The Department of Surgery at the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY/Buffalo) has designed a competency program for surgical residents to provide focused graduate experience and create a database that is acceptable to the American Board of Surgery. It uses a computer program (ResSolution) to manage the database. The Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) provider course is used to document trauma credentials. A total of 221 residents have achieved satisfactory trauma credentials within six months of entering the program. All of the senior residents (PGY4/5) have instructor status. In 12 months, 66 residents have participated in 10,203 surgical procedures in five consortium hospitals. The majority (81.5%) were performed by the resident with direct faculty supervision. This resident credentialing program documents the acquisition of clinical skills and provides a template on which graduate training can be formalized. It may improve resident cognitive performance by identifying knowledge domains that are not addressed in the clinical experience. It has significant potential to help manage the career development and clinical experience of residents.