ABSITE
What is ABSITE?
The American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination (ABSITE) is an annual exam given to general surgery residents. It is administered toward the end of January or early February. ABSITE consists of approximately 250 multiple-choice questions. Residents are given 5-Hours to complete the exam.
Why is ABSITE important?
Originally ABSITE was designed to simply measure the progress attained by residents in their knowledge of applied science and management of clinical problems related to surgery. The exam was and is intended to serve as a formative, not summative, evaluation to help guide education and identify areas of weakness. It, however, has been shown that residents who score below the 30-35th-percentile are at an increased risk for failing both the American Board of Surgery (ABS) Qualifying Exam (QE) and Certifying Exam (CE), otherwise known as the “Written & Oral Boards”. It is therefore used outside of its originally intended purpose by some programs in deciding resident promotion and graduation. It is also used as a critical factor during fellowship application if subspecialty training is desired.