OGME Corner

Susan Rall, M.Ed


ACGME Application Deadline


The deadline for urological surgery, general surgery, and neurological surgery programs to apply for ACGME accreditation is December is December 31, 2016—less than six weeks away! Programs that do not submit the ACGME Application prior to the deadline will not be able to participate in the 2017 Match and will not be able to accept new residents (including transfers). The AOA is urging those programs who plan not to apply for ACGME accreditation to refrain from recruiting or interviewing candidates. The AOA and ACGME are both providing complementary assistance to programs needing support to complete the ACGME application. For more information, contact Cathy Galligan at (312) 202-8010 or Maura Biszewski at (312) 202-8075 at the AOA.

Requests for Postponement of an AOA Inspection


The following types of programs are eligible to request a postponement of their AOA inspection:

  1. Programs that have ACGME pre-accreditation or continued pre-accredited AND received a five-year continuing approval on its last inspection.
  2. Programs that have ACGME initial or continuing accreditation.

Eligible programs may request a postponement of their scheduled site inspection date through the following process:

  1. Submit a request for postponement to their OPTI no later than two months before the scheduled review.
  2. The OPTI will submit the request via FileWorks. It is recommended that the OPTI also include a statement of support of postponement.
  3. The AOA will forward the request to the appropriate Specialty College (SPEC) via FileWorks.
  4. The Specialty College will contact the OPTI and program if additional data or documentation is needed for the SPEC to make a decision.
  5. The SPEC will let the AOA know within two weeks of receipt of the request if a postponement is granted and the length of postponement (not to exceed 24 months).
  6. If the specialty college does not notify the AOA of its decision within two weeks, the postponement request is considered denied.
  7. The AOA will notify the program and OPTI as soon as a decision has been rendered.  If a postponement is granted, the AOA will also notify the program and OPTI of the month and year that the review will tentatively be rescheduled.
  8. The AOA will do every effort to give programs and OPTIs at least two months’ notice of the new inspection date.