The American College of Surgeons (ACS) Operation Giving Back (OGB) program and the ACS Archives offer members unique opportunities to engage with the College on a broad scale.
The OGB allows members to submit profiles describing their volunteerism interests so they can be matched with agencies that need humanitarian assistance both internationally and domestically. Through OGB, members also may volunteer to provide assistance in the event of a disaster.
The Archives appeals specifically to history enthusiasts and researchers, allowing them to interact directly with the College’s collection of archival files. We encourage you to take advantage of these engagement opportunities as a benefit of your membership in the ACS.
Engage in surgical volunteerism through OGB
OGB’s mission is to leverage the passion, skills, and humanitarian ethos of the surgical community to meet the needs of medically underserved patients domestically and globally. OGB provides the tools necessary to facilitate humanitarian outreach among surgeons of all specialties and at all stages of their career. By delivering information on opportunities to volunteer through patient care, education, training, systems strengthening, advocacy efforts, and donation of needed equipment and supplies, OGB focuses these resources to address critical public health issues as they relate to the provision of safe, timely, and necessary surgical care around the globe.
Become a partner organization
A central feature of our program is to match participating partner organizations and their available opportunities with volunteers. Using our portal, organizations wishing to partner with OGB can post opportunities and connect with volunteers.
OGB recently introduced a new Web portal that allows individuals and organizations to post and search for volunteerism opportunities in several areas, including service, fellowship, funding, education, and research.
In addition, OGB continually posts and updates our resources and toolkits to provide you with helpful information along your journey to providing service. Visit the OGB Web page today to find out more information and sign up for the portal and other program features. For more information, e-mail ogb@facs.org.
ACS Archives provides historical context
The legacy of the College provides a historical context for members to have a sense of who they are and where they have come from as surgeons. The ACS Archives gathers and preserves original College source materials such as meeting minutes, correspondence, reports, publications, and photos—the unique raw materials used primarily by historians. We also conduct oral history interviews of ACS Past-Presidents and make the videos and transcripts available in the Archives catalog.
However, on a day-to-day basis, the Archives’ first priority is to provide access to its research assistance. Sometimes this involves working with in-person users to facilitate their research on general topics, such as medical motion pictures, hospital standardization, or the evolution of the requirements for Fellowship. At other times it means providing answers to specific questions such as:
- Was my grandfather a Fellow?
- Do you have information on the Canadian founders of the College?
- Was our hospital accredited by the ACS in 1937?
- Can you provide a photo for the article I am writing?
- Who were my fellow Initiates from the Convocation of 1965?
- Can you send me information on Dr. Jones for a book I am writing?
- Do you have any records of the 1985 Planning Committee meeting?
- I wrote an article for Surgery, Gynecology & Obstetrics in 1980. Can you send me a copy?
Search the Archives Catalog online to find detailed descriptions of our holdings and to see some photos and videos. You can search by keyword and browse by topic, subject name, creator, or collection, and you can view groups of selected photos and videos.
If you are planning to visit the ACS headquarters in Chicago, IL, arrange for a brief tour of the Archives by emailing dbarber@facs.org. Or visit the Archives web page to learn about the history of the College and how to use the Archives. Members are always given priority access, and all research and reproduction fees are waived.
History devotees are encouraged to join the ACS Surgical History Group (SHG). Members may sign into the ACS Communities with a username and password and join the History of Surgery online community. The SHG sponsors various events at Clinical Congress, including a Poster Session, a history presentation given at the SHG breakfast, and a special history panel session. Also watch for regular From the Archives columns in upcoming issues of the Bulletin.
Member benefits
The College is committed to using its resources, including the human capital of its thousands of members, to enhance the care of surgical patients around the world through OGB. In addition, the College is committed to preserving its more than 100-year history for future generations of health care professionals through the ACS Archives. Members looking for a way to engage with the College are encouraged to participate in these programs.
