The American Board of Surgery met in Cancun, Mexico, for 5 days under the direction of Russell Postier, MD, Chair. The following issues were addressed (Table).
Table.
American Board of Surgery Summary of 2008-2009 Examinations
ExaminationNo. of ExamineesaNo. (%)Total No. of DiplomatesPassedFailedQualifying1261989 (78.4)272 (21.6)Recertification17501647 (94.1)103 (5.9)18288Vascular surgery qualifying examination11095 (88.2)11 (11.8)Vascular surgery recertification174163 (97.4)11 (2.6)1612Surgical critical care165134 (81.2)31 (18.8)2583Surgical critical care recertification132114 (86.4)18 (13.6)1204Hand surgery63 (50.0)3 (50.0)242Hand surgery recertification1110 (90.9)1 (9.1)156Pediatric surgery ITEb78--ITE, junior levelb3940--ITE, senior levelb3670--Certifyingb12611027 (81.4)234 (18.6)54198Vascular surgery certifying examinationb133112 (84.2)21 (15.8)2676 Abbreviations: ITE, in-training examination; -, number was too small to have a meaningful statistic.
aExcluding the ITE and pediatric ITE.
bResults for the 2007-2008 academic year; 2009 examinations are not yet completed.