Accessibility

The AACS fully complies with the legal requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the rules and regulations thereof. If any participant in this educational activity requires support services, please notify the AACS headquarters office at 1-312-981-6760 or email (info@cosmeticsurgery.org) by March 25, 2024.

Cancellation Policy 

Registration fees, less a USD 100.00 administration fee, will be refunded upon written notice of cancellation to the AACS office received on or before March 25, 2023. After this date, there will be no refund of fees for cancellation or lack of attendance. It is your responsibility to ensure that the AACS office has received your cancellation request. All refund requests must be in writing via email (info@cosmeticsurgery.org). “No shows” who have not pre-paid will be invoiced for the total registration fee. Forfeited fees may not be applied to any other activity. 

Video, Photography, and Audio Recording Policy

Video recording and photography are strictly prohibited in all educational sessions. Under no circumstances are video, digital, or still cameras to be utilized in the educational sessions. This includes photos and videos taken with cellular phones. Violators will be dismissed from the meeting. The only exception to the photography policy is photos taken by the official photographer.

Cellular Phone Policy

The use of cellular phones in the sessions is strictly prohibited. Attendees must either turn off or vibrate cellular telephones.

Learner Bill of Rights

The AACS recognizes that you are a lifelong learner who has chosen to engage in continuing medical education to identify or fill a gap in knowledge or skill and attain or enhance the desired competency. Therefore, as part of the AACS’s duty to you as a learner, you have the right to expect that your continuing medical education experience with the AACS includes:

Content that:

• Is driven and based on an independent survey and analysis of learner needs
• Promotes improvements or quality in healthcare
• Is current, peer-reviewed and evidence-based
• Offers balanced presentations that are free from commercial bias 
• Is vetted through a process that resolves any conflicts of interests of anyone in a position to control the content
• Is driven and based on learning needs, not commercial interests
• Addresses the stated objectives or purpose
• Is evaluated for its effectiveness in meeting the identified educational need 

A learning environment that:

• Is based on adult learning principles that support the use of various modalities
• Supports learners’ ability to meet their individual needs
• Respects and attends to the needs of learners concerning the ADA
• Respects the diversity of groups of learners
• Is free from promotional, commercial, and sales activities

Disclosure of:

• Relevant financial relationships that planners, teachers, and authors have with commercial interests related to the content of the activity
• Commercial support (funding or in-kind resources) of the activity
• Anecdotal content

Rules and Proper Etiquette

The Cosmetic Surgery Annual Review Course is an educational activity. Attendees are expected to maintain professional etiquette and extend proper courtesies. Inappropriate behaviors will not be condoned. The meeting should not be used as an opportunity for solicitation of other physicians’ staff or other unethical, inappropriate, and distasteful activities. It may seem obvious, but it is inappropriate and rude to make negative or soliciting comments to the live patients in the various sessions. 

Negative or disparaging comments about a patient’s results to the patient are offensive, psychologically hurtful, and violate our ethical commitment to “do no harm.” Patients who agree to show their postoperative results and the doctors who bring them to deserve our respect and support for their willingness to subject their results to scrutiny and contribute to our learning experience. 

The doctors need to discuss their complications and show patient photos. Public disclosure of a specific doctor’s complications or patients is prohibited. There are ongoing debates in any field of evolving science, and disagreement between professionals is expected. However, inflammatory or inappropriate criticism of any specific AACS doctor’s or assistant’s lecture that has been made in good faith and according to the ethical standards of AACS is prohibited.  The AACS must approve the timing of any private social functions.

The purpose of these guidelines is not to suppress free speech or to conceal items from the public; instead, it is to encourage a free exchange among doctors without worries that anything said or done will be used against them by a competitor. All doctors have complications at various times, but it takes a particular form of integrity to discuss them before a large group of colleagues. We understand that most nonmedical promotional professionals in our field provide a helpful public service while pursuing their business interests. We hope this communication between us will be highly professional and benefit both the area and the patients.

Disclaimer 

Registrants understand that the material presented at the Cosmetic Surgery Annual Review Course has been made available under the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery (AACS) sponsorship for educational purposes only. This material is not intended to represent the only, nor necessarily the best, method or procedure appropriate for the medical situations discussed, but rather is intended to present an approach, view, statement, or opinion of the faculty which may be of interest to others. As an educational organization, the AACS does not explicitly approve, promote or accept the views, ideas, procedures, medications, or devices presented in any paper, poster, discussion, forum, or panel. Therefore, registrants waive any claim against AACS from the information presented in this educational activity.

Registrants further understand and agree that they cannot reproduce in any manner, including, without limitation, the educational activity's photographs, audiotapes, and videotapes. All property rights in the material presented, including common-law copyright, are expressly reserved to the presenter or the AACS. The sessions may be audio, videotaped, or photographed by the AACS.

Attending this program, in no way does it suggest that participants are trained and certified in the discipline of cosmetic surgery. Additionally, all speakers, topics, and schedules are subject to change without prior notification and will not be considered reasons for refund requests. 

Registrants agree to abide by all policies and procedures of the AACS. Registrants waive any claim against AACS for injury or other damage resulting from course participation.