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Abdominal Transplant Surgery Certification (ASTS / TACC) Exam Preparation

Abdominal transplant surgery certification through the Transplant Accreditation and Certification Council is examined orally, in two sessions assessed by two examiners each: one covering general and organ-specific transplant knowledge, the other discussing cases you submitted yourself. Practise with kidney, liver, pancreas and donation questions, and rehearse the viva in the Exam Simulator until you can defend your own cases out loud.

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Exam format

Format: Oral examination in two sessions, each assessed by two examiners
Duration: Session one covers general and organ-specific transplant knowledge; session two discusses cases submitted by the candidate
Frequency: Twice per year — autumn and spring
Pass rate: Not published by the council
Exam fee: See the Transplant Accreditation and Certification Council (asts.org)

Eligibility requirements

›Completion of an ASTS or TACC accredited abdominal transplant surgery fellowship (minimum 24 months, of which at least 18 are clinical)
›Fellowship Certification Pathway: for those completing an accredited fellowship from 2019 onwards
›Career Certification Pathway: for those completing an accredited fellowship between 1998 and 2018, with continued transplant practice
›Active, unrestricted licence to practise, and submission of a case log for discussion at the examination

Syllabus breakdown

Kidney Transplantation — recipient selection, technique, complicationsMajor

Liver Transplantation — allocation, technique, graft dysfunctionMajor

Donation, Organ Retrieval and Machine PerfusionMajor

Immunosuppression, Rejection and InfectionMajor

Pancreas and Multivisceral TransplantationModerate

Living Donation — evaluation, ethics and long-term riskModerate

Preparation tips

›Focus your first weeks on the highest-weight syllabus areas — they account for over half the marks and offer the fastest return on study time.
›Use active recall with timed question sessions rather than passive re-reading. The ASTS/TACC written component rewards speed and precision under pressure.
›Cross-reference every question explanation with the cited guideline section. Over a 3–6 month preparation cycle, this builds the mental index examiners expect in the oral component.

Frequently asked questions

How is the ASTS / TACC abdominal transplant certification examined?

By oral examination in two sessions, each assessed by two examiners. One session covers general transplant knowledge and organ-specific topics; the other discusses cases submitted by the candidate in the certification application. It is offered twice a year, in the autumn and the spring.

What are the pathways to abdominal transplant surgery certification?

The Fellowship Certification Pathway is for surgeons who completed a TACC-accredited abdominal transplant surgery fellowship from 2019 onwards. The Career Certification Pathway is for those who completed an ASTS or TACC accredited fellowship between 1998 and 2018 and whose primary surgical career is in abdominal transplant surgery. Both require an active, unrestricted licence and a case log.

How long is an abdominal transplant surgery fellowship?

No less than twenty-four months, of which at least eighteen must be clinical training; the remaining six may be clinical or research-based. Candidates must have completed a surgical residency satisfying the requirements for certification by a recognised American board or its foreign equivalent.

How do I prepare for a transplant oral examination?

Rehearse out loud, including your own submitted cases, because the second session is a defence of your personal practice. The SurgBoardsQ&A Exam Simulator runs a two-station transplant viva by module — kidney, liver, pancreas or retrieval — presenting cases step by step and following up whenever your reasoning is incomplete.

How many transplant practice questions are available?

SurgBoardsQ&A provides 1,496 transplant practice questions covering kidney, liver and pancreas transplantation, donation and retrieval, immunosuppression and rejection, each with a full guideline-referenced explanation.

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