Surgery Residency Receives ACGME Continued Accreditation
October 12, 2018The PCOM program is the first osteopathic general surgery residency in the country
to gain this accreditation status.
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine’s (PCOM) General Surgery Residency program, led by Arthur Sesso, DO, professor and chair, surgery, recently received continued accreditation status from
the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), which is in effect
for the next 10 years. The program is the first osteopathic general surgery residency
in the country to reach this status. Many allopathic surgery residencies have yet
to receive the full, 10-year accreditation, said Dr. Sesso.
“What I’m most proud of is that now our residents can sit for their exams with the
American Board of Surgery, which until recently has only been open to allopathic physicians,”
said Dr. Sesso. “This means that our residents now have the opportunity to advance
to the highest levels of the profession.”
Last summer, four PCOM surgery residents were the first to sit for the American Board
of Surgery exam, and all passed.
“This accreditation demonstrates to our students and our residents that our own, self-imposed
standards meet or exceed those in any other program,” said Dr. Sesso. “That our abilities
are every bit as good as anyone else’s.”
In 2015, the General Surgery residency program was the first DO residency to achieve
initial accreditation status. Since then, seven of PCOM’s residency programs have
applied for or have received pre- or initial accreditation status. PCOM’s Family Medicine
Residency program also received continued accreditation status earlier this year.
As part of the move toward a single graduate medical education (GME) accreditation system, GME programs at all osteopathic medical schools must achieve initial ACGME accreditation
by June 30, 2020, after which the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) will cease
to provide accreditation. Once pre-accreditation status is achieved, each program
will have until 2020 to modify their training to meet the ACGME’s requirements for
full accreditation.
Since receiving initial accreditation for his program, Dr. Sesso has consulted for
the AOA to help roughly 50 DO residency programs in various specialties all over the
country achieve initial accreditation from the ACGME. “We’ve been very successful
so far,” he said.
PCOM’s General Surgery Residency offers a strong academic and hands-on program with the assets of a large medical
school and provides a unique learning experience for its residents, who are able to
perform at least 200 major surgeries each year and have the opportunity to train at
world-class locations. Residents are also provided access to fellowships in areas
such as plastics, cardiothoracic and trauma surgeries, and about 95 percent of PCOM’s
residents will complete fellowship training.
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About Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
For the past 125 years, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) has trained
thousands of highly competent, caring physicians, health practitioners and behavioral
scientists who practice a “whole person” approach to care—treating people, not just
symptoms. PCOM, a private, not-for-profit accredited institution of higher education,
operates three campuses (PCOM, PCOM Georgia and PCOM South Georgia) and offers doctoral degrees in clinical psychology, educational psychology, osteopathic
medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, and school psychology. The college also offers
graduate degrees in applied behavior analysis, applied positive psychology, biomedical
sciences, forensic medicine, medical laboratory science, mental health counseling,
physician assistant studies, and school psychology. PCOM students learn the importance
of health promotion, research, education and service to the community. Through its
community-based Healthcare Centers, PCOM provides care to medically underserved populations.
For more information, visit pcom.edu or call 215-871-6100.
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Brandon Lausch
Executive Director, Strategic Communications
Email: brandonla@pcom.edu
Office: 215-871-6312 | Cell:
717-371-0609
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