The ABS will accept in certain circumstances rotations completed outside of the U.S. or Canada toward its general surgery, independent and integrated vascular surgery, pediatric surgery, and complex general surgical oncology training requirements. If a program director wishes to credit training abroad toward the ABS requirements, they must fully justify the reasons for it and receive approval in advance from the ACGME.
No such rotations will be permitted in the first year (PGY-1) of general surgery and vascular surgery residency training.
To request approval:
- The international rotation must be approved in advance by the applicable specialty-specific ACGME Review Committee.
- A letter should be sent by mail or email to the aforementioned ACGME Review Committee. The letter must be signed by both the program director and the designated institutional official (DIO), and must contain the information outlined in the International Rotation Application Process for the applicable specialty.
- The program must receive the approval letter from the ACGME prior to implementation of the international rotation.
- Separate approval of an international rotation for each individual trainee is no longer required by the ABS and ACGME with the exception of PGY-5 chief residents. International rotations in the chief year must be approved by the ABS.
- For the ABS to consider international rotations in the chief year, the program must provide ACGME approval of chief rotations in the PGY-4 year when submitting the request to the ABS.
Required Rotation Length: The ABS requires rotations to be at least two weeks in duration for a rotation to be considered for credit.
ACGME International Rotation Applications Per Specialty
- General Surgery
- Complex General Surgical Oncology
- Pediatric Surgery
- Surgical Critical Care
- Vascular Surgery (Independent)
- Vascular Surgery (Integrated)
The current posted version of this policy supersedes all prior versions.