Successful completion of the Part I (Written) examination is a requirement for admission to the Part II (Oral) examination. The oral examination is designed to test the candidate's knowledge, judgement, and ability to correlate information in the management of clinical problems in general thoracic and cardiovascular surgery. Candidates are expected to be proficient in both adult cardiac, congenital cardiac and general thoracic.
The format of the Oral Examination is as follows: candidates are interviewed by two examiners in three rooms, for a total fo six examiners. One of the three rooms will be cardiac, one room will be general throacic, and one room will be split between cardiac and general throacic. Candidates are given four protocols in each room for a total of 12 protocols for the entire exam. In order to pass the exam, candidates must pass the majority of cardiac examiners and the majority of general thoracic examiners.
The Oral Examination is given in Chicago, IL, once a year, usually at the end of May or in early June.