Year in Review: 2025 ABA Resident Advisory Group

Resident engagement is a key component of the ABA Strategic Plan and reflects the ABA’s commitment to building meaningful connections with trainees early in their professional journey. By engaging residents during training, the ABA is strengthening its understanding of the evolving needs of anesthesiology learners, creating resources and tools that better support the path to board certification and developing new opportunities for feedback and collaboration.

In 2025, the ABA launched its inaugural Resident Advisory Group, bringing together residents from diverse training programs and stages of residency to help inform initiatives designed to support anesthesiology trainees.

Inaugural Resident Advisory Group member, Abigail Schirmer, M.D., reflects on the group’s first year and its impact on resident engagement, board certification, and assessment.

By Abigail Schirmer, M.D.

The ABA’s inaugural Resident Advisory Group was established to give residents a voice in initiatives and resources that directly impact them throughout training and on the road to board certification. As an inaugural member, I have had the opportunity to work alongside residents from across the country to share feedback, offer insight, and help shape efforts designed to better support current and future trainees.

This advisory group has not only been the first of its kind for the ABA but has also been a transformative engagement experience for anesthesiology residents across the country. By engaging a diverse group of residents in different years of their training who are enrolled in various models of ACGME Core Anesthesiology Residency programs (academic, community, etc.), the Resident Advisory Group members have been able to provide insight and feedback to the ABA on efforts and materials directly impacting residents on the road to board certification.

In this inaugural year, the Resident Advisory Group has made valuable contributions to the creation of information and resources for residents, helping streamline the most effective communication methods according to the perspectives of residents.

The first few meetings of the Resident Advisory Group focused on restructuring previously published resources and information on the ABA website. While these updates to existing webpages and resources aimed to prioritize the most important topics to residents, they also included changes in nomenclature to reflect the language both residents and programs are using daily — for example, utilizing the term “oral boards” vs. “APPLIED Exam.” The suggestions made by the Resident Advisory Group led to a designated Resident page on the ABA’s website to act as a one-stop shop for everything residents need to know about the path to board certification.

Among the inaugural advisory group’s first conversations with the ABA was a discussion of how and when to reach residents throughout their training. For example, how in-depth did information for a CBY resident need to be regarding the APPLIED Exam? When was it appropriate to share information about BASIC Exam registration? These questions sparked a discussion amongst resident advisory group members about the value of a new print and digital resource with in-depth guidance regarding exam registration, including a year-by-year timeline clearly detailing when each examination in the board certification process is anticipated. The ABA created this new booklet resource using feedback, insight and ideas from the collective of the Resident Advisory Group and was available for distribution to trainees at the 2025 American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Annual Meeting.

Speaking of the ASA Annual Meeting, a hallmark of the ABA’s booth during the meeting is the annual socks for anesthesiology residents. This past year, the Resident Advisory Group directly contributed to the development and creation of these socks, ultimately voting on the final design. In addition, the Resident Advisory Group members who attended the ASA Annual Meeting had the opportunity to meet in person with members of the Board of Directors and ABA staff.

The remainder of the year for the Resident Advisory Group following the ASA Annual Meeting has focused on another element of the Strategic Plan: developing a new formative assessment tool, Resident Reach, to give feedback to programs and residents. Advisory group members have helped inform user function as the ABA prepares to launch its second Resident Reach pilot this coming fall.

Throughout this past year, I have felt my voice has been both heard and sought out as a member of the Resident Advisory Group in respect to the resident experience on the road to board certification and in the development of resources that will in turn help fellow residents across the country navigate board certification. I am grateful for the opportunity to have served on the inaugural ABA Resident Advisory Group and look forward to seeing all that the group accomplishes in the future.