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2026 AWS Annual Conference
Advocacy: Speaking Out and Scaling New Heights for Our Patients, Our Profession, and Ourselves
Friday, September 25 & Saturday, September 26
Grand Hyatt Washington Hotel | Washington, DC
Participate in special workshops on Saturday, September 26 at the AWS Annual Conference in Washington, DC! With a $50 ticket ($60 after July 22), you can choose a workshop from Group A and from Group B to attend.
Workshop A (attendees choose from the following topics)
- Courageous Conversations (Surgeon Focused): helps surgeons navigate the conversations we often avoid because the stakes are high, emotions are real, and the path forward isn’t clear. Participants will learn how to clarify what they want, manage their emotions, listen with empathy, and share their perspective in a way that protects both their needs and the relationship. Through practical exercises and real-world scenarios, they’ll build the confidence to enter difficult conversations with greater intention, compassion, and courage.
- Defining Your Surgical Identity (Trainee Focused): Surgical training sharpens your technical skills; but who are you becoming as a surgeon? This 90-minute interactive workshop offers medical students, residents, and fellows a rare opportunity to step back from the demands of training and invest in intentional self-reflection. Led by an experienced surgical coach, the session guides participants through practical frameworks to explore their values, strengths, and career vision: from the experiences that have energized them most, to their 5- and 10-year goals and the concrete steps to get there. Through individual reflection, guided coaching, and facilitated group discussion, participants will leave with a clearer sense of the path toward their surgical identity and a personal action plan to start walking it.
- Pivoting and Responding to Challenges and Changes (All Career Levels):
This workshop is designed for female surgeons at all stages of their careers. It explores how to navigate personal and professional challenges that can arise throughout our professional lives. Many of these experiences are rarely discussed openly, leaving surgeons feeling that they are facing them alone. The workshop will create a safe, open environment to discuss these challenges, explore their short- and long-term impact, and identify practical strategies for managing them. Two faculty participants will share personal and professional challenges they have experienced, followed by a moderated discussion focused on how they responded to the challenge/change, what strategies helped, and lessons learned. The emphasis will be on responding, adapting, and thriving, while helping to destigmatize experiences that are often difficult to discuss. Participants will leave with practical tools, greater confidence, and strategies for navigating challenging life circumstances that may arise during their surgical careers.
Workshop B (attendees choose from the following topics)
- Ergonomics Lab: This interactive 90-minute workshop will introduce practical strategies to reduce physical strain and improve ergonomics in the operating room. Participants will explore positioning, set-up and postural awareness across open, endoscopic and robotic surgery; ergonomic equipment and adjuncts; instrument use; intraoperative movement and microbreaks; and the Ergonomics Time-Out. We will also discuss strategies for preparing for and recovering from the physical demands of surgery, as well as the role of surgical culture and self-advocacy in creating more ergonomic working environments. Demonstrations and hands-on participation will be incorporated throughout, with particular attention to ergonomic challenges faced by women surgeons.
- Advocacy Lab: This is an interactive session designed to equip medical students, residents, and faculty surgeons with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to become effective advocates for their patients, their peers, their profession, and communities. Through practical exercises based on case scenarios, led by panel experts in patient, peer, and profession advocacy, participants will learn how to identify opportunities for advocacy, communicate compelling messages, and engage effectively with institutional and community stakeholders. The session will emphasize translating clinical experiences into actionable advocacy and building sustainable skills for leadership and change. Attendees will leave with practical tools and strategies they can immediately apply to amplify their voices and advance issues important to surgery and the patients we serve.
- Turn Obstacles into Opportunities: This is an interactive workshop designed to help surgeons at all stages of their careers—from those in training to practicing surgeons navigate challenges and difficult situations in their professional lives and clinical practice. Through real-world scenarios, reflection, and practical strategies, participants will learn how to reframe obstacles, build resilience, and turn difficult experiences into opportunities for growth and meaningful change.
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