ACGME e-Communication - October 12, 2020

October 12, 2020

Access the ACGME's COVID-19 Section
Visit the COVID-19 section of the ACGME website for access to a range of materials, including ACGME Guidance Statements, Frequently Asked Questions, Letters to the Specialty Communities, institutional and well-being resources, and more.


ACGME Annual Educational Conference Banner

 

Exhibitor, Sponsor, and Job Recruiter Registration Open
Apply today for virtual booth space in the Exhibit Hall, or for one of several exciting sponsorship opportunities at the ACGME Annual Educational Conference February 24-26, 2021. The ACGME is also offering a space for institutions to post open positions in the Career Center. Recruiters can post up to 10 job postings, which will be uploaded into a searchable database that attendees can access up to three months after the conference.

Learn More about Exhibits and Sponsorships

Reserve a Booth or Sponsorship
Apply by January 22, 2021

Email questions to exhibitor@acgme.org.


NEW! ACGME Board of Directors: Actions taken at the September Board Meeting
At its September 2020 meeting, the ACGME Board of Directors approved the following:

Focused revision to Program Requirements for Graduate Medical Education in Nuclear Medicine, effective July 1, 2021. The Requirements are available under the “Future Effective Date” heading on the Program Requirements and FAQs and Applications page of the Nuclear Medicine section of the ACGME website.

Focused revision to Program Requirements for Graduate Medical Education in Brain Injury Medicine, effective July 1, 2021. The Requirements are available under the “Future Effective Date” heading on the Program Requirements and FAQs and Applications page of the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Neurology, and Psychiatry sections of the ACGME website.

Focused revision to Program Requirements for Graduate Medical Education in Diagnostic Radiology, Interventional Radiology, and Neuroradiology, effective July 1, 2021. The Requirements are available under the “Future Effective Date” heading on the Program Requirements and FAQs and Applications page of the Radiology section of the ACGME website.

Focused revision to Osteopathic Recognition Requirements, effective July 1, 2021. The Requirements are available under the “Future Effective Date” heading on the Osteopathic Recognition section of the ACGME website.


NEW! New Email Address for General Accreditation Questions
The ACGME has created a new email address for members of the graduate medical education (GME) community who need to ask questions that apply generally, as opposed to specific questions about institutional accreditation or the accreditation of a particular specialty or subspecialty.

Direct general questions to: accreditation@acgme.org

To contact staff about institutional accreditation, email irc@acgme.org. For contact information by specialty, visit the Specialties page and select the appropriate specialty.


ACGME Data Resource Book
The ACGME released its 2019-2020 Data Resource Book, the most comprehensive and reliable resource of its kind, including data on the size, scope, and distribution of graduate medical education in the US.

This book covers the time period July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020. The data tables and figures provided include: Program Accreditation, Program Characteristics, Resident Characteristics, Graduating Residents and Residents Leaving Prior to Completion, Sponsoring Institutions, Participating Sites, Program Directors and Faculty, and Program Activities.

Access the Data Resource Book
Read the News Release


2019-2020 ACGME Annual Report
In a year of unexpected challenges, the ACGME and graduate medical education rose to the occasion, implementing innovative solutions and achieving success. These efforts have positioned the ACGME to lead the profession and prepare exceptional physicians to care for the American public now and into the future.

Read the Annual Report


Multi-Year Survey Reports
Additional ACGME Resident/Fellow and Faculty Survey reports have been posted in the Accreditation Data System (ADS) for programs that participated in the 2019-2020 surveys but had too few respondents scheduled to participate. The Multi-Year Reports summarize data across several reporting years and are available only to those programs with a qualifying number of participants over the last four years that consistently met the required response rate.

This year, 2,758 programs will receive the Resident/Fellow Multi-Year Report, and 285 programs will receive the Faculty Multi-Year Report.

To access these reports, log into ADS and click the Surveys tab. Choose View Reports in the Survey Reference menu on the right, and then select the desired academic year and program. If the program qualifies for a Multi-Year Report, a listing for "Aggregated by Program (Multi-Year)" will be visible.


Milestones Resources Available
The ACGME has created two new evidence-based tools to help the graduate medical education (GME) community assess resident and fellow clinical performance in a variety of clinical settings.

Direct Observation of Clinical Care (DOCC) App
The DOCC app is a tool for faculty members and other evaluators to do on-the-spot or scheduled direct observation assessments of residents and fellows performing five clinical activities in which they are expected to achieve competence: performing a history and physical exam; effective clinical reasoning; informed decision making; breaking bad news; and safe hand-offs. The DOCC app is designed as an open-access tool that Sponsoring Institutions and programs can implement locally through integration with a program’s database, as well as download from the App Store for iPhone and GooglePlay for Android.

Teamwork Effectiveness Assessment Module (TEAM)
TEAM is a vehicle for collecting multisource feedback on residents' and fellows' professionalism, interpersonal and communication skills, and competence in interprofessional teamwork and aspects of systems-based practice. Originally developed by the American Board of Internal Medicine, the ACGME has adapted its use for individual residents/fellows to gather and interpret feedback from the interprofessional patient care teams with which they work.

Data entered into TEAM is kept secure and confidential, and is accessible only to individual residents, fellows, faculty members, and program users. None of the information entered is used for accreditation purposes.

Learn more about these resources and access them here. Additional resources for the Milestones, including a series of recently updated guidebooks, are available here.


Participate in Milestones 2.0 Focus Group for Quality Assurance
The ACGME has established a quality assurance program as a part of the Milestones 2.0 implementation process and is looking for 20 volunteers in each of the following specialties and subspecialties to participate in this process:

Allergy and Immunology
Cardiovascular Disease
Clinical Biochemical Genetics
Complex General Surgical Oncology
Dermatology
Family Medicine
Interventional Radiology – Independent
Interventional Radiology – Integrated
Laboratory Genetics and Genomics
Medical Genetics and Genomics
Ophthalmology
Radiology – Diagnostic
Sleep Medicine
Surgery
Urology

Volunteers should be actively involved in program leadership or a member of the Clinical Competency Committee. Over the next few years, the ACGME will collect feedback about the new Milestones through a combination of focus groups and surveys. Focus groups will be held at annual program director meetings, and surveys will be completed electronically or by phone. Surveys will be brief and should take less than five minutes to complete.

Fill Out the Volunteer Form

Email questions to milestones@acgme.org.


JGME Annual Call for New Ideas
JGME’s annual call for New Ideas is seeking novel GME interventions or assessments that have been implemented at least once and appear successful in preliminary evaluations. These interventions can be an innovation in curricula, teaching, assessment, quality and safety, program evaluation, supervision, faculty development, or other topics relevant to GME.

Selected papers will be published in the June 2021 issue of JGME.

This is an opportunity to turn everyday work into a publication in a quick, simple process—all that is needed is a brief abstract (see below for details). Examples include a new process of assessing key resident competencies, new curricula to meet an important deficiency, or an innovative response to the COVID-19 pandemic that appears successful.

New Ideas Criteria:

  • New Ideas must describe an intervention that is novel—not just locally but to GME broadly.
  • The intervention must have been implemented at least once; longer implementation is preferable. While outcomes data may be preliminary, feasibility (effort, costs) and acceptability (to subjects) must be discussed.
  • Preliminary evidence should suggest the intervention is successful.
    The intervention potentially could be replicated in other specialties.

New Ideas manuscripts:

  • Must be no more than 600 words, including one reference.
  • Must be organized into three parts: Setting and Problem; Intervention (the “New Idea”); and Outcomes to Date.
  • May include one figure or table.
  • May include one reference but should not include a literature review.
  • Must be submitted via the online editorial management system by Monday, November 2, 2020 at 8:00 a.m. Central.

Acceptance decisions will be communicated by Friday, January 29, 2021. NOTE: Due to the brevity of these submissions, manuscripts that are not accepted will not receive editor comments. Manuscripts not following the required submission format and/or submission deadline will not be considered.

Email additional questions to jgme@acgme.org.


Career Opportunities
The ACGME currently has the following open positions:

Executive Director, Surgical Accreditation

Click on the position linked above for details and to complete an application.