Acute Care Surgery Fellowships Accelerate Military Surgical Readiness

Maintaining a high level of procedural competence is a fundamental challenge in medicine, particularly for surgeons in fields requiring readiness for high-acuity, low-frequency events, such as military deployment [1]. While specialized fellowship programs are known to improve patient outcomes through focused, high-volume training [2], a persistent question is how effectively these programs prepare clinicians for specific operational demands [3]. Evaluating and verifying procedural readiness is therefore critical for ensuring that educational pathways translate into tangible capabilities in complex clinical environments [4, 5].