An agreement reached Wednesday between allopathic and osteopathic medical communities will unite graduate medical education programs for physicians in training with either degree under a single accreditation system to ensure consistency in evaluation and accountability across all residency programs.
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) agreed on the single accreditation system, which will allow both MD and DO degree holders to complete their residency or fellowship in ACGME-accredited programs. Currently the ACGME and AOA maintain separate accreditation systems for allopathic and osteopathic educational programs.
“This uniform path of preparation for practice ensures that the evaluation of and accountability for the competency of all resident physicians—MDs and DOs—will be consistent across all programs,” ACGME’s CEO Thomas Nasca, MD, said in a news release.
Under the single accreditation system, MD and DO graduates will be able to transfer from one accredited program to another without being required to repeat education. The AOA and AACOM will become ACGME member organizations and will nominate members to the ACGME Board of Directors. Two new ACGME osteopathic review committees will evaluate and set standards for osteopathic aspects of GME programs.
“A single accreditation system provides the opportunity to introduce and consistently evaluate new physician competencies that are needed to meet patient needs and the health care delivery challenges facing the United States over the next decade,” Dr. Nasca said.
A number of the schools that received grants through the AMA’s Accelerating Change in Medical Education initiative are working to revise curriculum to make sure physician education is competency-based beginning in medical school, better preparing future physicians for the changing health care environment.
“The AMA is committed to shaping graduate medical education to enable the next generation of physicians to maintain the tradition of professional and clinical excellence within our evolving health care system,” AMA President Ardis Dee Hoven, MD, said in a statement following the announcement. “We will continue to work closely with ACGME and residency committees on standards for graduate medical education, as well as support federal and state-level advocacy that supports graduate medical education.”
