Academy of Trauma Surgery

What Academy of Trauma Surgery does

AUC - Akademie der Unfallchirurgie GmbH is a privately held German service company headquartered in Munich (registered in Berlin) that operates as the continuing education, certification, and research services arm of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Unfallchirurgie (DGU). The company delivers structured medical training programs to orthopedic and trauma surgeons, emergency physicians, and nursing professionals, including ATLS (Advanced Trauma Life Support), TDSC (Terror and Disaster Surgical Care), vascular trauma courses, wound ballistics, burn care (BTC48), and the newly launched Hands-on Trauma & Ortho Simulation workshop that incorporates VR and mixed reality. It is also the exclusive certification body for the DGU TraumaNetzwerk, TraumaZentrum, AltersTraumaZentrum, and (as of 2026) Orthoplastisches Kompetenzzentrum programs, having issued 460 institutional certifications and trained over 25,000 participants across 20 years of operation, supported by a 300+ instructor faculty.

The underlying platform is built on the ILIAS learning management system hosted by Databay AG for course delivery and registration, with Oracle cloud infrastructure powering the medical registry business, Matomo for web analytics, Rapidmail for newsletters, and Microsoft Teams and Zoom for virtual events. AUC generates revenue through per-participant course fees (EUR 29 to EUR 2,787 depending on format and depth), recurring trauma center certification fees, and professional services for medical registries and scientific study support through its Studienzentrum. Distribution is predominantly direct via the kurse.auc-online.de course portal and in-house courses delivered at partner hospitals across Germany and Austria, with targeted digital channels (LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, monthly Web-Seminar-Reihe) used for awareness.

Recent strategic activity includes a cooperation with Dräger (December 2025) on integrated hospital emergency preparedness, the opening of the Institut für Traumaforschung (ITF) at Uniklinik RWTH Aachen (March 2026), the launch of the OPZ certification procedure (2026), the appointment of Dr. med. Katja Walther as CMO (April 2026), and the leadership transition of the ATLS Board Germany (2025).

Name

Academy of Trauma Surgery

Legal name

AUC - Akademie der Unfallchirurgie GmbH

Website

https://auc-online.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

AUC - Akademie der Unfallchirurgie GmbH is the Munich-based continuing education, certification, and medical registry arm of the German Society for Trauma Surgery (DGU), delivering ATLS, TDSC, and simulation training to physicians and certifying trauma centers across Germany and Austria.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

München

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Course Fees: Fees charged for professional medical training courses including ATLS, TDSC, vascular trauma courses, and simulation workshops. Course fees range from 29 EUR for online modules to 2,787 EUR for intensive master courses.
2. Certification Fees: Fees for certification of trauma centers (TraumaZentrum DGU, AltersTraumaZentrum DGU, Orthoplastisches Kompetenzzentrum) and professional certifications (AO Trauma Germany, Notfallchirurg)
3. Study Center Services: Professional support services for scientific studies and research projects including study design and execution assistance

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

AUC is a multidisciplinary service provider offering continuing medical education and certification for orthopedic and trauma surgery professionals and institutions in Germany and Europe. Its core offerings include structured training courses (ATLS, TDSC, vascular trauma master courses, BTC48 burn care, Hands-on Trauma & Orthopädie-Simulation workshop, Notfallchirurg crisis and disaster curriculum, Wundballistik, ACT!, AO Trauma Germany certifications), independent certification procedures for trauma centers and networks (TraumaZentrum DGU, TraumaNetzwerk DGU, AltersTraumaZentrum DGU, Orthoplastisches Kompetenzzentrum), data-protection-compliant medical registries for professional societies, and study center support services for clinical research projects.

Product overview

AUC (Akademie der Unfallchirurgie) operates as a multidisciplinary service provider offering a comprehensive portfolio of training, certification, and research support services for trauma surgery and emergency medicine. The core offerings include: (1) Hands-on simulation workshops such as the Hands-on Trauma & Orthopädie-Simulation featuring VR, mixed reality, and high-fidelity simulation; (2) Certification services for trauma centers including AltersTraumaZentrum DGU, TraumaNetzwerk DGU, and TraumaZentrum DGU; (3) Structured curricula like the Notfallchirurg (Emergency Surgeon) program for crisis and disaster situations; (4) Individual courses including TDSC for terror and disaster scenarios, ATLS shock room management, vascular trauma courses, wound ballistics, and ACT; (5) Medical registries and study center support services for research; and (6) an online course portal for program access and certificate verification. The portfolio spans continuing education for physicians and nursing staff, clinic certification, and medical register development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Hands-on Trauma & Orthopädie-Simulation Workshop A nearly unique in Europe 2-day intensive workshop combining arthroscopic techniques, implantological procedures, imaging radiation protection skills, and immersive emergency simulation, featuring VR-supported fracture treatment and Blue Room high-fidelity simulation, designed for orthopedic and trauma surgery professionals.
• AltersTraumaZentrum DGU Certification

Quantifiable outcome

• 460 trauma center certifications awarded
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• DragercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 December 2025Strategic cooperation between Drager and AUC for hospital emergency preparedness training. Combines TDSC course materials with Drager's hospital alarm and emergency planning (KAEP) services. Jointly develops realistic exercise scenarios for mass casualty incidents and crisis management, training both medical and strategic key actors.
• Databay AGcoreTechnology or IntegrationWebsite and course portal hosting provider. Hosts auc-online.de and kurse.auc-online.de platforms including ILIAS LMS implementation and session management.
• Oracle DeutschlandcoreTechnology or IntegrationCloud infrastructure provider for medical registry platforms. Hosts TraumaPortal and attached registries on Oracle cloud.
• Vascular International School AGcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperation for vascular trauma courses. Vascular International is responsible for organization, training infrastructure, and course execution of vascular emergency techniques training.
• Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Unfallchirurgie (DGU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary affiliated medical society. AUC founded as Academy of DGU. Provides services for DGU certification programs including TraumaNetzwerk DGU, TraumaZentrum DGU, and AltersTraumaZentrum DGU.
• AO Trauma DeutschlandcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPerson certification programs for orthopedic trauma (Student, Resident, Fellow, Surgeon levels). AUC serves as certification platform for AO Trauma Germany offerings.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Laerdal Medical: Medical simulation equipment and scenario content provider used across trauma and resuscitation education. Enabler of the Hands-on and Blue Room simulation courses in AUC's portfolio, with comparable focus on quality-improvement training.
• CAE Healthcare: Medical simulation and education services provider for clinicians and healthcare systems. Adjacent vendor of simulation environments and training programs that compete for the same continuing-education and hospital-training budgets.
• FundamentalVR: VR-based surgical training platform with haptic feedback. Comparable to the VR-supported fracture treatment and immersive simulation components AUC is deploying in its Hands-on Trauma & Ortho workshop.

Broad incumbents

• Royal College of Surgeons of England: Incumbent provider of surgical education, credentialing, and hospital standards. Broader than trauma-only but operates the same model of continuing education, member certification, and quality assurance for hospitals and clinicians.

Direct peers

• American College of Surgeons (ACS): Originator and licensor of the ATLS curriculum that AUC delivers in Germany. ACS runs comparable trauma surgery education, verification, and center certification programs (e.g., Trauma Center Verification) in the US — the same business model on a larger geographic scale.
• AO Trauma (AO Foundation): Direct peer in orthopedic and trauma surgery continuing education. AUC operates the AO Trauma Germany personal certification platform, and AO Trauma runs the global equivalent — competing for the same physician audience with overlapping curricular content.
• ESTES (European Society for Trauma and Emergency Surgery): European medical society advancing trauma and emergency surgery education across the same DACH and pan-European footprint as AUC. Comparable mission of professional society-driven course delivery, certification standards, and congress-based training.
• DGOU (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie): German sister society covering the same orthopedic and trauma surgery professional base as DGU/AUC. Overlapping continuing-education programs, congresses, and certification activities targeting the same physician and hospital members.

Emerging players

• Surgical Science Sweden AB: Provider of simulation-based training technologies and curricula for minimally invasive and general surgery. Comparable in delivering simulation-enabled procedural training that increasingly substitutes for cadaver and live-patient training.
• IATSIC (International Association for Trauma Surgery and Intensive Care): Specialized international society within ISS-SIC focused on trauma surgery education and training in resource-variable settings. Niche overlap with AUC's TDSC and Notfallchirurg crisis-disaster curricula.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCR9a_xtKO1SMmzMwIVUKWXA
• Facebookfacebook.com/auc.gmbh
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/10341362
• Instagraminstagram.com/auconline
• Xx.com/AUC_DE

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Academy of Trauma Surgery