Burn Surgeon Forum 2026: Advancing Burn Surgery Through Innovation, Leadership, and Collaboration
Thursday, June 18, 2026
In this article, you’ll learn:
How Burn Surgeon Forum 2026 brings burn surgeons together in a highly interactive, surgeon-to-surgeon setting to address real-world clinical, operational, and leadership challenges in burn care
What makes this forum different from traditional CME meetings, with an emphasis on practical decision-making and peer exchange
Why burn surgeons across career stages are gathering in San Antonio to shape the next phase of the specialty
Burn surgery is evolving under increasing pressure. It’s more complex injuries, shifting workforce dynamics, rising expectations for outcomes, and growing demands on burn center operations. At the same time, surgeons are being asked to lead not only in the operating room, but across systems, teams, and institutions.
The Burn Surgeon Forum 2026 is designed specifically for that reality.
View the full education agenda, schedule, faculty, and register now.
Held September 23–25, 2026, in San Antonio, Texas, this forum brings together established and emerging burn surgeons for a focused, highly interactive experience centered on how burn surgery is practiced today, and how it must continue to evolve.
This is not a traditional lecture-based meeting. It is a working forum where burn surgeons engage directly with peers to discuss decisions, approaches, and challenges that rarely make it into formal presentations, but shape outcomes every day in practice.
Participation is intentionally structured to support candid, small-group discussion among surgeons facing similar clinical, operational, and leadership pressures. The result is a setting where ideas are tested, approaches are compared, and practical solutions emerge in real time.
What is Burn Surgeon Forum?
The Burn Surgeon Forum is the American Burn Association’s premier event focused on burn surgeon leadership, strategy, and real-world solutions.
It is designed as a surgeon-to-surgeon environment where discussion is prioritized over presentation. Sessions focus on clinical judgment, systems-level thinking, and practical approaches to the challenges facing modern burn centers.
Rather than passively receiving information, participants actively engage in dialogue that reflects the realities of burn care today.
Why Attend Burn Surgeon Forum 2026?
Burn surgeons are navigating an increasingly complex landscape that extends beyond clinical care alone. Workforce constraints, financial pressures, evolving quality expectations, and advancing surgical techniques all intersect in daily practice.
This forum is built to address those challenges directly.
Attendees join colleagues to:
Engage in practical, experience-based discussion across a range of burn surgery topics
Explore approaches to improving outcomes while managing real-world operational constraints
Strengthen leadership skills within burn centers and health systems
Learn from peers across institutions and career stages
Participate in discussions that translate directly into practice
Burn Surgeon Forum 2026 is designed for surgeons who want more than they want applicable insight from colleagues facing the same realities.
“The most valuable discussions in burn surgery rarely happen in formal lectures; they happen when surgeons sit together and compare real decisions from real cases,” said ABA CEO Ed Dellert, RN, MBA, CAE. “That is exactly what this forum is designed to enable.”
Attendees will:
Earn continuing education credits supporting licensure and professional growth
Gain insights into clinical, operational, and leadership challenges in burn care
Explore strategies for practice sustainability and financial stewardship
Engage in peer-to-peer learning and mentorship opportunities
Learn how data and quality initiatives are shaping modern burn surgery
Strengthen collaboration across institutions and career stages
Key Topics and Session Highlights
The 2026 program features interactive, practice-focused sessions, including:
Innovation in Burn Surgery
Keynote: The Next Era of Burn Surgery: Leading Through Innovation
Exploring how emerging technologies, evolving systems of care, and innovation are reshaping surgical practice.
“How I Do It” Clinical Sessions
Hands-on, experience-driven discussions including:
Management of the severely burned face
Management of the severely burned hand
Reconstruction strategies beyond foundational approaches
Rehabilitation approaches integrating movement as medicine
The Business of Burn Surgery
Sessions addressing:
Coding and reimbursement realities
Financial stewardship in burn centers
Operational sustainability and practice models
Burn Care Quality and Research Collaboration
Focused discussions on:
Burn Care Quality Platform (BCQP) utilization
Multicenter collaboration
Research rigor and evidence development in burn care
Leadership and Workforce Evolution
Exploring mentorship, leadership development, and workforce challenges across generations in burn surgery.
Interactive Learning and Discussion
Burn Surgeon Forum prioritizes engagement over passive learning.
Participants will take part in:
Surgical strategy roundtables
Cross-disciplinary breakout sessions
Pro-con debates on pediatric burn centralization
Roundtable discussions on OR efficiency, hemostasis, and multidisciplinary coordination
Networking receptions designed to foster collaboration and mentorship
Why Collaboration Matters in Burn Care
Burn care is inherently multidisciplinary, requiring coordination across surgical, critical care, rehabilitation, and research teams.
As complexity increases, collaboration becomes even more essential. The Burn Surgeon Forum provides a structured environment for surgeons to share insights, challenge assumptions, and identify practical solutions that improve patient care.
Join Us in San Antonio
Burn Surgeon Forum 2026 offers a focused, collaborative environment where surgeons can engage in meaningful discussion, explore emerging challenges, and advance the specialty of burn surgery.