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September 2020 Specialty Exams Postponed
July 31, 2020
The ABS, along with the Vascular Surgery Board, Pediatric Surgery Board, Complex General Surgical Oncology Board and Trauma, Burns and Surgical Critical Care Board, have made the difficult decision to postpone the administration of the 2020 Vascular Surgery QE, Pediatric Surgery QE, Complex General Surgical Oncology QE and Surgical Critical Care CE. We do not yet have a new date for this exam, but it will not proceed as originally scheduled for September 14 and 15, 2020.
To minimize travel requirements and the need to gather in public spaces in light of the continuing COVID-19 situation, the ABS attempted to deliver a web-based examination for the 2020 General Surgery QE, and planned to use the same delivery method for the Pediatric Surgery QE, Vascular Surgery QE, Complex General Surgical Oncology QE and Surgical Critical Care CE. As announced on July 17, the platform used for the 2020 General Surgery QE was a failure. We do not have a viable replacement that can be deployed in time for the September exams.
We are working with other exam delivery companies, other boards, candidates, and our partner societies to do everything possible to ensure that affected candidates have the opportunity to gain their certification by the end of this academic year in a safe and secure manner. There are many options being considered, and we will alert candidates and post updates on our website when new information is available.
In light of this postponement, we will continue to accept applications for the aforementioned exams until Monday, Aug. 31.
