Board's Surgical Oncology Advisory Council, led by Dr. Michelassi, spearheaded efforts to establish certificate
After a quarter-century of advocacy from surgical oncologists, the American Board of Surgery will begin offering a new subspecialty certificate in complex general surgical oncology next year.
The certificate will be offered as early as 2013 to graduates of accredited two-year training programs following completion of general surgery residencies to enhance young surgeons' clinical expertise in surgical oncology. The certificate, the Board's first since 1984, will recognize surgeons with specific knowledge of diagnosis, multidisciplinary treatment and rehabilitation of patients with the most rare, unusual or challenging tumors — cases typically seen at cancer centers and specialized institutions. It is designed to complement but not compete with or detract from general surgeons, who routinely treat cancer patients.
"In recognition that as much as 95 percent of cancer care in the United States is delivered by general surgeons, diplomates in complex general surgical oncology will likely be called to handle the more challenging, rare, unusual or recurrent tumors. In the end, care for the cancer patient will benefit," said Dr. Fabrizio Michelassi, the Lewis Atterbury Stimson Professor and chairman of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College, surgeon-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and current chair of the Surgical Oncology Board.
The certificate in complex general surgical oncology due to be unveiled this year is the culmination of more than 25 years of advocacy by surgical oncologists who since the early '80s were convinced that training in the field had differentiated itself enough from general surgery to be recognized with a subspecialty certificate, Dr. Michelassi said.
Initial efforts to establish that certificate didn't gain traction, however, due to concerns that granting certificates of added qualifications would fragment surgery and lead to its dissolution. It wasn't until 2006, when the Society of Surgical Oncology endorsed the idea of a subspecialty certificate in its strategic plan, that efforts to establish the certificate began anew, Dr. Michelassi said.
The Surgical Oncology Advisory Council examined its feasibility, and in 2009, under the leadership of Dr. Michelassi, recommended to establish the subspecialty certificate, which the American Board of Surgery approved shortly afterward. The American Board of Medical Specialties, the umbrella organization for the American Board of Surgery and the 23 other recognized U.S. medical specialty boards, approved the certificate in March 2011.
"This certificate opens a new chapter in the history of the American Board of Surgery," Dr. Michelassi said.
The curriculum for the training programs in complex general surgical oncology, which will be accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, will focus on multidisciplinary care and patient counseling, surgical management of oncologic disorders and treatment of rare and unusual tumors. Surgeons seeking the certificate, open only to graduates of the accredited training program, will be uniquely qualified to lead community outreach programs to raise awareness and prevention of cancer and engage in cutting-edge clinical research to better our understanding of cancer diagnosis and treatment.
"Recognizing the discipline of Surgical Oncology with the new certificate in Complex General Surgical Oncology was the right thing for our patients and for surgery," Dr. Michelassi said. "In the end, this is a historical moment."