For programs to become sponsored institutions accredited by ACGME they must follow certain guidelines to ensure residents are properly trained, supervised and evaluated based on field performance.
To earn accreditation, institutions must meet all educational components required of sponsored programs.
- Curriculum Components
- Consistent with the sponsoring institution’s mission, the needs of the community and the desired distinctive capabilities of its graduates
- Competency-based goals and objectives for each educational experience designed to promote progress on a trajectory to autonomous practice
- Delineation of resident responsibilities for patient care, progressive responsibility for patient management and graded supervision
- Structured didactic activities
- Advancement of resident knowledge of ethical principles foundational to medical professionalism
- Advancement in resident knowledge of basic scientific inquiry principles, including how research is designed, conducted, evaluated, explained to patients and applied to patient care
The program must integrate the following ACGME Competencies into the curriculum
- Professionalism
- Residents must demonstrate a commitment to professionalism and an adherence to ethical principles
- Patient Care and Procedural Skills
- Residents must be able to provide patient care that is compassionate, appropriate and effective for the treatment of health problems and the promotion of health.
- Residents must be able to perform all medical, diagnostic and surgical procedures considered essential for the area of practice.
- Medical Knowledge
- Residents must demonstrate knowledge of established and evolving biomedical, clinical, epidemiological and social behavioral sciences, as well as the application of this knowledge to patient care.
- Practice-based Learning and Improvement
- Residents must demonstrate the ability to investigate and evaluate their care of patients, to appraise and assimilate scientific evidence, and to continuously improve patient care based on constant self-evaluation and lifelong learning
- Interpersonal and Communication Skills
- Residents must demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills that result in the effective exchange of information and collaboration with patients, their families and health professionals.
- Systems-based Practice
- Residents must demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context and system of health care, including the social determinants of health, as well as the ability to call effectively on other resources to provide optimal health care.
Throughout the program, the sponsored institution must evaluate, observe and critique resident performance during each rotation or education assignment.
Evaluations must be completed at the end of each process
For block rotations of greater than three months induration, evaluation must be documented at least every three months
Longitudinal experiences, such as continuity clinics in the context of other clinical responsibilities, must be evaluated at least every three months and at completion.
The program must provide an objective performance evaluation based on the competencies and the specialty-specific milestones using multiple evaluators (e.g., faculty members, peers, patients, self and other professional staff members); and provide the information to the clinical competency committee for its synthesis of progressive resident performance and improvement toward unsupervised practice.
