Residency program may lose accreditation

By: Julie McCoy July 24th, 2008

I came across this story in The LA Times describing how the ACGME may strip a cardiology program of its accreditation – scary stuff! The article says the action is due to “insufficient teaching time by the faculty.”

I think it’s also interesting that the article quotes a fellow who speaks pretty openly about the lack of time with faculty and inadequate supervision. Check the story out here.

Comments(2) ACGME Site Visits, General Interest, Popular

Comments

By Derenda Gold on July 30th, 2008 at 10:40 am

This is something that should concern us all enough that we, at the very least, take a look at our own resident survey results to see how our programs are perceived by the residents. Make note of how many of your residents feel that covering the service takes priority over education. As our services get busier, it is easy for the attendings to rely more heavily upon our residents to do the work. The teaching faculty need to be reminded that their first responsibility is just that, to teach.
A good time to take a look at and address this matter is during the annual meeting when you perform your systematic review of the program.

By Julie McCoy on July 30th, 2008 at 10:58 am

This is a great point, Derenda.

Residency program directors and coordinators need to be aware of when education is slipping and service needs take a higher priority.

In fact, the ACGME refers to this exact issue in their article, “Nine ‘Red Flags’ in the Accreditation Site Visits and Reviews” from the February, 2008 e-Bulletin. Red flag 8 is “Service has a Higher Priority than Education”. This is something they’re definitely looking for.

We’re covering each red flag one by one in RPA, but also check out the ACGME e-Bulletin