OGME Corner

Susan Rall

ACGME Application Deadline

As we all prepare for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) transition, we want to notify you that an important deadline is quickly approaching. It is highly recommended that all ACOS Residency Programs apply for ACGME Accreditation by January 1, 2016. Applying before the January 1 deadline is imperative for the stability of programs and the protection of residents. An Osteopathic Residency Program will receive pre-accreditation status upon submission of the ACGME Application and the process of receiving initial (or full) accreditation with the ACGME will begin. Initial accreditation, once the application is received, may take up to a year or more for program with zero deficiencies. A program with deficiencies noted in its review will need sufficient time to bring the program into compliance. Programs applying before the January 1 deadline are given ample time to correct institutional deficiencies and receive initial accreditation before June 2020. In addition, the residents currently in programs are given assurance that their current and future osteopathic training is valid and acceptable for eligibility to practice and receive full certification. The longer a program waits to apply the less time they will have to correct deficiencies and are placing residents in jeopardy.
 
As you complete your application it is mandatory for you to contact the Executive Directors of the ACGME Review Committees (RCs). The Executive Directors listed below are your resource to a successful and complete application.
 
Donna L. Lamb, MBA, BSN Executive Director for Surgery, Plastics and CT- [email protected]
Mary Joyce Turner, RHIA, MJ, Executive Director for Urological Surgery- [email protected]
Pamela Derstine, PHD, MPHE, Executive Director for Neurological Surgery, - [email protected]
 
Information about the ACGME application process is located on the following website, http://www.osteopathic.org/acgme

General Surgery In-Service Examination

The next General Surgery In-Service Examination will be administered on January 9, 2016.  Six hundred and seventy-five (675) Osteopathic General Surgery Residents have been registered to take the exam!  All osteopathic general surgery residents (OGME-1R – OGME-5) training in AOA-approved general surgery residency training programs are required to complete the 2015 General Surgery In-Service Exam to comply with the AOA/ACOS Basic Standards for Residency Training in Surgery and the Surgical Specialties (Section VIII,C,8.4)

The purpose of the exam is to assist program directors in the evaluation of the resident’s level of knowledge relative to other residents’ knowledge at the same level of training, to identify a resident’s area of weakness, and to track a resident’s progress.  There is no passing score for the exam, which is a diagnosis-oriented, criterion-referenced achievement test that measures the degree to which residents have mastered the general surgery residency model curriculum.  The results of the test are also used by the RESC as an indicator in evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of each residency program.

Results of the exam should be distributed in early March.  Former residents in attendance at the Resident Section Business Meeting in Boston agreed that doing well on the ACOS GS In-Service Exam was a good indicator of success on the general surgery eligibility exam for certification.  

Last year residents in osteopathic general surgery training programs were invited by the American Board of Surgery (ABS) to participate in the allopathic general surgery in-service exam (ABSITE).  Ten ACOS programs accepted the invitation.  It is anticipated that the ABS will invite osteopathic surgical residents to participate in ABSITE 2015.

RESC

The next meeting of the Resident Evaluation and Standards Committee (RESC) will be February 5 and 6, 2016 in Alexandria, Virginia.  The committee meets twice a year to review surgical residency programs and evaluate resident progress.  Materials for review by the RESC, requested documentation and fees, at the February meeting should be received at ACOS by Friday, January 8, 2016.  Those residents with incomplete annual reports and late fees from previous years have been contacted.  It is imperative that residents submit Annual Reports in a timely manner in order to ensure that documentation is reviewed and results of a review are communicated to the certification boards. Late submission of Annual Reports and requested documentation and fees may jeopardize the ability of a resident to sit for eligibility exams for certification.

The review of annual reports by the RESC is a benefit of ACOS membership.  Non-members must pay a non-member review fee for the review of an annual report.  New residents should contact their program director or program coordinator about ACOS membership or visit the ACOS website at www.facos.org for membership information and to ensure that their programs have submitted the necessary application forms for ACOS membership.