Graduate Medical Education

Post-interview contact adds stress to Match

Varying interpretations of the guidelines on post-interview match communication may be creating additional stress for residency applicants, according to a study  of obstetrics-gynecology residency program directors in the Journal of Graduate Medical Education.

The study found that 51.5 percent of respondents reported that highly desirable candidates might be contacted after their interview to inform them they were ranked to match.

This variance in policies among programs creates "game playing" for candidates as they attempt to guess at and interpret the meaning of program communications, notes the study's author. Program directors, medical schools, the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education should examine this issue and work to "protect candidates from inappropriate pressure."

Learn about the NRMP matching process by viewing the AMA resource "Succeeding from Medical School to Practice." AMA members have exclusive access to this two-part guide that offers members the tools needed to succeed at every stage of their career.

Family medicine programs moving to four years?

A pilot program is looking at the possibility of extending family medicine residency programs from three years to four to prepare graduates for practice in today's evolving and increasingly complex health care system.

The pilot, from the Review Committee for Family Medicine of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, will be designed as a cross-sectional study of 20 to 25 programs from 2013 through 2019. Intended to encourage experimentation and innovation within residency education, the program is an outgrowth of several current trends, including decreased clinical experience and responsibility in medical school, decreased hours in residency training (due to duty hour limits) and the increased scope of biomedical knowledge and need to obtain skills using new technologies.

A call for proposals for the pilot notes concerns that "an additional year will deter students from pursuing family medicine as a discipline, and some people believe that better methods of assessing competency and more flexibility in education is needed, not more time." In addition, it notes that "[a] standardized method of ensuring funding for an additional year of education has yet to be developed." In any event, an initial cohort of 12 programs has been selected, and a second application period will be held from Sept. 1 to Dec. 15.

Register now for teleconference on the Next Accreditation System

Register now for "What You Can Do Now to Prepare for the Next Accreditation System (NAS)," an audio teleconference to be held at 1 p.m. Eastern on Aug. 14.

Hosted by the Association for Hospital Medical Education, this event features presenters Louis Ling, MD, senior vice-president for Hospital-Based Accreditation at the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), and Timothy Brigham, MDiv, PhD, chief of staff and senior vice-president, Department of Education, at the ACGME.

ECFMG launches career support and development program

A new program from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) provides career planning support and services to international medical graduates (IMGs) who have become ECFMG-certified physicians or who are seeking certification. 

The ECFMG Certificate Holders Office provides resources to help IMGs be better prepared and organized in making career decisions, and provides guidance on applying to United States GME programs, obtaining a U.S. medical license and gaining medical specialty certification. The program also will provide opportunities for IMGs to network and share resources with each other and other experts and organizations.

News and notes

• Has the pendulum swung too far? One resident physician believes that duty hour limits may be adversely affecting patient care (Boston Globe).
• The so-called "July Effect" may not be statistically validated as causing fatal hospital errors, but it is "undeniably real" as far as quality of care is concerned (The New York Times).

AMA resources for you and your trainees

• View an archive version of our webinar on ways to expand and improve GME.
• Check out our new recommendations on strategies to expand funding of GME.
• Get trend data on undergraduate and graduate medical education.
• Watch a YouTube video summary of the New Horizons in Medical Education conference.
• Help your residents master the ACGME general competency requirements.
• Learn more about patient safety in medical education.
• Get updated information on medical licensure.
• Obtain state-by-state GME data.
• Get an updated copy of our GME glossary (email meded@ama-assn.org with "glossary" in subject line).

For more reading

• AMA medical education and professional ethics Twitter pages
• American Medical News
• Ending Disparities e-Letter