Program directors of Surgical Critical Care Fellowships began meeting informally in 2003. The first meetings were held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Association for the Surgery Trauma (AAST), which generously provided financial support. Prior to this, there was no organized forum for these program directors to discuss common issues in training surgical critical care fellows. The main subjects were updating the training curriculum, ACGME competencies, developing a fellowship Match program and  board certification among others. After several meetings, it became clear that a sustained and concerted effort was needed from the program directors. Therefore in 2008, the Surgical Critical Care Program Directors Society (SCCPDS) was formally incorporated in the State of Rhode Island and granted tax-exempt status from the IRS as a 501(c)(6) non-profit organization.