The cost and logistics of deploying the American College of Surgeons (ACS)/Association of Program Directors in Surgery (APDS) National Technical Skills Curriculum across all training years are not known. This information is essential for residency programs choosing to adopt similar curricula.

A task force evaluated the authors' institution's existing simulation curriculum and enhanced it by implementing the ACS/APDS modules. A 35-module curriculum was administered to 35 general surgery residents across all 5 clinical years. The costs and logistics were noted, and resident satisfaction was assessed.

The annual operational cost was $110,300 ($3,150 per resident). Cost per module, per resident was $940 for the cadaveric module compared with $220 and $240 for dry simulation and animal tissue–based modules, respectively. Resident satisfaction improved from 2.45 to 4.78 on a 5-point, Likert-type scale after implementing the ACS/APDS modules.

The ACS/APDS skills curriculum was implemented successfully across all clinical years. Cadaveric modules were the most expensive. Animal and dry simulation modules were equivalent in cost. The addition of tissue-based modules was associated with high satisfaction.