March 7, 2022

March 7, 2022

COVID-19 and GME

The COVID-19 section of the ACGME website contains information to support the GME community in light of the evolving pandemic. This includes Letters to the Community, a Guidance Statement on competency-based medical education and educational program disruptions, FAQs, and the request forms for Sponsoring Institution Emergency Categorization.

Access the ACGME's COVID-19 web pages.


2022 ACGME Annual Educational Conference

Register Now

The final countdown for the conference is on! This year’s event includes a wealth of content on topics including: ACGME accreditation and initiatives; well-being; innovations in the clinical learning environment; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and more. Explore the Session Schedule to prepare; search sessions on the conference registration site by role in GME!

Conference Networking, Activities, and Events
The conference will include networking opportunities designed to facilitate conversation, share ideas, spark innovation, and build connections, as well as fun activities and events, including morning well-being sessions, an afternoon trivia game, a virtual tour of the International Museum of Surgical Science, a magic show, and more!

Activity Feature: Virtual Trivia
Up to 400 participants will be placed in teams for three themed rounds that include categories like 80s trivia and current events. An active leaderboard with team scores will be updated in real time. A grand prize will be awarded to the winning team!

Explore Conference Resources


NEW! ACGME FAQs Now Available

The ACGME has developed a web page to address frequently asked questions and common misconceptions about the ACGME and its roles and responsibilities. These FAQs are intended to help the GME community and the public better understand the ACGME; they are not intended to provide a comprehensive explanation of the ACGME’s work. This page will be updated regularly and as needed.

Read the New ACGME FAQs


NEW! Sponsoring Institution and Program Application Process Web Pages Available

The ACGME has created two new web pages to provide the GME community with step-by-step instructions on submitting new accreditation applications for Sponsoring Institutions or programs.

Institutional Application Process

Program Application Information


Nominate a Colleague for the 2023 ACGME Awards

The ACGME recognizes notable designated institutional officials, program directors, residents and fellows, institutional and program coordinators, programs, institutions, and specialty organizations for their outstanding work and contributions to graduate medical education through its Awards Program, which includes the following:

John C. Gienapp Award
Barbara Ross-Lee, DO Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award
David C. Leach Award
Debra L. Dooley GME Program Coordinator Excellence Award
GME Institutional Coordinator Excellence Award
Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award
Parker J. Palmer Courage to Lead Award

Nomination information and materials are on each award's page in the Awards section of the ACGME website.

Submit nominations by 5:00 p.m. Central on April 6, 2022.


NEW! JGME  Featured Articles of the Week

Surgical Residency Programs Should Leverage Recent Advances in National Policy, Real-World Data, and Public Opinion to Improve Post-Surgery Opioid Prescribing
Jayson S. Marwaha, MD; Chris J. Kennedy, PhD; Gabriel A. Brat, MD, MPH

More than half of all US patients receive opioids after surgery, contributing to the nation's opioid crisis. The majority of post-surgical opioids at academic medical centers are prescribed by junior surgical residents. In this Perspectives article, the authors highlight existing resources about appropriate opioid prescribing for post-surgical pain management. They also explore how surgical residency programs could adopt and leverage these suggestions so residents have clear guidance on safely prescribing opioids.

Cultural Competency Curricula in US Graduate Medical Education: A Scoping Review
Rachel B. Atkinson, MD; Jasmine A. Khubchandani, MD; Emma Reidy, MPH; et al.
Proposed and implemented cultural competency curricula have largely focused on medical students, and at the GME level have wide variability in topic areas covered and delivery methods. For this article, authors performed a scoping review of curricula to explore common themes and challenges.


ACGME Program Requirements for Review and Comment

The following Program Requirements (specialties in bold; followed by subspecialties) and accompanying Impact Statements are posted for review and comment, here:

Comment Deadline: March 9, 2022 - Deadline Wednesday!
Sports Medicine

Comment Deadline: March 16, 2022
Craniofacial Plastic Surgery
Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery
Pediatric Urology
Medical Genetics and Genomics
Clinical Biochemical Genetics
Laboratory Genetics and Genomics
Medical Biochemical Genetics
Pathology
Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine
Chemical Pathology
Cytopathology
Forensic Pathology
Hematopathology
Medical Microbiology
Molecular Genetic Pathology
Neuropathology
Pediatric Pathology
Selective Pathology

Comment Deadline: March 23, 2022
Congenital Cardiac Surgery
Multidisciplinary
Addiction Medicine
Endovascular Surgical Neuroradiology
Internal Medicine-Pediatrics
Neuromuscular Medicine
Pain Medicine

Comment Deadline: March 30, 2022
Emergency Medicine
Pediatric Emergency Medicine (multidisciplinary)
Preventive Medicine (now as individual specialties)
> Aerospace Medicine
> Occupational and Environmental Medicine
> Public Health and General Preventive Medicine
Diagnostic Radiology

Interventional Radiology


Leadership Skills Training Program for Chief Residents

The dates and locations for the ACGME’s Annual Leadership Skills Training Program for Chief Residents are changing due to the shifting landscape of the COVID-19 pandemic and related local public health laws and regulations. The ACGME regrets any inconvenience these changes cause. More information will be provided as soon as it is available via this weekly e-Communication and on the ACGME's social media accounts.

About the Program
The Leadership Skills Training Program for Chief Residents is designed to provide a transitional experience into the leadership role of chief resident by enhancing each participant's self-awareness and understanding of their personal leadership styles, strengths, and weaknesses as leaders, developing knowledge and appreciation of group and interpersonal behavior, and learning additional skills critical to success and satisfaction as both a clinician and leader.

Email questions to Ann Riley.


Register Now for Spring 2022 Developing Faculty Competencies in Assessment Course

Registration for the spring 2022 ACGME faculty development course is open! Led by ACGME senior staff members and selected expert instructors from around the country, Developing Faculty Competencies in Assessment helps participants build effective assessment programs for their residency or fellowship programs. Offered virtually, sessions are highly interactive and use multiple learning approaches, including virtual simulations, to provide participants with approaches and tools for effective assessment.

The six-day intensive, virtual course will be held May 15-20, 2022, from 1:00-5:30 p.m. Central each day. For details and to register, visit the Developing Faculty Competencies in Assessment page on the ACGME website.


ACGME Seeks Resident Members

The following Review Committees seeks nomination for their next resident member positions. Nominees must be enrolled in an ACGME-accredited residency or fellowship program at the time of the appointment and may not serve more than one year beyond completion of that residency or fellowship. After review and consideration of all nominees, the Review Committee will forward its selection to the ACGME Board of Directors for approval. Terms begin July 1, 2023 and end June 30, 2025.

PSYCHIATRY
Details: Applicants must be enrolled in a residency or fellowship program at the time of the appointment and may not serve more than one year beyond completion of the residency or fellowship. Additional information is available on the Documents and Resources page of the Psychiatry section of the ACGME website.
Contact: Larisa Cassie
Deadline: March 7, 2022

SURGERY - Deadline Extended!
Details: Applicants must be a current PGY-2-4 during the 2023-2024 academic year.  Additional information is available on the Documents and Resources page of the Surgery section of the ACGME website.
Contact: Michelle Armstrong
Deadline: April 1, 2022 

THORACIC SURGERY
Details: Applicants must be a current PGY-2-5 during the 2023-2024 academic year. Additional information is available on the Documents and Resources page of the Thoracic Surgery section of the ACGME website.
Contact: Michelle Armstrong
Deadline: April 1, 2022


Case Log System for Ophthalmology Updated

The Review Committee has updated the ACGME Case Log System to improve documentation of resident experiences. The oculoplastic and orbit area was re-organized to better reflect the subspecialty’s accepted procedural categories. In addition, more than 240 additional CPT codes are now being tracked in the Case Log, with approximately 50 giving credit towards a minimum. A new area “examination/clinical procedures/testing” was also created. It includes such activities as ultrasounds; logging these experiences is optional.

Review the “Case Log Information: Ophthalmology” document, which includes details about the update in the Questions section including information related to logging minimally invasive glaucoma surgeries. The document can be found on the Documents and Resources page of the Obstetrics and Gynecology section of the ACGME website.

Email questions to Executive Director Kathleen Quinn-Leering.


Major Revision of Pathology Subspecialty Requirements Coming Soon

The Review Committee for Pathology is preparing to begin a major revision of the current Program Requirements for each of the subspecialties below and invites comments related to specific requirements or topics that should be addressed as the revised Requirements are developed. Comments addressing full-time equivalency (FTE) support for program leadership and program coordinators should not be submitted; proposed revisions related to those subjects for all the pathology subspecialities are currently under review, and so are not reflected in the Program Requirements that are currently in effect and posted online.

Blood Banking and Transfusion Medicine
Chemical Pathology
Cytopathology
Forensic Pathology
Hematopathology
Medical Microbiology
Neuropathology
Pediatric Pathology
Selective Pathology

As a reminder, the Review Committee conducted substantial revisions to all pathology subspecialty Program Requirements, especially in the ACGME Competencies and Curriculum Organization sections, which went into effect on July 1, 2020.

Submit written comments no later than Wednesday, March 23, 2022 to pathology@acgme.org.


Review Committee for Pediatrics Call for Comments | Shaping GME: The Future of Pediatrics

Every 10 years, Review Committees are required to review their specialty Program Requirements to determine necessary revisions. The ACGME Board of Directors has approved a new process for all such major revisions going forward.

This new process, scenario-based strategic planning, involved the Review Committee for Pediatrics, along with members of the pediatrics community, leaders from other specialties (internal medicine and obstetrics and gynecology), and related fields rigorously and creatively thinking about what the specialty of pediatrics will look like in the future (recognizing that the future is marked with significant uncertainty). From this process, the Review Committee will propose revisions to the Program Requirements that will prepare the learners for current practice and generations to come. 

The Review Committee requests feedback. The scenario-based planning summary of themes and insights is posted for review and comment here. Submit your feedback by March 16, 2022 to pediatrics@acgme.org.


Major Revision of Brain Injury Medicine Program Requirements Coming Soon

The Review Committees for Neurology, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Psychiatry are preparing to begin a major revision of the current Program Requirements for Brain Injury Medicine and invite comments related to specific requirements or topics that should be addressed as the revised requirements are developed. Comments addressing full-time equivalency (FTE) support for program leadership and program coordinators should not be submitted; proposed revisions related to those subjects are currently under review, and so are not reflected in the Program Requirements currently in effect and posted online.

Submit written comments no later than March 30, 2022, to PhysicalMedicineandRehabilitation@acgme.org.


Designation of New Preventive Medicine Specialties

The ACGME Board of Directors recently approved an exception to the usual process for the designation of new specialties. This exception was granted for the process to designate aerospace medicine, occupational and environmental medicine, and public health and general preventive medicine as individual specialties separately accredited by the ACGME. These three specialties currently exist under the umbrella designation of preventive medicine; however, this designation would create three separate specialties with three separate specialty codes. The Review Committee for Preventive Medicine would still review all three specialties, as it does now.

Since there would be three distinct specialties, there would be three sets of Program Requirements, which have been created by separating the requirements relevant to each specialty from the current version that encompasses all three. While they are designated as new Program Requirements, the content remains essentially the same for each specialty as it exists now in the comprehensive Program Requirements for Graduate Medical Education in Preventive Medicine. Aside from separating into three versions and making minor wording changes to align with the new specialty designations, there were two notable revisions: one related to the dedicated time requirements for program leadership (see II.A.2.a) and II.A.2.a).(1)); and one to clarify that residents appointed at the PM-2 level must still complete 10 months of direct patient care (see III.A.2.c).(1).(a).(i)).

The three sets of Program Requirements are posted for public review and comment, and feedback can be provided through March 30, 2022. The review and comment form also includes a field to comment on the specialty designation change. Only comments and feedback submitted to preventivemedicinedg@acgme.org using the form provided will be accepted.

Email questions to Executive Director Kate Hatlak.


Meeting and Agenda Closing Dates Posted

Meeting dates are listed on the overview page of each specialty section on the ACGME website. While many specialties have already updated their information, updates may continue until July 1, 2022. Meeting dates and associated agenda closing dates for the Osteopathic Recognition Committee are posted on the Osteopathic Recognition page of the ACGME website.


Career Opportunities

The ACGME is always interested in finding talented, dedicated individuals to join the organization and support its mission to improve health care and population health by assessing and enhancing the quality of resident and fellow physicians' education through advancements in accreditation and education.

View Open Positions