OGME Corner

Susan L. Rall, M.Ed.

General Surgery In-Service Examination

The next General Surgery In-Service Examination will be administered on January 14, 2017. Six-hundred, thirty-three (633) osteopathic general surgery residents have been registered to take the exam. All osteopathic general surgery residents (OGME-1R – OGME-5) training in American Osteopathic Association (AOA) approved general surgery residency training programs that have not received Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) initial accreditation are required to complete the 2017 General Surgery In-Service Exam to comply with the AOA/ACOS Basic Standards for Residency Training in Surgery and the Surgical Specialties (Section VIII, C,8.4).

The purpose of the exam is to assist program directors in the evaluation of the resident’s level of knowledge relative to other residents’ knowledge at the same level of training, to identify a resident’s area of weakness, and to track a resident’s progress. There is no passing score for the exam, which is a diagnosis-oriented, criterion-referenced achievement test that measures the degree to which residents have mastered the general surgery residency model curriculum. The results of the test are also used by the Resident Evaluation and Standards Committee as an indicator in evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of each residency program.

RESC

The next meeting of the Resident Evaluation and Standards Committee (RESC) will be February 3, 2017 in Alexandria, Virginia. The committee meets twice a year to review surgical residency programs and evaluate resident progress. Requested documentation for review at the February meeting and any associated fees should be received at ACOS by Monday, January 16, 2017. Residents with incomplete annual reports and late fees from previous years have been contacted. It is imperative that residents submit Annual Reports in a timely manner to ensure that documentation is reviewed and results of a review are communicated to the certification boards. Late submission of Annual Reports and requested documentation and fees may jeopardize the ability of a resident to sit for eligibility exams for certification.

The review of annual reports by the RESC is a benefit of ACOS membership. Non-members must pay a non-member review fee for the review of an annual report. New residents should contact their program director or program coordinator about ACOS membership or visit the ACOS website for membership information and to ensure that their programs have submitted the necessary application forms for ACOS membership.