Facts About the

ABSITE
ABSITE was administered as one test - on paper.

Then things changed.

To recognize differences between senior and junior residents, the

American Board of Surgery, keepers of the American Board of
Surgery Inservice Training Exam (ABSITE), created a version of
the test for each of these levels.

Then in 2014, the ABSITE returned to the single-test format.

All surgery residents now take one version of the test on a

computer in a single 5-hour block.

------------------

Approximately
T E X 250
T multiple choice questions

Administered in January

Receive results in March

 The ABSITE is NOT required for eventual board
certification in Surgery.

But…

I have never heard of or seen an accredited

residency program that did not use the ABSITE
every year.

Residency programs must order the ABSITE

materials from the ABS. The residency program is
responsible for administering the test to residents.

The ABS will not send you any information

directly about your ABSITE.

Everything must come from your program.

Your program shares your score report with

you in March or later.
 The ABS looks for certain testing
irregularities.

If they feel that something is amiss,

they will request an investigation by
your program director.
Your program director will choose
disciplinary action based on his/her
findings.

Your program may be severely

penalized.

You can’t share questions from the

ABSITE with anyone without This takes you to the ABS info page
violating the ABS Ethics and on the ABSITE.
Professionalism Policy.
It is a good idea to look before you start
Here is an important information studying facts that will be tested on the
page all about the ABSITE… ABSITE itself.

When these webpages eventually move or

http://bit.ly/ABSITE
change location, links will be updated
info
so that they still work!
 This is a link directly to the ABSITE content sheet from the ABS.
It shares some important facts about current ABSITE content, including:

• ABSITE follows the Surgical Council on Resident Education (SCORE)

curriculum

• 80% of the ABSITE focuses on Clinical Management topics, and 20% covers
Applied Science (used to be called “Basic Science”) topics

• 72% of the questions concern SCORE Patient Care topics, 24% SCORE Medical
Knowledge topics, and 4% are about “other” topics

That content sheet even shares specific

categories and how much they are
focused on in the test.

Top Tip:
Take a look at the PDF

http://bit.ly/ABSITEcon
tent
 Once you’ve looked at the previous link and
all relevant information (including
weighting), visit this link on the SCORE
curriculum…

http://bit.ly/ABSoutline

Now you have looked at:

§ What the ABSITE is

§ What it covers

§ How it’s weighted

§ What each content area means

 Before we get into the specifics about
what’s tested, it’s worthwhile to get to
know how the test interface works on
the computer.

Here’s a practice test interface for you:

http://bit.ly/ABSITEpractice

Now you know how the test looks, what’s

covered, and how long it typically is. (However, review books & courses like this
one don’t substitute for things like the full
Top Tip: SCORE curriculum, although it will help
Review books are great—especially when you!)
you don’t have time or ability to review the
complete book or work. Working and studying over time promotes
long term retention.

Now, let’s get some facts about whether the

ABSITE predicts eventual success on
passing your board exam…
 SUMMARY
The ABSITE is now one
test version that is given
to all PGY levels.
Administered by each
residency program as a single
5 hour block in January.
Approximately 250 multiple
choice questions.
DON’T CHEAT on the test. It
would prevent the test from
functioning as an indicator of
what you know. And you and
your program will have host of
problems.
ABSITE follows the These links are useful to teach
SCORE curriculum. you what content will be tested,
how it lines up with SCORE,
specifics about what SCORE
for each section includes,
Review books like this
and how the computer testing
one don’t substitute for
interface looks and feels:
things like the full
SCORE curriculum.
http://bit.ly/ABSITEinfo
ABSITE Smackdown will http://bit.ly/ABSITEcontent
help you, but it doesn’t
substitute for working http://bit.ly/ABSoutline
consistently over time to
master surgical content. http://bit.ly/ABSITEpractice