UNMC’s iEXCEL program earns full surgical re-accreditation

UNMC’s Interprofessional Experiential Center for Enduring Learning has again earned full re-accreditation across all standards on its Annual Compliance Report from the American College of Surgeons Comprehensive Accredited Education Institutes.

The surgical simulation program, through iEXCEL and the UNMC Department of Surgery, obtained its initial ACS-AEI accreditation in June 2021 for five years. UNMC leaders hailed the accreditation – the culmination of a 10-year effort – as a “crown jewel” for the med center.

Obtaining and maintaining this accreditation is a prestigious and rare honor – fewer than 100 simulation centers from across the world are accredited by the ACS-AEI, said Chandra Are, MBBS, associate dean of graduate medical education for the UNMC College of Medicine, the Jerald L. and Carolynn J. Varner Professor of Surgical Oncology and global health professor and surgical director for iEXCEL.

For calendar year 2023, the ACS’ Accreditation Review Committee found in June that iEXCEL maintained all standards with zero deficiencies.

From its beginnings, the iEXCEL program committed to achieving and maintaining the highest level of standards for simulation training for all its learners, both internal and external to UNMC, said Ben Stobbe, assistant vice chancellor of clinical simulation, iEXCEL. 

By obtaining the ACS-AEI accreditation, the program validated the rigorous training standards it has developed and the level of commitment behind the program, Stobbe said. The annual certification reporting ensures the iEXCEL program continues to maintain all standards set forth in the initial accreditation, he said.

Overall, the accreditation and its continued validation prove that “obtaining skills training through our program will meet the highest standards for skill training critical to their profession and ultimately the delivery of safe patient care,” he said.

Said Stobbe, “We have maintained and met ongoing accreditation standards through annual accreditation requirements, thus demonstrating the commitment of iEXCEL to provide the highest quality of interprofessional training, assessment and research for all levels of learners and health care providers.”

Stobbe offered an example of how the accreditation impacts iEXCEL’s ability to attract learners and educational programs from outside UNMC.

UNMC recently partnered with the University of Kansas ENT and neurosurgery residents on a temporal bone dissection lab that explored the anatomy of the lateral skull base.

Discussions and videos before the lab covered complications of surgical interventions, Stobbe said. Then, he said, iEXCEL offered a surgical lab that allowed learners to practice their technical skills – drilling the temporal bone, protecting critical structures and inserting auditory rehabilitative devices and prostheses.

Dr. Are said iEXCEL has claimed a vital role in the education of surgical trainees at UNMC. The program was particularly important during the pandemic and continues to offer a critical education component in UNMC’s medical education.

iEXCEL is one of the few simulation centers in the region that is approved to by the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) to administer the FLS, FES and FUSE testing, Dr. Are said. Certification in these three competencies, he said, is essential for graduation from surgery training programs.

In addition to offering this to UNMC’s surgical residents, iEXCEL was helpful in providing opportunities to residents from other programs in the region during the pandemic, who otherwise would not have met the competencies for graduation, Dr. Are said.

“This demonstrates the vital role that iEXCEL plays on the national stage,” he said, “in promoting patient safety and training the next generation of physicians.”