Timeline of requests by the AOA to address the ACGME's proposed common program requirements:
July 2013 – The AOA to present Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to its Board.
June 2013 – The ACGME to present draft MOU to its Board.
April/May 2013 – Next meeting of the AOA/ACMGE Joint Task Force.
March 12, 2013 – AOA/ACGME monthly staff meeting.
March 4, 2013 – AOA Board of Trustees meets to discuss the status of the proposed GME accreditation system.
Feb. 25, 2013 – Tentative date for the next meeting of the AOA/ACGME Joint Task Force.
Feb. 2-4, 2013 – ACGME Board of Directors meeting. We anticipate a draft MOU will be presented to their Board at this time.
Jan. 21, 2013 – AOA Executive Director John B. Crosby, JD, and ACGME CEO Thomas J. Nasca held a brief meeting to continue discussion on the development of a Memorandum of Understanding issues we would like to see reflected therein.
Dec. 20, 2012 – AOA Trustee Boyd R. Buser, DO, testified before the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) Committee on Governance and Financing of Graduate Medical Education on how to ensure accountability in the GME system and examining cost and financing for GME. His testimony included comments on our plans to work with the ACGME to craft a single, unified system of GME accreditation by July 2015.
Dec. 12, 2012 – The AOA/ACGME Joint Task Force met at ACGME headquarters to discuss next steps in the consideration of what a single, unified GME accreditation system would entail and how we would work together to achieve it.
Oct. 24, 2012 – The AOA entered into an agreement with ACGME and AACOM to pursue a single, unified accreditation system for graduate medical education programs in the United States beginning in July 2015. Read more about the agreement.
Sept. 28, 2012 – AOA Trustee Boyd R. Buser, DO, along with representatives from other osteopathic groups, testified at a public hearing of the ACGME Committee on Requirements on the future of graduate medical education accreditation, including the possibility of a common accreditation system that accredits allopathic and osteopathic GME programs and preserves osteopathic access to current ACGME programs. The committee is reviewing hundreds of written comments and will make its final recommendations to the ACGME board. We will advise the osteopathic family about the board's decision as soon as we know the outcome.
Sept. 6, 2012 – The AOA-ACGME Joint Task Force met once again in continuing discussions to seek the withdrawal or amendment of proposed Common Program Requirements. These meetings have been mutually respectful and we are hopeful that we can preserve DOs’ access to ACGME programs when the ACGME Board meets to decide the issue on Sept. 28-29. AOA Trustee Boyd R. Buser, DO, will testify at the ACGME Board meeting.
July 9, 2012 – AOA Trustee Boyd R. Buser, DO, and John B. Bulger, DO, chair of the AOA Program and Trainee Review Council, led the AOA delegation at a Joint Task Force meeting with ACGME leadership at AOA headquarters in Chicago today as we continue to seek amendment or withdrawal of the proposed Common Program Requirements. Our Joint Task Force agreed to develop, and hopes to eventually form consensus, on potential scenarios of interaction between our two GME accreditation organizations that would preserve DOs’ access to ACGME programs.
May 25, 2012 – AOA leadership met with ACGME leadership at ACGME headquarters to continue our advocacy to withdraw or amend the proposed Common Program Requirements. A robust discussion focused on various scenarios of interaction between the two GME accreditation organizations. Both sides agreed that the meeting was productive and agreed to continue the discussion in early July. To allow the discussions between the AOA and ACGME to progress, the ACGME decided to delay its scheduled June vote on the proposed Common Program Requirements until September.
May 8, 2012 – A follow-up meeting between AOA and ACGME leadership has been tentatively scheduled for May 25. Additional updates will be available after the meeting.
March 27, 2012 – The AOA continued its advocacy to withdraw or amend the ACGME’s proposed Common Program Requirements by hosting ACGME leadership for a meeting at AOA headquarters. Officials from each organization discussed the ACGME’s Next Accreditation System (NAS) and how osteopathic and allopathic accreditation systems might better relate to each other.
Jan. 23, 2012 – The AOA and AACOM leadership met with ACGME leadership to discuss the proposed Common Program Requirements changes. ACGME leadership stated that they will follow their process of having comments submitted in November go to the Council of Review Chairs for consideration in February. That Council’s recommendations go forward to the Committee on Requirements in June. The Requirements Committee’s recommendations go to the ACGME Board of Directors in June or September. The AOA is working with the ACGME to make the proposed Common Program Requirements more palatable. We also urged the ACGME to send a letter to their program directors stating that the proposed requirements are just that – proposed. We hope this will reduce the number of withdrawn interviews.
The ACGME indicated that they would respond to student and resident concerns. Students and residents who have questions regarding the proposed Common Program Requirements should contact Marsha Miller, Associate Vice President of Resident Services, at (312) 755-5041 or mmiller@acgme.org. If you have a complaint about a withdrawn interview, you may also contact Marsha Miller or fill out a complaint form available on the ACGME website.
Note that there is no uniformity in ACGME standards regarding DO graduates. Some specialties allow it; others have an established policy against it. Just because a specialty says “no” does not necessarily mean they have violated their policies, but it is always good for you to check.
Please use these mechanisms to answer your questions or file complaints. ACGME leadership encourages their use. We continue to vigorously oppose the Common Program Requirement and are working with ACGME leadership to that effect.
Dec. 21, 2011 – AOA Executive Director John B. Crosby, JD, spoke with Thomas Nasca, MD, ACGME CEO, and came to an agreement to hold a meeting of the AOA-AACOM-ACGME leaderships to discuss the proposed policies. The leadership meeting is scheduled for the fourth week in January.
Nov. 23, 2011 – Comments formally submitted to ACGME from AOA and osteopathic specialty colleges.
View Comments Submitted by the AOA
View Comments Submitted by Specialty Colleges
Nov. 14, 2011 – The Daily Report informs all members about the proposed Common Program Requirements and the AOA’s actions to date.
Nov. 11, 2011 – The AOA sent e-alert messages to students, ACGME-trained DOs, OPTIs, state affiliates, and specialty colleges apprising them of the situation and asking them to contact MD program directors to support rescinding the proposed policies. Several specialty colleges are submitting comments directly through the ACGME comment process.
Nov. 10, 2011 – 21 osteopathic organizations sent a joint letter to Dr. Flynn, ACGME Board Chair, requesting withdrawal of the common program requirements and arrangement of meetings to work through the issues. No reply as of yet.
Nov. 10, 2011 – AOA Executive Director John Crosby, JD, and Stephen C. Shannon, DO, MPH, AACOM CEO and President, sent a letter to Timothy Flynn, MD, Chair of the ACGME Board of Directors, requesting withdrawal of the common program requirements and arrangements of meetings to work through the issues. No reply as of yet.
Oct. 10, 2011 – President Levine wrote to Dr. Nasca requesting a meeting to discuss faculty credentialing and the proposed common program requirements. Dr. Nasca responded by encouraging the submission of public comments and declined the request for a meeting.
Sept. 8, 2011 – AOA President Martin S. Levine, DO, wrote a letter to the ACGME Preventive Medicine Residency Review Committee requesting reconsideration of Section III, A, 1, that requires at least 12 months of clinical education in an ACGME residency program prior to appointment in the preventive medicine program. The letter asks the Preventive Medicine Residency Review Committee to accept 12 months of training in an AOA-approved postdoctoral training program as meeting the requirements of the new policy. No response was received.
July 28, 2011 – COPT Chair Michael I Opipari, DO, sent a letter to Thomas Nasca, MD, CEO of the ACGME, requesting cessation of the unusual application of the ACGME faculty credentialing policy in Radiology, General Surgery, and Psychiatry. No response was received