Do clinical base year cases count in the ACGME Case Log?
Log them. The ACGME's anesthesiology FAQ says anesthesia experience from the clinical base year can and should be logged, entered as Case Year 1. No ACGME document says whether those cases count toward the graduation minimums, so check your Minimums Report or ask your program director.
By Christopher Cutler, MD, CA-1, anesthesiology
Some base years include anesthesia rotations, and residents then wonder whether those cases matter. The ACGME answers half of the question.
What does the ACGME call the base year?
The ACGME calls the base year fundamental clinical skills education. A four-year anesthesiology program includes those twelve months before CA-1. A three-year program expects you to finish them somewhere else first.
Should you log base-year cases?
Yes. The ACGME's anesthesiology FAQ says fundamental clinical skills procedures can and should be logged, with the Case Year set to 1.
Which Case Year do you pick?
The Case Log year is your year in the program, not your CA number. In a four-year program, year 1 is the base year, year 2 is CA-1, year 3 is CA-2, and year 4 is CA-3.
In a three-year program, year 1 is CA-1, year 2 is CA-2 and year 3 is CA-3. That table has no row for a base year done somewhere else. The section on another specialty, below, covers that case.
The year starts on the one ADS lists for you. Change the year on a single case when you enter an older one, or use Update Case Year to fix many.
Do base-year cases count toward the minimums?
The ACGME has not said. The requirements state each minimum as a number of patients, with no year attached, and the FAQ asks for base-year cases to be logged. Neither document says whether the Minimums Report includes year 1.
The Minimums Report in the Case Log shows what the ACGME is counting for you. Log one base-year case and read the report, or ask your program director.
What if your intern year was in another specialty?
The ACGME's own documents disagree. The anesthesiology FAQ updated in September 2025 says a resident whose PGY-1 was in another specialty may not log procedures from that year. The FAQ appendix in the 2026 requirements leaves that sentence out.
Ask your program director before you log those cases.
How does Capnolog handle the base year?
Capnolog files a case dated before your CA-1 start as an Intern case. Intern cases have their own progress view and are included in your running totals. Set your training year in Settings → Personal & training, and Capnolog works out the dates.
Keep reading
Sources
Read on September 30, 2026. Capnolog is a logging aid; your program director and the ACGME Case Log System have the final word on what counts.
More in records and submission
Sign in to the official ACGME Case Log in ADS; the Capnolog extension fills each case, and you review it and press Submit.
Log each case on your phone, then file the batch at a computer in one sitting.
Track the ACGME minimum with the national average beside it — at a glance.
Paste it, or open the PDF — you review what was read before anything is saved.