Blue Ribbon Committee Outlines Opportunities to Advance Surgical Training

This past Friday at the American Surgical Association (ASA) Annual Meeting, the Second Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC) on Surgical Education released its report on surgical education.

The first BRC convened in 2002 and published a report in early 2005 in the Annals of Surgery with 40 recommendations for changes to surgical education—amounting, per the report itself, to “no less than a new surgical education system.”

Sixty-seven surgeons joined the second BRC, co-chaired by E. Christopher Ellison, MD, FACS, and Steven C. Stain, MD, FACS, including representatives of the ASA, ACS, American Board of Surgery (ABS), Resident Review Committee for Surgery, and other organizations. They contributed expertise in a range of surgical specialties, as well as simulation, artificial intelligence, and other areas.

Their 31 new recommendations advise the creation of models that better financially support educational work in surgery, accreditation for simulation-based education, clearer pathways for developing surgeon-scientists, and a national curriculum for surgical faculty, as well as other goals.

Notably, the first BRC report suggested creation and implementation of a national surgical curriculum. In response, the Surgical Council on Resident Education (SCORE^®) convened in 2006 and created a curriculum now used nationally for general surgery. SCORE has since been expanded to other surgical disciplines, aligned with board certification examinations, and merged into the American Board of Surgery.

The second BRC report is expected to be published in the Annals of Surgery this year, and a feature article on the BRC’s recommendations will be included in the May issue of the ACS Bulletin.