Requirements for Review and Comment
The following Program Requirements and accompanying Impact Statements are posted for review and comment, here:
COMMENT DEADLINE: JULY 14, 2022
Hand Surgery
Subspecialty Proposal
As part of the ongoing effort to encourage the participation of the graduate medical education community and the public in the process of reviewing potential new areas for accreditation, the ACGME offers a 45-day comment period to the community of interest regarding proposed new specialties and subspecialties. Information about the subspecialty and accompanying proposal is available for review here.
COMMENT DEADLINE: JULY 8, 2022
Correctional Medicine (Sponsoring Institution-based fellowship)
NEW! ACGME Board of Directors: Actions Taken at the June Meeting
At its June meeting, the Board of Directors approved the following:
New Program Requirements for Graduate Medical Education in Aerospace Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, and Public Health and General Preventive Medicine, effective July 1, 2022. The Requirements are available under the “Future Effective Date” heading on the Program Requirements and FAQs and Applications page of the Preventive Medicine section of the ACGME website. The new program applications and FAQs will be made available on the same page in the coming weeks. These specialties were previously “areas of concentration” under the umbrella designation of preventive medicine. Preventive medicine is no longer an accredited specialty as of July 1, 2022, as all preventive medicine programs will now fall under one of the three separate specialties.
Major revision to Program Requirements for Graduate Medical Education in Neuroendovascular Intervention, effective July 1, 2022. This major revision includes a name change from Endovascular Surgical Neuroradiology to Neuroendovascular Intervention. The Requirements are available under the “Future Effective Date” heading on the Program Requirements and FAQs and Applications page of the Neurology, Neurological Surgery, and Radiology sections of the ACGME website.
Major revision to Program Requirements for Graduate Medical Education in Sports Medicine, effective July 1, 2022. The Requirements are available under the “Future Effective Date” heading on the Program Requirements and FAQs and Applications page of the Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Pediatrics, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation sections of the ACGME website.
As noted in the June 13, 2022, e-Communication, focused revisions for several specialty/subspecialty requirements were reviewed at the June 2022 Board of Directors meeting, including updates to dedicated time for program leadership, program coordinator, and core faculty. All applicable specialty/subspecialty-specific documents will be posted on their respective specialty sections of the ACGME website no later than July 1, 2022. The Selected Topics Across Program Requirements documents for Coordinator Dedicated Time, Core Faculty Dedicated Time, and Program Leadership Dedicated Time have been updated and can be found on the Institutional Applications and Requirements page of the Designated Institutional Officials section of the website, under the "Selected Topics Across Program Requirements" heading.
NEW! ACGME Announces Back to Bedside Funding Recipients for 2022-2024 Cycle
The ACGME is proud to announce the 21 recipients of the third cycle of funding for Back to Bedside, a resident-led initiative to develop innovative strategies for finding deeper connections with patients, improving physician and patient well-being.
New this year is a multi-program arm with the intent of studying one previously successful Back to Bedside-funded project and it is awarded to Alexander Davidovich, DO and his team from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai for their project “Engaging Physician Trainees Through Bedside Intensive Care Unit [ICU] Narratives.”
View the full list of newly selected Back to Bedside recipients, projects, and team leaders. More than 80 projects have been funded since its inception. Projects will commence with the start of the new academic year in July 2022.
NEW! Burden Reduction: Faculty Board Certification Update
As part of the ACGME’s commitment to and efforts toward improving the ADS user experience, beginning June 26, 2022, the ACGME will use data obtained from the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) and American Osteopathic Association (AOA) for faculty certification, reducing programs’ data entry burden. Programs will no longer need to manually enter faculty members’ ABMS/AOA board certification data in ADS. These data will be populated into the Faculty Roster for use in accreditation and recognition site visits and program review.
Physician faculty members will be matched to the datasets based on National Provider Identifier (NPI) number, name, date of birth, and medical school graduation year. Faculty members who are newly entered into ADS will have their certification information matched and populated within 24 hours. Please note that as of June 3, AOA data has been posted in the faculty member’s profile (where applicable). If a faculty member’s certification information is missing or inaccurate, programs can update and correct the faculty member’s profile. For faculty members who are certified by another organization, are board-eligible, or are not board-certified, programs will continue to manually provide that information.
What do programs need to do now?
To ensure this enhancement’s success, NPI numbers in ADS must be accurate. As soon as possible, program leaders should:
- Check the program’s Faculty Roster in ADS for missing required data.
- Verify accuracy of NPI numbers; if a faculty member’s number is missing or unknown, use the “Search National Provider ID” link provided in ADS to find it. (Faculty member data can be downloaded from the Reports tab.)
- Programs should not delete/remove ABMS or AOA manual entries prior to June 25, 2022.
Refer to the ADS Help Center for details and Frequently Asked Questions.
NEW! Program Self-Study Deferral Update
The ACGME is finalizing its plans for the program Self-Study and developing its process for conducting periodic site visits for programs with a status of Continued Accreditation. The ACGME will not assign program Self-Study dates or 10-Year Accreditation Site Visit dates until further notice. Look for updated information in the coming months.
Institutional Self-Studies will proceed according to the Institutional Review Committee’s announced plan.
Email questions to self-study@acgme.org.
Dedicated Time Requirement Updates
Due to the large number of changes to dedicated time requirements that are effective July 1, 2022, the Selected Topics Across Program Requirements documents for Coordinator Dedicated Time, Core Faculty Dedicated Time, and Program Leadership Dedicated Time were updated in April to allow Sponsoring Institutions and programs to view the approved and proposed dedicated time requirements for all specialties/subspecialties.
At the recent June 2022 Board of Directors meeting, several specialty/subspecialty requirements in these areas were reviewed and approved. The documents have now been updated to reflect the finalized Program Requirements approved by the ACGME Board in June. All applicable specialty/subspecialty-specific Program Requirement documents will be posted on their respective specialty sections of the ACGME website no later than July 1, 2022.
The documents can be found on the Institutional Applications and Requirements page of the Designated Institutional Officials section of the website, under the "Selected Topics Across Program Requirements" heading.
2022-2023 ADS Annual Update Webcast and Q and A
The webcast on the ADS Annual Update from May 26, 2022 is now available to view in the ACGME's online learning portal, Learn at ACGME.
The session provided an overview of the changes made to questions in the ADS Annual Update regarding Common Program Requirements and programs' experience with the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, a third part to the COVID-19 questionnaire with questions for program directors will not be introduced this year as originally planned.
The ACGME has created an accompanying Q and A document, available in the ADS Help Desk and Learn at ACGME. A free account is required to access Learn at ACGME. Email questions about the webcast to accreditation@acgme.org.
Seeking Nominations for the Coordinator Advisory Group
The ACGME is accepting nominations for the next cohort of the Coordinator Advisory Group, which serves as a consultative body concerning coordinator, graduate medical education, learning environment, and accreditation matters. Members will serve three-year terms, from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2026.
Additional information, including the group's charge, information about the nomination process, the nomination form, and the disclosure form, can be found on the Coordinator Advisory Group page of the ACGME website.
Completed nomination packets are due August 15, 2022. Email questions to coordadvgroup@acgme.org.
New and Revised Milestones Available
New and updated version of Milestones are now available for the following specialties and subspecialties. Programs will start using the new Milestones in July 2022, with the first reporting scheduled for January 2023. Supplemental Guides have also be created as a companion tool and are available in both a Word and PDF format on the specialty Milestones pages. The Supplemental Guides include a mapping of Milestones 1.0 to 2.0 to help with the transition.
Critical Care Anesthesiology
Neurocritical Care
Neurotology
Obstetric Anesthesiology
Pediatric Anesthesiology
Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesiology
Pediatric Otolaryngology
Email questions to milestones@acgme.org.
Milestones Year-End Reporting
The Milestones reporting window is open until Friday, June 24, 2022. Milestones assessments can be submitted in ADS during this period. Email technical assistance questions to ADS@acgme.org. Email content questions to milestones@acgme.org.
NEW! JGME Articles of the Week
Are We Preparing Residents for Their Actual Practices?
Peter J. Carek, MD, MS; Arch G. Mainous III, PhD
This editorial explores whether there may be discordance between ACGME Program Requirements and what physicians ultimately do in their practices. While graduate surveys conducted by the American Board of Family Medicine suggest this could be the case, family medicine is one of the few specialties to gather this data. The authors argue that current assessment metrics may not be enough to examine this question. They offer proposals, including a universal graduate survey, to begin gaining a better understanding of the issue.
Overextending: A Qualitative Study of Trainees Learning at the Edge of Evolving Expertise
Anisha Kshetrapal, MD, MSEd; Pim W. Teunissen, MD, PhD; Walter J. Eppich, MD, PhD
To better guide future trainees in gaining progressive autonomy and to support supervising physicians in making entrustment decisions, this study seeks to understand how trainees experience and shape their work environment as they progress from supervised to unsupervised work. Using semi-structured interviews, this qualitative study delves into clinical situations that require “overextending,” or going beyond trainees’ perceived edge of evolving expertise, from deliberate overextending driven by trainees to forced overextending driven by external factors.
Introduction to Sponsoring Institutions and Clinical Learning Environments for Institutional Coordinators
The institutional coordinator workshop is now full. A waiting list is available for those interested. The ACGME plans to create additional educational opportunities for institutional coordinators in the future.
Click here for workshop details and to join the waiting list.
ACGME Seeks Institutional Review Committee Member
The Institutional Review Committee seeks one designated institutional official (DIO) to serve a six-year member term beginning July 1, 2023. Additional information is available on the Documents and Resources page of the Institutional Review Committee page of the ACGME website.
Apply by September 5, 2022. Email questions to irc@acgme.org.
NEW! ACGME Seeks Resident Members
The following Review Committees seeks nominations for their next resident member. 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 program. After review and consideration of all nominees, the Review Committees will forward their selection to the ACGME Board of Directors for approval. Terms begin July 1, 2023 and end June 30, 2025.
NEW! NEUROLOGICAL SURGERY
Details: Additional information is available on the Documents and Resources page of the Dermatology section of the ACGME website.
Contact: Jennifer Luna
Deadline: July 15, 2022
DERMATOLOGY
Details: Additional information is available on the Documents and Resources page of the Dermatology section of the ACGME website.
Contact: Sandra Benitez
Deadline: September 12, 2022
EMERGENCY MEDICINE
Details: Additional information is available on the Documents and Resources page of the Emergency Medicine section of the ACGME website.
Contact: Bianca Andino
Deadline: October 3, 2022
INSTITUTIONAL
Details: Additional information is available on the Documents and Resources page of the Institutional Review Committee page of the ACGME website.
Contact: irc@acgme.org
Deadline: September 5, 2022
ORTHOPAEDIC SURGERY
Details: Additional information is available on the Documents and Resources page of the Orthopaedic Surgery section of the ACGME website.
Contact: Jennifer Luna
Deadline: August 1, 2022
PATHOLOGY
Details: Additional information is available on the Documents and Resources page of the Pathology section of the ACGME website.
Contact: Sarah Gluckstein
Deadline: August 1, 2022
PREVENTIVE MEDICINE
Details: Additional information is available on the Documents and Resources page of the Preventive Medicine section of the ACGME website.
Contact: Sarah Gluckstein
Deadline: August 1, 2022
UROLOGY
Details: Additional information is available on the Documents and Resources page of the Urology section of the ACGME website.
Contact: Emma Breibart-White
Deadline: August 5, 2022
Special Advisory Committee Call for Nominations
The IRC is accepting nominations for a temporary advisory committee to review applications for accreditation of new Sponsoring Institution-based fellowship programs in health care administration, leadership, and management. The advisory committee is intended to augment the expertise of the IRC for the purpose of Sponsoring Institution-based fellowship accreditation. The advisory committee will be appointed from September 2022 to June 2024.
The IRC is soliciting nominations from health care executives, which include chief executive officers, chief quality officers, chief nursing officers, or chief medical information officers. The nomination request and form can be found here.
Email the nomination form and nominee's CV to irc@acgme.org by July 29, 2022.
Feedback Sought for Major Revision of the Institutional Requirements
Every 10 years, Review Committees are required to review their requirements to determine necessary revisions. The goal of this major revision is to anticipate future considerations that will be relevant to the accreditation of Sponsoring Institutions and incorporate them into the Institutional Requirements.
The IRC seeks feedback on the current Requirements to help inform this revision. In addition to comments, the IRC will consider the information from the following sources:
- The Report of the Sponsoring Institutions 2025 Taskforce
- The Pursuing Excellence in Clinical Learning Environments initiative
- Recommendations from the Clinical Learning Environment Review (CLER) Evaluation Committee
Specific elements to consider when reviewing the current Institutional Requirements include:
- Integration of GME and the clinical learning environment, including governance and senior administration relationships
- Enhanced expectations for diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Enhanced expectations for systems-based efforts in well-being
- Professionalism and managing conflicts of interest
- Role of the Graduate Medical Education Committee in assessing institutional and program performance
- Professionalization of the designated institutional official role and title
- Institutional coordinator and GME office functions
- Partnership between GME office and programs
- Burden reduction
- Recategorization of Core, Outcome, and Detail requirements
- Process and outcomes measures
Email comments to irc@acgme.org by July 21, 2022.
Designation of New Preventive Medicine Specialties
At its recent meeting, the ACGME Board of Directors approved the request to designate aerospace medicine, occupational and environmental medicine, and public health and general preventive medicine as accredited specialties. This decision was made with the consideration of all comments received during the public review and comment period earlier this spring. These specialties were previously “areas of concentration” under the umbrella designation of preventive medicine.
Preventive medicine is no longer an accredited specialty, as all preventive medicine programs now fall under one of the three separate specialties. The Review Committee for Preventive Medicine will continue to have oversight over all programs in all three specialties as it does now.
Each specialty now has its own set of Program Requirements, Frequently Asked Questions, and Application Form, all of which will be posted soon in the Preventive Medicine section of the ACGME website. The three sets of Program Requirements were developed mainly by separating the requirements relevant to each specialty from the current version of the Program Requirements that contains all three areas of concentration in one document. No significant changes to the curriculum or ACGME Core Competencies were made.
As a result of the new specialty designations, programs in aerospace medicine and occupational and environmental medicine will be assigned new program numbers in ADS. Nothing else will change about how the programs operate or report information in ADS. Once the changes have been made in ADS, individuals will be able to use the ACGME public site to search for programs in aerospace medicine, occupational and environmental medicine, and public health and general preventive medicine (as opposed to the current search function requiring selecting “Preventive Medicine” and then a concentration from a sub-menu).
Programs affected by this change will receive more information in the coming weeks, including details about the assignment of new program numbers.
Email questions to Executive Director Kate Hatlak.
Case Log System Update for Complex Family Planning
The Case Log System will be available in ADS for complex family planning programs this week. Fellows must log cases beginning July 1, 2022. Case Log instructions are posted on the Documents and Resources page of the Obstetrics and Gynecology section of the ACGME website. Program administrators are advised to review the instructions and teach fellows how to properly record their experiences in the Case Log System.
The instructions outline how programs can grant fellows access to the Case Log. Fellows not granted access by June 25, 2022 will receive an automatic notice with login information. Current second-year fellows should disregard this notice.
Email questions to OBGYN-RC@acgme.org.
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.
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.