Presented by:
The Division of Acute Care Surgery
USC Office of Continuing Medical Education
Institute of Continuing Education for Nurses,
Department of Nursing
LAC+USC Medical Center

The 30th Annual USC National Trauma, Critical Care, and Acute Care Surgery Symposium self-study course offers a comprehensive experience, featuring cutting-edge lectures, high-caliber plenary sessions, interactive panel discussions, and inspiring keynote addresses by leaders in the fields of acute care surgery, trauma, and surgical critical care.
The course strikes a balance between evidence-based principles and innovative, thought-provoking discussions, brought to life through lively expert debates.
Each session is designed to deepen your understanding of the latest medical controversies while equipping you with practical procedural skills.
Presented by:
The Division of Acute Care Surgery
USC Office of Continuing Medical Education
Institute of Continuing Education for Nurses,
Department of Nursing
LAC+USC Medical Center
Eric Elster, MD, FACS, FRCSEng (Hon.), CAPT, MC, UNS (Ret.) is Dean of the School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD. He serves as Executive Co-Chair of the Military Health System Strategic Partnership American College of Surgeons.
Previously, Dr. Elster was the Chair and Norman M. Rich Professor of Surgery for the USU Department of Surgery and the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He completed a general surgery residency at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD.
During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Dr. Elster served as ship’s surgeon aboard the USS Kitty Hawk, while stationed in the Persian Gulf. Subsequently, he completed a solid organ transplantation as well as transplant in General Surgery fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, where he directed a translational research program focused on the development of improved diagnostics and therapies for serious traumatic injuries, transplantation, and advanced operative imaging.
Dr. Elster was last deployed as a surgeon and director of Surgical Services at the NATO Role 3 Military Medical Unit in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Dr. Elster has published over 200 scientific manuscripts in leading journals and has received numerous research grants across all aspects of surgery.
Dr. Kjell Lindgren is a physician-astronaut, residency trained in emergency and aerospace medicine. He was born in Taiwan, grew up in the UK and earned his undergraduate degree from the US Air Force Academy. He earned a Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Colorado and trained in emergency medicine at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, MN.
Dr. Lindgren joined NASA as a flight surgeon in 2007 and was subsequently selected into the Astronaut Corps in 2009. He is a veteran of two International Space Station missions. In 2015, he launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on a Russian Soyuz rocket to join Expeditions 44/45 on the ISS where he served as the Crew Medical Officer, executed more than a hundred different scientific experiments, and conducted two spacewalks.
In 2022, Dr. Lindgren served as Commander of the SpaceX Crew-4 Dragon mission to the ISS, to join Expedition 67. He has spent a cumulative 311 days in low earth orbit. Dr. Lindgren currently serves as the Deputy Director of NASA’s Flight Operations Directorate.
“My knowledge has been reinforced and I can continue to educate my patients with info about the standards of care.”
— Course Participant
“This was a great symposium of trauma lectures and updates on management of trauma patient and surgical emergencies.”
— Course Participant
“Very good review of trauma and its treatment. I liked the short brief presentations.”
— Course Participant
“Gives me sound perspective from the evidence based research presented on the various topics.”
— Course Participant
“Multiple presentations offered new ideas and processes we could implement within our institution.”
— Course Participant
“Excellent. Would definitely try to attend in person, but if unable to, then would consider purchasing the conference again.”
— Course Participant