Residency Review Committee for Internal Medicine - Instructions for Submitting PIFs

The following steps must be accomplished in preparing information for the RRC-IM:

1. INTERNAL MEDICINE PROGRAMS -- CAAR PROGRAM INFORMATION MATERIAL AND SOFTWARE. You will download the CAARV2 software from the ACGME web site. Before installing the CAARV2 software, you should download the CAAR Installation/Getting Started Guide and User Manual. Be sure to check the requirements located in the Installation Guide. Access to the system is available through most commonly used Internet Browsers and providers including Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 (or higher) and Netscape 4.0 (or higher). No special download of additional software is required.
   
   IT IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU REVIEW THE CAARV2 GETTING STARTED SECTION OF THE INSTALLATION GUIDE AND USER MANUAL BEFORE YOU BEGIN ENTERING DATA INTO THE CAARV2 SYSTEM.
2. PIF Addendum. Only internal medicine core programs will be requested to complete this document. This is a standard MS Word document that can be downloaded from http://www.acgme.org/acWebsite/RRC_140/140_pifIndex.asp.
3. INTERNAL MEDICINE PROGRAMS -- RESIDENT'S QUESTIONNAIRE MATERIALS. The CAAR system includes a Resident's Questionnaire to be completed by your categorical, special track and combined residents (i.e., medicine/ pediatrics, medicine/emergency medicine, etc.). (NOTE: Preliminary residents do not complete the resident's questionnaire.) The Resident's Questionnaire Instructions For Program Director and its enclosures provide information for completing and submitting the Resident's Questionnaire. It will be forwarded to you under separate cover.
   
   The Resident's Questionnaire is a very important part of this process and we ask for your cooperation in having the residents complete them and submit them to our office no later than the deadline for the submission of the accreditation material. Please note that the RRC-IM requires a respondent rate of at least 70 percent. Only residents that have been with the program 6 months or longer qualify to complete the questionnaire. The total count or percentage of the program will not be affected, it will be adjusted to the total of qualified residents completing questionnaire.
   
   
   NOTE: The resident group that should be surveyed are those that are currently enrolled based on the academic year (on duty by August 31.) We have provided resident questionnaires for the RRC-IM approved resident complement for your program. Please forward a current list of your residents to Ms. Araceli Fonseca, RRC-IM Senior Systems Coordinator, via fax at 312-755-7498 or e-mail at aaf@acgme.org.



4. SUBSPECIALTY TRAINING PROGRAMS -- PROGRAM INFORMATION FORMS (PIF). If your program has accredited subspecialty training programs, the accreditation review of the programs will be conducted using the web-based PIFs. You will access your PIF through the Accreditation Data System (ADS) . Login to ADS using your secured login and password and proceed to the PIF Preparation section . If you are applying for a new subspecialty accreditation then you will be using the standard (paper) MS Word PIF. The CAAR data collection software will no longer be utilized in the accreditation of subspecialty training programs; however, the RRC-IM will continue to utilize the resident's questionnaire.
   
   You will need to submit the original and two copies of the PIF and requested attachments.



5. SUBSPECIALTY TRAINING PROGRAMS -- RESIDENT’S QUESTIONNAIRE MATERIALS. Under separate cover, we have provided individual instructions for the program directors of the subspecialty training programs for completing and submitting the resident’s questionnaires. {Please note that there is no resident's questionnaire for the subspecialty training programs in clinical cardiac electrophysiology, interventional cardiology, or internal medicine-geriatric medicine.} Please note that the RRC-IM requires a respondent rate of at least 70 percent.
   
   NOTE: The fellow group that should be surveyed are those that are currently enrolled based on the academic year (on duty by August 31). We have provided resident questionnaires for the RRC-IM approved fellow complement for your program. Please forward a current list of your residents to Ms. Araceli Fonseca, RRC-IM Senior Systems Coordinator, via fax at 312-755-7498 or e-mail at aaf@acgme.org.



6. SITE VISIT. Upon completion and submission of the required program material and resident questionnaires, a site visit(s) will be scheduled for your program(s). Please note that your accreditation site visit will be scheduled within a two- to seven-month window following the deadline for the return of the CAAR and resident's questionnaire materials and subspecialty program information forms. You will receive 110 to 120 days advance notice of the date of the site visit.



7. All materials, including the original and two copies of the Program Information Form(s) and requested attachments, which includes the Program Identification Section (Section 1) signed by the program director and designated institutional official, should be returned to:
   
   

   Ms. Cleo Whitfield
   Systems Administrator
   Residency Review Committee for Internal Medicine
   515 North State Street, Suite 2000
   Chicago, Illinois 60654