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What is the 2023 General Surgery Qualifying Exam Pass Rate?
The ABS 2024 General Surgery Pass Rate for the Qualifying exam is 92%.
Compare to exam takers who prepared with The Pass Machine:
In 2024, The Pass Machine General Surgery Qualifying Board Review clients achieved a 94% pass rate on the Qualifying exam!
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What do I do if I fail the QE?
The first thing you should do is just take it easy, sleep on it. Give yourself a few days, a week or two to come to terms with what has happened. Your next exam is six months to a year away. Dr. Jack has more advice in this video, What Do You Do If You Fail Your Medical Board Exam?
General Surgery Qualifying Examination Scoring & Format
General Surgery Qualifying Examination (GSQE) consists of about 300 multiple-choice questions. The GSQE is a one-day exam lasting approximately 8 hours and is held at computer-testing facilities across the U.S. The exam is administered in four 115-minute sessions, with optional breaks.
You will be notified of the results by email approximately 4 weeks after the exam.
Example of a single-best-answer multiple-choice question format:
A 23-year-old woman presents to her primary care physician complaining of right upper quadrant abdominal pain for the last month. On examination, she is jaundiced with a palpable mass in the right upper quadrant. Laboratory reports are normal, while ultrasonography reveals a single intraduodenal choledochal cyst. Which of the following is the most appropriate management option for this patient?
◯ A. Cholecystectomy with simple cyst resection
◯ B. Cholecystectomy with duct resection
◯ C. Sphincterotomy and surveillance
◯ D. Segmental resection of liver
◯ E. Liver transplantation
Correct Response:
C. Sphincterotomy and surveillance
This option is correct since sphincterotomy and surveillance are recommended treatment protocols for type III cysts (intraduodenal). Intraduodenal cysts are associated with the lowest malignancy risk of any choledochal cyst (>2%). Hence, sphincterotomy and surveillance are generally recommended in these cases over formal excision.
High-risk choledochal cysts require excision due to the increased risk for malignancy. Cholecystectomy with simple cyst resection is indicated for type I cysts which present with fusiform common bile duct dilatations and type II cysts, which present as saccular diverticula of the common bile duct. Since this patient presents with an intraduodenal cyst, this option is incorrect.
Cholecystectomy with duct resection with Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy is also indicated for types I (fusiform common bile duct dilatations) and II (saccular dilatations of the common bile duct) choledochal cysts. This patient has a type III (intraduodenal) cyst.
Segmental resection of the liver is indicated in type IVa cysts in which there are multiple cysts with intrahepatic involvement in the shape of stones, strictures, or abscesses. Excision of all cystic tissue and reconstruction along with segmental resection of the liver may be required in these cases.
Liver transplantation might be required when type V choledochal cysts (Caroli disease) result in cirrhosis and liver failure.
Source
F. Charles Brunicardi, Dana K. Andersen, Timothy R. Billiar, et al. Schwartz’s Principles of Surgery 11th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2019;1417.
American Physician
