OGME Corner

Susan L. Rall, M.Ed

ACOS Annual Resident Reports and ACGME Accreditation

The ACOS Graduate Medical Education department is gearing up to receive and review over 900 annual reports submitted by residents and program directors. The deadline for submission of annual reports is June 30, 2016. This date also marks the end of the 2015-2016 training year. For some of our programs, this upcoming 2016-2017 training year is bittersweet. Especially for programs that have received initial accreditation with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and will be opting out of American Osteopathic Association (AOA) accreditation. The ACOS will no longer be responsible for the annual reports for those residency programs who have received initial accreditation with the ACGME and are no longer accredited with the AOA. All end of the year reporting will be done through the ACGME.
                                                                                
Programs receiving initial accreditation and no longer want to be AOA accredited must officially “close” with the AOA. The AOA has created a form to assist programs with this process. You may view it here. Completing this form will ensure that any current residents will receive AOA approval of their training and be eligible for AOA board certification.  Of the six ACOS residency programs who have received ACGME initial accreditation, only one program has submitted the official paperwork to no longer be accredited with the AOA. I am sure the other programs will follow suit within the next few months. This is great news, but who will approve the resident’s 2015-2016 training year? According to ACGME once initial accreditation is conferred, accreditation can be effective either the date of the ACGME Review Committee’s (RC) decision or the RC may apply a retroactive effective date to the beginning of the academic year. The program would participate in the ACGME’s reporting process through the Accreditation Data System (ADS).  This reporting includes annual program information updates, resident case log entry, participation in resident and faculty surveys, and milestone reporting as soon as it achieves pre-accreditation status.
                                                                                                                              
On the flip side, the programs who have received initial accreditation are still under the auspices of the AOA (except for the one program mentioned above.) These programs are both AOA and ACGME accredited. And the question becomes to the programs, “Who will approve my resident’s 2015-2016 training year?” In order to avoid confusion, keep continuity and to ease the administrative transition from AOA to ACGME training records, all surgical residents and programs still accredited by the AOA, must submit an Annual Reports to the ACOS. All annual reports submitted to the ACOS must be in accordance with the AOA Standards and submitted by June 30, 2016.