get certified
EPAs for General Surgery
General surgery EPAs launched for residency programs in July 2023, and is now in the implementation phase for the other ABS specialties.
The General Surgery EPAs
18 EPAs for the assessment of general surgery residents
There are a total of 18 core EPAs that will be evaluated for general surgery. Read all 18 general surgery EPAs and their full descriptions here.
For a guide to mapping the ACGME Surgery Milestones to each of the general surgery EPAs, please see this document.
To aid Clinical Competency Committees in reviewing trainee performance using EPA data, the ABS has prepared a General Surgery EPA CCC Guide. Each EPA phase of care has been linked to the related ACGME Surgery Milestones and can be found in the included tables.
- Thyroid and parathyroid disease
- Dialysis access
- Soft tissue infection
- Cutaneous and subcutaneous neoplasms
- Severe acute or necrotizing pancreatitis
- Perioperative care of the critically ill surgery patient
- Flexible GI Endoscopy
- Evaluation/initial management of a trauma patient *
- Provide general surgery consultation *
* Initial EPA evaluated during 2018-2020 EPA Pilot
EPAs and General Surgery Residents
An EPA composite profile will be required during QE application
All applicants to the 2028 General Surgery Qualifying Exam (GSQE) will be required to turn in a composite profile across all EPAs when they apply for the exam. In order to assist trainees in developing a robust composite profile, every resident should be assessed on every rotation.
All program faculty should be trained to function as assessors to promote reliability and validity of the assessment. While the requirement for an EPA profile as part of the ABS GSQE application process will not occur until 2028, use of EPAs for residents at all PGY-levels to promote consistent habits of meaningful assessment and feedback, and to provide other assessment economies, is strongly encouraged as a best practice strategy.
For more details and information about EPA development, implementation, evaluation, and more, please review our FAQs.
EPA Implementation Checklist – For Trainees
A checklist designed for residents specifically to aid in the implementation of EPAs.
General Surgery EPAs Anatomy Visual
The 18 general surgery EPAs and their relation to a patient's anatomy.
How to Use EPAs to Take Charge of Your Training Infographic
An infographic detailing how residents can use EPAs to take charge of their surgical training.
Entrustable Professional Activities Trainee Toolkit
A collection of orienting materials on the Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) assessment framework that will be used throughout surgical...
Grand Rounds
ABS EPA Grand Rounds presentations for general surgery
Program Resources
Resources for programs to utilize prior to and during EPA implementation
The ABS team has produced a full suite of resources for programs to use during EPA implementation, which includes documents and guides, training videos, pre-recorded webinars, presentations, and more. Please note that any resource documents linked will be updated regularly.