Program and Time Requirements

  • A minimum of five years of progressive residency education.
  • Sixty months of training at no more than three residency programs.
  • At least 48 weeks of full clinical activity in each residency year.
    • Can be averaged over first three years of residency — for total of 144 weeks required.
    • Can be averaged over last two years of residency — for total of 96 weeks required.
  • At least 54 months of clinical surgical experience with no more than six months assigned to non-clinical or non-surgical disciplines.
  • Final two years of residency — PGY4 and PGY5 — in the same program.

Specific Requirements

  • Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS).
  • Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS).
  • Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS).
  • Fundamentals of Endoscopic Surgery (FES).
  • Complete at least six operative and six clinical performance assessments — generally completed in the PGY5 year.
    • Clinical Assessment and Management Exam (CAMEO).
    • Operative Performance Rating System (OPRS).
      • Choose from: Appendectomy, cholecystectomy, colectomy, small bowel resection, inguinal hernia repair, ventral hernia repair, AV fistula creation, lumpectomy with axillary management, thyroidectomy and parathyroidectomy.

Chief Resident Year

  • Act in the capacity of chief resident for a minimum of 48 weeks over PGY4 and PGY5 years.
  • Finish the entire chief resident experience in either the content areas of general surgery or thoracic surgery with no more than four months devoted to any one area.

Operative Requirements

  • At least 850 total operative procedures over five years.
  • At least 250 operative procedures — as a surgeon junior or first assist — by the end of the PGY2 year with only up to 50 in non-defined categories counting toward the total.
  • At least 200 operative procedures in the chief resident year.
  • At least 25 cases as a teaching assistant.
    • These do not count toward the 200 chief resident year cases.
  • At least 40 cases in surgical critical care with at least one in each of the following seven categories (each case entered must have two or more of the categories logged): 
    • Ventilator management.
    • Bleeding.
    • Hemodynamic instability.
    • Organ dysfunction/failure.
    • Dysrhythmias.
    • Invasive line management/monitoring.
    • Parenteral/enteral nutrition.

More details from ABS.