American College of Surgeons - Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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Candidates for Fellowship 7 2. The formal application which is required of all candidates for Fellowship supplies the following information: Date and place of birth; preHminary education; medical schools attended as an under-graduate and as a graduate; hospitals in which interneship or residentship was served; period of assistantship and with whom; present hospital connections; medical teaching positions; specialty and period of specialization; percentage of professional activity devoted to surgery or one of the surgical specialties; research conducted; medical society affiliations; and a list of personal contributions to medical literature. The candidate is also required to furnish five references, and to sign a pledge against the practice of the division of fees. 3. Upon receipt of the formal application, the College en- deavors to verify the statements recorded therein. Each individual given as a reference is communicated with and is asked to fill out a comprehensive questionnaire that will furnish definite statements about the candidate ' s surgical judgment and ability, and con- fidential information about his moral and ethical standing. A questionnaire is also sent to Fellows of the College who live in the vicinity of the candidate. 4. When the data received from this preliminary survey are complete the candidate ' s application is then presented to the Credentials Committee of his state or province for recommenda- tion. The state or provincial Committee, acting as a preliminary court makes its recommendation upon the evidence as presented together with such facts concerning the candidate as may be in the possession of the individual members of the Committee because of personal acquaintance. 5. In favorably considering a candidate for Fellowship, the State Committee on Credentials suggests the following procedure: a. If the candidate is under forty years of age he be required to submit case histories; b. If the candidate is over forty-five years of age, he be admitted without having to submit the case histories; c. If the candidate is between forty and forty-five years of age, he be or be not required to submit the case histories, as may be determined by the Central Committee on Credentials. Candidates

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6 American College of Surgeons In the meaning of this declaration the signer agrees that in order to obviate any semblance of division of fees, he will as a general principle of practice not collect fees for others referring patients to him; nor permit other doctors to collect fees for him; nor make joint fees with physicians or surgeons referring patients to him for operation or consultation. 8. As evidence of his qualifications in the technique of surgery, the candidate is requested to submit in complete detail the case records of fifty consecutive major operations which he has per- formed himself. 9. In addition to the complete case records of fifty consecu- tive major operations, the candidate is asked to submit in brief abstract a report of at least fifty other major operations in which he has acted as assistant or which he has performed himself. ID. Surgeons widely recognized by the profession as progres- sive leaders and exponents of finished technique may, by a unan- imous vote of the Board of Regents, be admitted to Fellowship on recommendation of the Committee on Examinations. II. The Regents of the College reserve the right to alter as they may think proper, the regulations respecting admission of Fellows to the College. PROCEDURE OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SURGEONS IN CONSIDERING CANDIDATES FOR FELLOWSHIP The American College of Surgeons pursues a definite routine program in receiving and considering appUcations for Fellowship in the College. Before a final decision is reached an appUcant ' s papers must necessarily pass through several stages. In outUne, these are as follows: I. Any legahzed practitioner in medicine in North and South America may apply for Fellowship, and an appUcation blank will be forwarded by the College upon receipt of a request.

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8 American College of Surgeons required to submit case histories are notified of the requirements for Fellowship on that basis. 6. According to a resolution adopted by the Board of Regents on October 28, 1921, all applicants for Fellowship in the American College of Surgeons whose appUcations shall bear a date later than January i, 1923, will be required to furnish the Committee on Examinations fifty complete case-records of major surgical opera- tions. AppUcants over forty years of age may have the histories of these operations prepared by assistants. 7. When case-records are received from a candidate they are referred to the Committee on History Reviews. This Committee is comprised of a group of competent surgeon s who volunteer to serve in the capacity of examiners, and who spend many hours in the execution of their task. After each set of records has been carefully reviewed by the Committee, a summary of the findings with the recommendation signed by the examiner is attached to the records for the guidance of the Central Committee on Cre- dentials, 8. All accumulated evidence that has come into the executive ofl ces is finally brought before the Central Committee on Creden- tials. This Committee, as the higher court, peruses in detail the records of each candidate, sifts all the evidence on file in regard to his qualifications, and makes its recommendation. 9. One of three recommendations is made by the Central Com- mittee: Acceptance, rejection, or postponement. An application may be postponed to enable the executive offices to secure further evidence of the candidate ' s fitness or unfitness for Fellowship; to afford the candidate an opportunity to correct or elaborate his records, which may have been lacking in some particulars; or to give the candidate an opportunity to prove that he is doing a sufficient amount of surgery to entitle him to Fellowship. 10. The central office endeavors to give every candidate for Fellowship such information as will aid him in completing his records. If his case-records are lacking in any essential which in the judgment of the Committee can be corrected, he is notified