2026 COT & COC Paper Competition

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The American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer (COC) and Committee on Trauma (COT) are pleased to announce the Call for Abstracts for the 2026 Physician in Training Paper Competition. This competition fosters the development of physician scientists in the fields of oncology and trauma.

The 2026 competition will be held at VCU in Richmond, VA on Thursday, November 5, from 12:00–6:00 PM.  *Please note: Due to the high volume of submissions in previous years, the event schedule has been extended and will now begin at 12:00 PM. 

Location:
VCU | Lambert Board Room
VCU Critical Care Hospital
1213 East Clay Street
Richmond, VA 23219

ELIGIBILITY

The competition is open to:

• General surgery residents
• Surgical specialty residents
• Fellows
• Medical Students (COT only - see below)

Abstracts must address topics related to oncology or trauma and align with the missions of the Commission on Cancer or the Committee on Trauma.

Submitted abstracts may have been previously presented but not published in a peer-reviewed journal before the competition 

 The senior faculty co-author must be a member of the ACS Virginia Chapter in good standing .

Commission on Cancer (CoC) Submissions:
While the national CoC competition does not allow abstracts previously presented at national meetings or accepted/under review for national publication, the Virginia Chapter competition is decoupled from the national process and will accept these submissions.

Medical Students:
Medical students are eligible to participate in the COT competition (not the COC). A student sponsor (attending physician) must be present at the Paper Competition.

The top medical student presenter will be selected to present at the 2027 VA-ACS Annual Meeting and will receive a generous monetary prize.

Submission Deadline: Thursday, October 22.

Scope & Presentation Format:
Abstracts should describe original research in any aspect of cancer or trauma care and must be categorized as:

• Basic laboratory research
• Clinical research/investigation

Winning papers at the state level compete at the Region III competition at Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore the first Saturday of December. Winners of the regional competition will present at the national competition during the annual Committee on Trauma Meeting.

Quick-shot presentations:

All accepted submissions are expected to present a PowerPoint presentation on November 5 at VCU.

• 6-minute presentation
• 1-minute Q&A

2027 VA-ACS ANNUAL MEETING
Two of the resident/fellow presentations in the COC and in the COT competition will be selected as winners to present during the main session at the 2027 Annual Meeting of the Virginia Chapter, ACS. The 3rd place COT and top medical student presenters will also be selected to present (during the COT Breakfast meeting) at the 2027 Annual Meeting. Details to follow.

A generous monetary prize will be presented at the 2027 Annual Meeting to each winner.

Questions? 

Contact Chapter Administrator, Susan McConnell at 804-622-8139 or smcconnell@ramdocs.org.