Welcome to the American College of Surgeons
Residency Assist Page (RAP)

Introduction
Debra A. DaRosa, PhD, Editor, ACS Residency Assistance Page

How should I analyze my residents' ABSITE scores to assess meaningful changes? What are most efficient and effective methods for teaching professionalism or the other ACGME core competencies? What are some options for monitoring the 80-hour-work week? These are examples of questions with which residency program directors need help in answering. The purpose of the American College of Surgeons Residency Assistance Page (RAP) is to provide informative yet succinct tips on how to address the responsibilities and challenges faced by today's residency program directors. Our aim is to solicit advice from people in and outside of the surgical specialties that provide the type of information useful to our readers. Each month we will post a different article for your review. Please note the upcoming articles by clicking on the links below. Should you be new to RAP, previously published articles are also linked.

The RAP Editorial Board (Gary Dunnington, MD, FACS; James Hassett, MD, FACS; Timothy Flynn, MD, FACS; Marc Wallack, MD, FACS; and Richard Bell, MD, FACS) reviews each paper prior to publication to ensure the author addresses the cogent issues associated with the topic.

The American College of Surgeons is committed to assisting residency program directors and sponsors this medium for updates and advice on subjects relevant to program directors' needs as administrators and teachers. Information in the form of editorials, literature reviews, or articles are offered monthly to support decision-making, policy development, and new educational initiatives. We invite your reactions, comments, and suggestions on how to make the RAP as helpful to our readers as possible. Please contact Dr. Debra DaRosa (ddarosa@nmh.org) or any members of the RAP Editorial Board should you have a question or problem you would like to see addressed by this column.

Revised December 12, 2008