OGME Corner
By: Donald B. Kaveny and Susan L. Rall
COPT Acts on ACGME Approvals
An unintended consequence of the ACGME-AOA merger previously identified resulted in a serious issue for fellowship bound residents of the class of 2015. Many osteopathic residents who had matched into ACGME fellowships would not be occupying an accredited ACGME slot because they did not complete an ACGME accredited residency program. The AOA policy was that an osteopathic physician must occupy an ACGME accredited/approved position in an ACGME accredited program in order to meet the program requirements to sit for an osteopathic board certification exam. Without approval of training from the AOA, these residents would not be eligible to sit for their subspecialty AOBS certification exam. At its April 17, 2015 meeting the AOA Council on Postdoctoral Training passed a resolution which would allow those osteopathic fellows occupying an ACGME unapproved/unaccredited position to become certified by the AOA. The ACGME training would be evaluated by the specialty college which would then make the determination if that training met the AOA criteria for that specialty. The specialty college would then notify the AOA and the AOBS that the fellow was “program complete” in that specialty area. The recommendation from the COPT must go to the AOA Bureau of Osteopathic Specialties for passage, but there should not be any problem at that level.
Resident Annual Reports Due June 30
The end of the 2014 – 2015 training year is rapidly coming to an end. Residents and program directors are required to submit their year-end reports to the ACOS no-later-than June 30, 2015.
Residents
Residents are required to submit the Resident’s Evaluation of the Program electronically between June 1- June 30.
Residents are reminded that the Resident’s Evaluation of the Program must include a narrative of the scholarly activity and completion of attestation statements. If the form is incomplete approval of the resident’s training year will be deferred and the resident may incur a late fee.
Forms submitted after the June 30 deadline will be assessed a $250 late fee. Additional late fees of $250 will accrue annually for outstanding reports and late fees. Review of the residency training of ACOS resident members is performed as a member benefit. Annual dues for Resident Members for the 2015-2016 training year are $180! Non-members are required to pay a $300 processing fee for the review of an annual resident report. Annual resident reports will not be reviewed if outstanding fees have not been paid. All outstanding late and/or non-member fees must be paid in order to receive approval of training and be eligible to sit for the AOA certifying board examinations.
Program Directors
Program directors are required to submit the following Annual Report Forms electronically to the ACOS after June 1st, but no-later-than June 30. Forms which are incomplete or not submitted by the June 30 deadline may cause a delay in a resident’s approval of training or affect the accreditation status of a program. Delay in approval of a resident’s training may affect board eligibility.
Annual Report Documents to be completed by Program Directors and submitted to the ACOS - Due June 30 are:
1. Annual Resident Report Checklist for Program Directors
2. Program Director's Statement of Resident Completion (Graduating Residents ONLY)
3. Program Directors Annual Evaluation of the Program
Annual Report Documents are to be completed by Program Directors and submitted to the ACOS before June 30; copies of the reports must be maintained by the program. Annual Report documents will be reviewed during the program’s periodic review for continuing approval. Documents to be completed and maintained in the resident files at the institution are:
1. Program Director’s Evaluation of the Resident signed by the resident and program director
2. Resident Operative Report (OpLog) signed by the resident and the program director
3. Scholarly Activity documentation
Residents and/or program directors requiring additional information or having questions regarding Annual Reports should contact Susan Rall at (571) 551-2110 or Don Kaveny at (571) 551-2008.