME, the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine asks everyone in a position to control the content of an educational activity to disclose all financial relationships with any ineligible companies. This includes any entity whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. Financial relationships are relevant if a financial relationship, in any amount, exists between the person in control of content and an ineligible company during the past 24 months, and the content of the education is related to the products of an ineligible company with whom the person has a financial relationship. Mechanisms are in place to identify and mitigate any relevant financial relationships before the start of the activity.
Additionally, the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine requires Authors to identify investigational products or off-label uses of products regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at first mention and where appropriate in the content.
As a provider accredited by the ACCME, the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine asks everyone in a position to control the content of an educational activity to disclose all financial relationships with any ineligible companies. This includes any entity whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. Financial relationships are relevant if a financial relationship, in any amount, exists between the person in control of content and an ineligible company during the past 24 months, and the content of the education is related to the products of an ineligible company with whom the person has a financial relationship. Mechanisms are in place to identify and mitigate any relevant financial relationships before the start of the activity.
Additionally, the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine requires Authors to identify investigational products or off-label uses of products regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at first mention and where appropriate in the content.
Physician Credit
The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 31.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Nursing Credit
University of Chicago Medicine is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.
Participants who successfully complete the entire activity and complete an evaluation form will earn 31.25 contact hours.
American Board of Surgery CC and Self-Assessment Credit
Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the learner to earn credit toward the CME and Self-Assessment requirements 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.
University of Chicago Medicine is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.
Participants who successfully complete the entire activity and complete an evaluation form will earn 31.25 contact hours.
American Board of Surgery CC and Self-Assessment Credit
Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the learner to earn credit toward the CME and Self-Assessment requirements 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.
Other Participant Credit
Other participants will receive a Certificate of Participation. For information on the applicability and acceptance of Certificates of Participation for educational activities certified for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ from organizations accredited by the ACCME, please consult your professional licensing board.
Other participants will receive a Certificate of Participation. For information on the applicability and acceptance of Certificates of Participation for educational activities certified for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ from organizations accredited by the ACCME, please consult your professional licensing board.
Please note: The credit-claiming process will close one month after the activity ends. Requests to claim credit after one month may incur additional fees.
EXHIBIT OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE!
Showcase your company’s products, technologies, and innovations to a highly engaged audience of clinicians on the front lines of trauma care. As an exhibitor at this immersive trauma management program, you’ll connect directly with key decision-makers from academic, civilian, and military trauma systems who are advancing the care of patients with penetrating injuries.
This program brings together clinicians seeking practical, evidence-based solutions for high-acuity, time-critical scenarios. Exhibiting provides a valuable platform to demonstrate tools and technologies that support rapid triage, hemorrhage control, damage-control resuscitation, surgical intervention, and coordinated care from the point of injury through recovery.
Exhibitors will benefit from meaningful engagement during scheduled networking breaks, visibility throughout the program, and recognition in event materials, positioning your organization at the forefront of innovation in modern trauma and critical care.
Download the 
prospectus or contact Meeting Achievements via email or phone at (219) 465-1115. We hope to see you there!
prospectus or contact Meeting Achievements via email or phone at (219) 465-1115. We hope to see you there!
HOW TO REGISTER
Please log in or create an account to register. Once logged in, select the registration type that best suits you. To access the early-bird fee, use the applicable discount code. For help, follow our 
registration guide.
registration guide.Optional Workshops: You will have the opportunity to register for workshops at the bottom of the checkout screen once you click "Register Now" below. Workshop registration is open through April 6, 2026, subject to capacity.
Military Discount: Military members who register with a military email are eligible for a discount. Please find military discount codes listed below.
| MAIN SYMPOSIUM • MAY 6-7, 2026 Early registration fees expire April 6, 2026. | |||
| Profession Type | Early Fee | Early Discount Code | Regular Fee |
| Physician | $600 | TEPO26 | $650 |
| Other Healthcare Professional | $275 | TEPO26 | $325 |
| Resident/Fellow | $125 | TERF26 | $150 |
| Industry | - | - | $795 |
| Military Discount Code (w/Military Email): TMCM26 | |||
CANCELLATION POLICY If you cancel your participation in this conference, your registration fee, less a $100 administrative fee, will be refunded when written notification is received by April 5, 2026. No refunds will be made after April 5, 2026. | |||
| OPTIONAL WORKSHOP Interdisciplinary Skills Course • MAY 5, 2026 6:45 AM - 5:00 PM | OPTIONAL WORKSHOP Trauma Xtreme Post-Course • MAY 8, 2026 6:30 AM - 6:00 PM | |||
| Profession Type | Fee | Profession Type | Fee | |
| Physician | $1500 | Physician | $1800 | |
| Other Healthcare Professional | $600 | Other Healthcare Professional | $700 | |
| Resident/Fellow | $600 | Resident/Fellow | $700 | |
| Military Discount Code (w/Military Email): TISM26 | Military Discount Code (w/Military Email): TXTM26 | |||
CANCELLATION POLICY If you cancel your participation, your registration fee, less a $100 administrative fee per workshop, will be refunded when written notification is received by April 5, 2026. No refunds will be made after April 5, 2026. | ||||
HOW TO CLAIM CREDIT
After the activity, the credit-claiming process will unlock. Return to this page and click on "Complete Activity" to proceed.
Please note: The credit-claiming process will close one month after the activity ends. Requests to claim credit after one month may incur additional fees.
Please note: The credit-claiming process will close one month after the activity ends. Requests to claim credit after one month may incur additional fees.
Please login or create an account to proceed.