ABSITE

EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION AND STUDY RESOURCES:

CONTENT OUTLINE FOR THE ABS IN-TRAINING EXAMINATION (ABSITE® )
 

There are a variety of study resources provided by UCSF or UCSF Surgery, which are summarized below. In addition, some other resources to consider:

• Basic Textbook: Cameron’s Current Surgical Therapy
• Surgical Atlas: Zollingers
• Critical Care: The ICU Book (Marino)
• Efficient case-based review: Clinical Scenarios in Surgery
• Fiser (beware many errors)
• The ABSITE Review Course

 UCSF Library 

Access hub for full access to journals and databases (Micromedex & UpToDate). If you are off-site, database access will require you to sign into your UCSF my-access account.

On the UCSF library website, users can also download a program called “Reload via E-proxy” which will allow access journal articles from sites like PUBMED with the UCSF permission register so you can (often) access full text articles. If you have problems setting this up the librarians are lovely and are happy to help - call (415) 476-2336

AccessSurgery
Many textbooks including Zollingers, Schwartz, Maingot’s abdominal operations, Lange Current Surgical Therapy, Surgical and Interventional Ultrasound, ABSITE Slayer. Also some questions and videos.

SESAP 15 Audio Companion
A recorded audio-discussion with an expert in each field covering those outlined topics in the ABS curriculum up above. Good for listening to in the car for some easy “osmotic studying.”

SESAP 16 Complete 
Board-type test questions with explanations

UCSF YOUTUBE 
Video repository, formerly “Surgiwiki”- these are videos of our surgeons performing a variety of laparoscopic procedures. Also some good podcasts and other content.

SCORE 
Learning modules, some videos, selected textbooks which switch year-to-year, currently:

-Sabiston Textbook of Surgery: the Biological Basis of Modern Surgical Practice
-The SAGES Manual: Laparoscopy and Endoscopy-Soper
-Current Therapy of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care–Trunkey
-Pediatric Surgery– Coran
-ASCRS Textbook of Colon and Rectal Surgery- Steele
-Ethical Issues in Clinical Surgery
-Practical QI: The basics in Quality Improvement
-Surgery: Basic Science and Clinical Evidence- Norton
-Surgical Palliative Care, a resident’s guide

TrueLearn ABSITE SmartBank   
Over the past few years, TrueLearn has become THE databank for ABSITE studying. It looks like the ABSITE interface and does clever things like track your progress and compare it to data for your level of training across the country. You can do questions at random or by topic, timed or by tutor mode. The most important thing about this is reading the explanations, which have a lot of good info. The program director consensus regarding this product is that it works best when questions are done over time (months) rather than just crashing through all the questions right before the ABSITE. 

About the Exam

• The ABS offers annually to general surgery residency programs the In-Training Examination (ABSITE®), a multiple-choice exam designed to measure the progress attained by residents in their knowledge of applied science and management of clinical problems related to surgery. The ABSITE is furnished to program directors as an evaluation instrument to assess residents' progress. The results are released only to program directors. It is not available to individuals and is not required as part of the board certification process.
• The ABSITE is administered solely online using each program's own computer facilities. The exam is presented in one five-hour block; examinees may return to past questions during the exam. See also the sample test below.
• The ABSITE is protected by federal copyright and its contents may not be reproduced or disclosed in any manner, as described in the ABS ABS Ethics and Professionalism Policy.
• Next Exam: January 29 - February 2, 2027

Examination Content

• The 2027 ABSITE consists of approximately 250 multiple-choice questions; examinees will have five hours to take the exam.
• The content of the 2027 ABSITE will be aligned with the SCORE Curriculum Outline for General Surgery Residency. This means topic areas in the exam's content outline refer to those categories in the SCORE outline.

For further details, see the ABSITE Content Outline.

Examination Availability

• The ABS provides the ABSITE to all ACGME-accredited general surgery residency programs. The exam may not be purchased individually.
• If you are no longer affiliated with a residency program and wish to take the ABSITE, you must find a program whose director is willing to allow you to take the exam along with the residents of that program. This program will be responsible for payment to the ABS for your participation; the ABS does not accept payment from individuals. Your results will be included in the program's results and will be released only to the program director.

Reporting of Results

• ABSITE results are made available to program directors in early March. The ABS provides program directors with various reports, including an individual score report for each examinee. Examinees are strongly encouraged to keep copies of their score report for their records, as the ABS does not retain this information. The ABS will not provide examinees with a score report or "transcript." Individuals who request this information will be directed to contact the residency program.
• If you have questions once you have received your individual score report, your program director can help with the interpretation of the results. The ABS will not discuss exam results with examinees. The ABS also will not regenerate any report as a result of miscoding of information, such as PGY level, program, etc. Any inquiries regarding the ABSITE must come directly from the program. 

Online ABSITE - Sample Test

• To familiarize yourself with the computer screens you will see during the ABSITE and the steps necessary to respond to questions and review your answers, an interactive sample test and printed guide are provided below.
• The sample test has ten questions and a sample survey. The number of questions remaining will be indicated on the screen. Once the sample test and survey are completed the window will automatically close—this will also occur at the conclusion of the actual examination. The ABS will not review, score or use any information you provide on either the sample test or survey.
• Note: On the day of the exam, examinees will access the ABSITE by launching the secure browser previously downloaded onto the testing computers. At that time examinees will be asked to complete a new examinee profile—this feature is not available with the sample test.

Option I - Interactive Sample Test

This interactive online tutorial gives examinees the opportunity to learn how to navigate through the testing format. To access the sample test, click here.

Option II - Printed Guide

If you prefer, you may learn about what to expect when taking the exam by reviewing this printed guide.