USU/Walter Reed Surgical Residency Program Scores 100% 1st-Time Pass Rate for 3 Consecutive Years

The Uniformed Services University and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center surgical residency program, the largest surgical residency program in the military, has scored a 100% first-time pass rate for the Qualifying and Certifying exam three years in a row. 

The 2023 WR/USU General Surgery Residency graduating class achieved a 100% first-time 

board pass rate, marking the third consecutive year for the program. Featured back row left 

to right: Elliot Jessie, Associate Program Director, chief residents Michael Horsey, Alexis 

Lauria, Kayleigh Herrick-Reynolds, Pat Benoit, Alec Kersey, and Mary O'Donnell, Associate 

Program Director. Pictured in the center is chief resident Kal Gunasinha and Capt. (Dr.) 

Matthew Bradley, Program Director. [Photo courtesy of Capt. (Dr.) Matthew Bradley]

April 30, 2024 by Hadiyah Brendel

The General Surgery residency program, part of the integrated Uniformed Services University (USU)/Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) surgery department, has achieved a significant streak of achievement. The chief residents of the program have scored a 100% first-time pass rate on their American Board of Surgery (ABS) qualifying and certifying examinations for the past three years.  

In recent years, the national average of combined ABS first-time pass rate is in the mid-to-high eighty percent. Several programs achieve a 100% on the qualifying, or written, exam. But pass rates for the certifying, or oral, exam are typically lower, so achieving a 100% score on both exams concurrently is more challenging.  

With more than 40 total residents, the USU/WRNMMC program is the largest in the military. This makes their achievement even more outstanding in comparison to smaller programs.

The USU/WRNMMC general surgery residency is a six-year program. Five years are clinical, with one year of research between the clinical third and fourth years. Capt. (Dr.) Matthew Bradley, the General Surgery program director and professor of Surgery in USU’s School of Medicine, says there are a few tools the program utilizes to bolster academics and support their residents in taking the ABS exams and becoming great military surgeons. 

One tool is mandatory daily meetings where they discuss patients and consults. Additionally, mandatory academics occur on a weekly basis, with a focus on operative management of various surgical diseases. And a cadaver-based curriculum, as well as other simulation-based curricula, enhance the clinical decision and operative skills of the residents. 

The surgical residency program also has a long-standing tradition of doing mock oral boards with the senior residents. Conducted twice a year, the multi-institution mock boards give the clinical fourth and fifth year residents practice at the oral board exams. 

And while many institutions do mock oral board exams, Bradley says most do so within their own institutions. The USU/WRNMMC surgical residency program joins with local hospitals such as the Inova Fairfax Hospital in Fairfax, Va., and the MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C. This year, George Washington University Hospital, in Washington, D.C., will join in the collaboration.

“It gives it more realism,” says Bradley. The residents aren’t familiar with the examiners in the mock board, just as they will encounter unfamiliar faces in the ABS oral exams. Bradley says the multi-institution approach is pretty unique and changes the dynamics.

Another unique aspect of the USU/WRNMMC program is a recent addition of an introductory course to the mock boards. Given to residents during their research year, the introductory course further prepares them for the oral boards. 

When discussing the excited atmosphere in the department after learning about their continued streak, Bradley says everyone felt “very proud” of the graduating chief residents. 

“It’s almost as if we’ve set a standard now that everybody expects to meet, and I think that’s a good thing,” says Bradley. “We’ve motivated folks that want to keep achieving the goals their previous chiefs have met,” he continues. 

“We’re very proud of that. But it comes down to the person that each of our residents is,” says Bradley.

“We’ve done a fantastic job in recruiting strong people that want to be great military surgeons. We’re guiding them along the way and it’s really an attribute to them,” he continues. 

Further attributing to the exceptional level of the students, the resident team essentially defeated all the residency programs across the country this past year when they won the American College of Surgeons Jeopardy challenge.

To learn more about the general surgery residency program, visit the Department of Surgery website at https://medschool.usuhs.edu/sur.