Fellows & Early Career
Fellows & Early Career
AGA Gastroenterology Training Examination®
The AGA Gastroenterology Training Examination (GTE®) is the first training exam for gastroenterology programs and fellows, promoting quality and consistency across GI training.
The GTE serves as an assessment tool and benchmark for both training directors and fellows. The exam’s overall goal is to enhance clinical care and research by advancing quality and consistency across GI training programs nationwide. Training directors and fellows benefit from the exam by receiving detailed score reports allowing them to effectively gauge progress over time.
Each year, the exam is updated to include the field’s most relevant topics and new treatments. The GTE has consistently performed at a high level of psychometric validity.
Key dates
27
4
18
The GTE Administrative Handbook will be available in February. It provides detailed specifications about the exam and its administration.
Exam background
Benefits of the GTE to programs and fellows
- Provides national performance averages, establishing a standard by which fellows and programs can identify areas of improvement.
- Helps in determining needed resources that can assist programs in meeting accreditation standards.
- Identifies opportunities for improving GI training.
- Establishes a valid method for measuring the progress of fellows, meeting an ACGME requirement for general competencies assessment.
Registration
Online registration for the GTE opens in December.
How to register your fellows
If your program has previously participated in the GTE — Programs that have participated in the GTE will be provided with unique login credential to access their program information from a secure website, which will allow for processing of GTE registration. Login credentials will be provided directly to the institution’s GI fellowship program coordinator.
If login credentials are lost or you are experiencing difficulties, contact Cory Harlow at [email protected].
If your program is new to the GTE — If your program has never participated in the GTE, please email Cory Harlow at [email protected] for instructions on registering your programs.
Exam fee
Fee: $300 per fellow
Only training program directors or exam proctors can register fellows and remit payment for the GTE. Fellows are not expected nor encouraged to expense their exam registration. When registering, payment can be processed online or an invoice can be generated. Generating an invoice during registration allows the usage of purchase order numbers and immediate printing of a remittal invoice.
Cancellation policy
The AGA Institute must receive cancellation notices by Feb. 25, 2025. Cancellation notices must be in writing and sent by the training program director. Cancellation notices must be emailed to [email protected] or faxed to 301-652-3890, attention GTE. Refunds will be processed upon cancellation. There is a $50 non-refundable registration fee for all cancellations. No show examinees forfeit 100 percent of the exam fee.
Programs with examinees registered for the exam and do not participant, forfeit 100 percent of the exam fee.
Purpose
The GTE is an educational resource designed to measure the progress of training and to promote continuous improvement by training programs and fellows. The exam should not be used to justify promotions or deny advancement. Examinees’ scores should be used to provide educational counseling where needed.
The results of the GTE are not to be used for marketing purposes and may not be disclosed outside of the institution beyond the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The AGA Institute will not disclose, under any circumstances, the names of examinees or institutions participating in the GTE. Questions related to the purpose of the GTE should be directed to the AGA Institute.
Content
The GTE covers all areas of the GI tract, including the liver, colon, stomach and duodenum, esophagus, pancreas, small bowel and biliary tract. It also includes content related to systemic disorders, nutrition, literature interpretation, statistics, epidemiology and ethics.
Development
The GTE is developed by subject-matter experts who make up AGA Institute’s GTE Subcommittee. The subcommittee is responsible for exam content and administration.
The subcommittee receives support from other volunteer physicians within the AGA Institute. All exam questions are subject to a multi-step review process prior to being accepted for the exam. The GTE is developed in collaboration with the University of Michigan Medical School, Department of Medical Education.
Administration
The GTE is a formal, closed-book exam that will only be administered online and is available to all GI felllows, including those in fourth-year training programs. The four-hour exam covers a broad spectrum of GI and liver topics.
Participating training programs have the flexibility to schedule multiple exam sessions at their institutions during a testing window. In an effort to increase scheduling flexibility, Saturday is now an option for fellows to take the exam. The exam vendor will provide technical support on weekdays and on Saturdays during the testing window.
The exam is administered by proctors whose objective is to aid the AGA Institute in ensuring that all examinees are tested under comparable conditions. Training directors are responsible for selecting proctors and are excluded from serving as proctors themselves. (Proctors are typically the program’s administrative assistant or fellowship coordinator.) Medical professionals are excluded from serving as proctors.
The AGA Institute will provide detailed specifications in the Administrative Handbook for programs to use in administering the exam.
Special consideration will be given to examinees with documented visual, physical, hearing or learning disabilities, which would prevent them from taking the exam under standard conditions.
Testing system requirements
Windows computers:
Supported browsers: Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.0 or higher
Operating system: Windows 10
Processor: 233 MHz or higher Intel Pentium/Celeron family, or AMD K6/Athlon/Duron family; or compatible processor
RAM: 128 MB or higher
Display: 1024 x 768 with at least 16-bit color or higher
Internet connection: Broadband connection or better
Apple computers*:
Supported browsers: Apple Safari 7 or higher
Operating system: MAC OS X 10.9 or higher
Processor: PowerPC G3, G4 or G5 processor; or intel-based Mac
RAM: 256 MB or higher
Display: 1024 x 768 with at least 16-bit color or higher
Internet connection: Broadband connection or better
*iPads are not a supported platform
Score Reports
The GTE is not pass/fail in nature. Only raw scores (number of questions answered correctly and incorrectly) will be reported, along with corresponding percentages.
After all examinees have been tested and their scores properly analyzed, score reports will be emailed to training directors in May.
Score Reports will provide:
- The percentage of questions answered correctly within each content area.
- Mean percent correct scores.
- Percentile rankings and stratification of scores by year of fellowship.
- National averages within all content areas.
- List of learning objectives for all incorrectly answered questions.
A detailed report of the examinees’ performance is included on the training directors’ Score Report.
Score Reports to fellows
The Score Report to fellows will allow them to compare their performance against their peers on a national level and use this information as a guide to focus their study plan.
Score Reports to directors
Training directors will receive a list of their examinees’ individual scores and a similar breakdown of scores by content area as presented on the fellows’ Score Report.
Score Reports will be emailed to training directors in May.
Score Reports are confidential and should not be distributed beyond the institution except for accreditation purposes.
For more information on the exam, please contact Tamara Jones at 301-941-2659 or Cory Harlow at 301-272-1185. Additionally, you may forward questions to [email protected].
