This October, 105 CGSO modules will become available as part of the Surgical Council on Resident Education’s portal. SCORE was formed in 2006 with the mission of improving the education of residents in general surgery and related sub-specialties through the development of a national curriculum. SCORE has also added fellowship-level content for related specialties including pediatric and vascular surgery. Before the establishment of the CGSO Board and the Certificate, SSO established the requirements and expectations for trainees.
When the Board was established, additional requirements were set to create a multidisciplinary certificate. With SSO’s history of managing the CGSO training curriculum, the Society approached SCORE regarding inclusion of modules specific to CGSO. With SCORE’s collaboration, Dr. Russell Berman worked tirelessly to establish the SSO’s SCORE Committee and to translate the requirements of the SSO and the CGSO Board into a blueprint for the first iteration of the CGSO-SCORE Curriculum.
Keith Delman, MD, SSO SCORE Committee Executive Council Liaison said, “The CGSO modules are like a GPS of learning for fellows – turn by turn directions for how to prepare and what material to know in preparation for the Board examination.” SSO’s SCORE Committee is chaired by Dr. Russell Berman and is comprised of 25 members, which includes members of Disease Site Work Groups, program directors and other subject matter experts.
Dr. Delman explains, “The SCORE Committee took the requirements and knowledge that is expected of trainees, as well as the exam material blueprint established by the CGSO Board, to create the 105 modules for the SCORE portal system, recruiting over 150 authors to develop content. There are two aspects of SCORE, one is medical knowledge and the other is operative, procedural knowledge. For example, you can know how to manage pancreas cancer and know how to do a pancreaticoduodenectomy.”
The SCORE CGSO modules exist within a digital platform enabling content modifications and adding of resources when needed. Dr. Delman said, “It is the only curriculum of its kind and it’s very, very valuable because it greatly helps the learners know exactly what they need to know. The members of the SSO SCORE Committee are very excited about the introduction of these materials and look forward to hearing how program directors and trainees receive it.”
For more information about SCORE, visit www.surgicalcore.org/.