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Why San Antonio Is a Fitting Home for Burn Surgeon Forum 2026

Wednesday, August 26, 2026

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In this article, you’ll learn 

  • Why San Antonio has a longstanding connection to military medicine, trauma care and burn care. 

  • How the city’s burn care history connects with the American Burn Association’s (ABA) mission to advance patient care. 

  • Why continued collaboration, innovation, and specialized expertise matter for the future of burn care. 

Why is San Antonio important to burn care? 

San Antonio has a long history of military medicine, trauma care, and treating complex burn injuries. That history makes the city a fitting location for the ABA’s Burn Surgeon Forum, taking place Sept. 23–25, 2026. 

The Forum will bring burn surgeons and other burn care professionals together for focused education, discussion, and collaboration. The meeting will explore current challenges in burn care while creating opportunities to consider how surgical care, critical care, rehabilitation and long-term recovery continue to evolve. 

For the burn care community, holding the Forum in San Antonio also connects the meeting to generations of military and civilian burn care expertise. 

What is the connection between San Antonio and burn care? 

San Antonio’s medical community has been shaped in part by its longstanding relationship with the U.S. military. The city is home to Brooke Army Medical Center and a nationally recognized military medical community that has contributed to trauma and burn care for both service members and civilians. 

That history includes generations of burn surgeons and clinicians who have trained and practiced in San Antonio, contributing to the broader development of burn care. 

The city’s identity as “Military City, USA®” also reflects the military's longstanding presence and influence in San Antonio. 

For the ABA, that connection makes San Antonio more than a meeting destination. It provides an opportunity to bring the burn care interprofessional community together in a place with a meaningful connection to the specialty. 

Why does continued collaboration matter in burn care? 

Serious burn injuries can affect patients well beyond the initial injury. Treatment may involve complex surgical procedures, critical care, wound management, rehabilitation, and long-term physical and psychological recovery. 

Advances across these areas continue to shape how burn injuries are treated. At the same time, complex cases often require close coordination among specialists and other members of the interprofessional care team. 

Burn Surgeon Forum provides a setting for professionals to examine these challenges together, share clinical experiences, and discuss emerging approaches to burn care. 

What can burn care professionals gain from attending? 

Burn Surgeon Forum offers a focused opportunity to step away from the day-to-day demands of clinical practice and engage directly with colleagues working through some of the most complex questions in burn care. 

The Forum's value extends beyond individual educational sessions. Attendees can bring their own experiences and questions into conversations with colleagues while gaining perspective on challenges and approaches across the specialty. 

Attendees will have opportunities to: 

  • Learn from peers: Hear how other burn care professionals are approaching complex clinical and operational challenges. 

  • Exchange ideas: Bring questions, experiences, and perspectives to conversations with colleagues across the specialty. 

  • Look ahead: Explore emerging technologies, evolving treatment approaches and issues that may shape the future of burn care. 

  • Build connections: Strengthen relationships with professionals working across the burn care continuum. 

  • Engage with the specialty: Participate in focused conversations with colleagues who share a commitment to improving outcomes for patients with serious burn injuries. 

Why does attending in person matter? 

Some of the most valuable professional conversations happen through discussion, questions, and shared experiences that extend beyond a formal presentation. 

Burn Surgeon Forum is designed to create those opportunities. Being in the room with colleagues lets attendees compare approaches, ask questions, exchange perspectives, and build connections that can continue after the meeting. 

The San Antonio setting adds another dimension. Attendees will gather in a city whose medical and military communities have played an important role in the history of burn and trauma care. 

How does San Antonio connect burn care history with its future? 

San Antonio’s role in military medicine and burn care provides a historical foundation for conversations about the specialty's future. 

The city has been associated with influential leaders in burn and trauma care, including Dr. Basil Pruitt, Dr. John Holcomb, and Dr. Leopoldo Cancio, along with generations of surgeons trained in San Antonio’s military medical community. Their work, along with contributions from other leaders in burn and trauma care, has helped shape the treatment of military and civilian patients. 

Today, the burn care community still needs innovation, specialized expertise, and collaboration. Bringing the Burn Surgeon Forum to San Antonio creates an opportunity to recognize that history while focusing on the clinical challenges and opportunities ahead. 

As ABA Chief Executive Officer Ed Dellert, RN, MBA, CAE, FACEHP, noted, San Antonio brings together the history of burn and trauma care with the clinicians who will help shape its future. 

What makes Burn Surgeon Forum 2026 timely? 

Burn care continues to evolve across surgery, critical care, rehabilitation, technology, and long-term recovery. At the same time, burn professionals face increasingly complex clinical and operational challenges that benefit from shared expertise. 

A focused forum provides space for those conversations. 

For professionals working in burn care, Burn Surgeon Forum 2026 offers an opportunity to learn from peers, examine emerging issues, and contribute to discussions about where the specialty goes next. 

And this year, those conversations will take place in a city with an unusually strong connection to the history of military medicine, trauma, and burn care. 

For professionals who want to join those conversations, Burn Surgeon Forum 2026 is the opportunity to meet colleagues in San Antonio this September. 

Key Takeaways 

  • San Antonio has a longstanding role in military medicine, trauma, and burn care. 

  • Burn Surgeon Forum 2026 will bring burn surgeons and other burn care professionals together for focused education, discussion, and collaboration. 

  • Attendees can gain practical perspectives from peers, explore emerging issues and build connections across the specialty. 

  • Complex burn injuries require specialized, interprofessional care across surgery, critical care, rehabilitation, and long-term recovery. 

  • The Forum connects the history of burn care in San Antonio with ongoing conversations about the future of the specialty. 

Expert Perspective 

“San Antonio is a uniquely fitting place to bring the Burn Surgeon Forum because of its deep history and ongoing leadership in military medicine, trauma, and burn care.” 

— Leopoldo Cancio, MD, FABA, President, American Burn Association and COL (ret.), MC, USA, Director emeritus, US Army Burn Center, US Army Institute of Surgical Research, Fort Sam Houston, TX 

Plan Your Burn Surgeon Forum Experience 

Burn Surgeon Forum 2026 will take place Sept. 23–25 in San Antonio, Texas. 

Professionals interested in attending can use the event resources below to prepare for the meeting: 

  • Book your hotel:  Reserve accommodations through the official Burn Surgeon Forum hotel room block, subject to availability. 

The hotel room block deadline is Aug. 26, 2026, subject to availability. 

About the American Burn Association 

The American Burn Association (ABA) is dedicated to improving the lives of those affected by burn injuries through advocacy, education, research, and prevention. Founded in 1967, the ABA supports burn care professionals and organizations and works to advance the quality of burn care worldwide. 

About Burn Surgeon Forum 

Burn Surgeon Forum is an American Burn Association meeting that brings burn surgeons and other burn care professionals together for focused education, discussion and collaboration on issues affecting the specialty. Burn Surgeon Forum 2026 will be held Sept. 23–25 in San Antonio, Texas.