ATLS is now in its 9th edition, published October 2012. It is now an international course that has been adapted successfully in many different settings, providing a common language for trauma training that can save lives in critical situations. ATLS teaches a systematic, concise approach to the early management of trauma patients. It is available to physicians in the different fields that provide trauma care. The focus is on standardized and systematic approaches. The primary and secondary surveys are used as a framework with cues to prioritize life-threatening issues as they are recognized. The course includes didactics and practical sessions. Testing includes a written exam and simulated scenarios.

The 9th edition of ATLS includes a number of new content updates (Table 1.2). It now offers mobile content (MyATLS) as a point-of-care reference. Clinicians can use the MyATLS app on smartphones or tablets to access and use critical references and resources regarding trauma care at the patient’s bedside or in the field. Videos and animations review key trauma skills. Algorithms, calculators, and formulas put lifesaving trauma information at the fingertips of the primary trauma providers.

The TEAM course is offered at the undergraduate medical education level and also serves as an educational resource for other trauma team members. It is an abbreviated version of ATLS designed to teach basic trauma assessment and management. This serves as an introduction for further ATLS training.

To manage trauma competently, there is a need to master operative skills that cover the abdominal cavity (including the pelvis and retroperitoneum), the thorax and mediastinum, and the peripheral vascular system. In particular, the rapid exposure required to control traumatic bleeding is a mandatory skill for the trauma surgeon.

The acquisition of these definitive surgical trauma skills for our general surgical residents is difficult in our current era of increasing nonoperative management of blunt traumatic injuries [13–16]. With the decline in operative cases in trauma surgery, operative skills training courses have become important adjuncts to trauma training. There are several courses that teach operative management and surgical skills in trauma (Table 1.3). For general surgery residency programs with challenges in providing adequate clinical exposure to operative trauma management in their institutions, it is recommended that program directors consider specific operative skills training courses that can meet the requirements of this specific training need and also provide an objective competency assessment. These operative skills training courses should be considered for senior surgical residents at the level of postgraduate year 4 or higher. The ACGME endorses the concept of evaluation of (1) individual milestones and (2) assessment of objective measures of operative skills in the general surgery residency curriculum. These trauma surgical skills courses can assist in achieving these objectives.

Advanced Trauma Operative Management (ATOM) is a 1-day course offered by ACS to provide training in the operative management of penetrating injuries to the chest and abdomen [17]. It utilizes standardized didactics, audiovisual aids, and porcine model simulation to train surgeons in these techniques. The ACS Advanced Surgical Skills for Exposure in Trauma (ASSET) course, the Royal College of Surgeons of England Definitive Surgical Trauma Skills course, and the University of Texas Trauma Exposure Course (TEC) are examples of similar hands-on workshop courses that teach operative trauma skills on human cadaveric models [18–20].

As new surgical techniques are developed for use in trauma care, new interactive and skills-based educational programs will be established to supplement training. An example is training for endovascular trauma interventions, including resuscitative balloon occlusion of the aorta [21]. Currently, the Endovascular Skills for Trauma and Resuscitative Surgery course [22], a joint military-civilian educational effort, is in the process of refinement and validation. This course targets practicing trauma surgeons who desire to gain knowledge and skills in endovascular treatment of traumatic injuries.

Different countries and regions have different situations, resources, and needs that might not be served as well by trauma training programs developed for mature trauma systems [6, 23]. The WHO Guidelines for Essential Trauma Care defines basic physician/provider training requirements needed for establishing trauma care systems worldwide [6].

The International Association for Trauma and Surgical Intensive Care (IATSIC) has developed two courses with the specific circumstances of lower resource countries in mind [6]. The National Trauma Management Course (NMTC), developed in India, is a 2-day course focused on early trauma management similar to the ATLS program. The Definitive Surgical Trauma Course (DSTC) is a program similar to the ATOM and ASSET courses and also includes a cadaver or animal model component. It is targeted for surgeons and teaches operative management of difficult traumatic injuries.