EQIP's First Year: A Step Closer to Higher Quality in Surgical Education

•EQIP is an innovative quality improvement project for surgical training programs.•Thirty-six surgical training programs with 1264 trainees and 1500 faculty members were included in the dataset.•The APDS has proved the concept that a highly secure database for the purpose of continuous risk-adjusted quality improvement in surgical education can be successfully deployed.•Risk-adjusted multivariable analysis suggests that increased time in a technical skills lab was associated with increased success on the ABS's Qualifying Examination, alone.•Increased time in a technical skills lab and the presence of a formal teaching curriculum were associated with increased success on both the ABS's Qualifying and Certifying Examination.•Program type may be of some consequence in predicting success on the Qualifying Examination.