1. Osteopathic Family Medicine Medical Education Status During the Single Accreditation System Transition Julie Petersen, DO, David Grolling, Winston Liaw, MD, MPH, Andrew Bazemore, MD, MPH
Introduction
Principal Findings
Results
In 2014, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and American Osteopathic Association (AOA) announced plans to transition from two separate GME accreditation bodies into a Single Accreditation System (SAS) under the ACGME. Given that AOA programs are disproportionately located in rural and community-based settings, this transition offers an expansion of decentralized GME opportunities for MD trainees, an important goal for rural health and primary care workforce development.
There were 165 non-dually accredited AOA family medicine programs that need to transition to ACGME accreditation to remain open.
149 (91%) percent of AOA-only programs had yet to receive ACGME accreditation.
31 (91%) of rural programs were unaccredited
7 (70%) large programs have not received accreditation, while 90% of x-small programs (<4 res/year) lack accreditation
1870 (91)% of GME slots are unaccredited
There were 97 dually-accredited osteopathic family medicine programs prior to initiated the SAS transition
These programs already had both ACGME and AOA accreditation
ACGME Accreditation Status of Non-Dually Accredited AOA Family Medicine Programs, as of April 11, 2017
Objective
Determine the progress of osteopathic family medicine residencies’ transition to ACGME accreditation
Compare accreditation status of rural AOA programs to all AOA programs.
Understand variation in accreditation status by program size
Conclusions
ACGME Accreditation Status of AOA FM Programs by Program Size
ACGME Accreditation Status of AOA FM Programs by Rurality
The majority of osteopathic programs have not initiated the ACGME’s process for accreditation.
The majority of available family medicine GME slots accredited by the AOA have not initiated the SAS transition process.
Rural and smaller programs are lagging behind urban and larger programs in the accreditation process, likely reflecting greater barriers to accreditation.
Study Design
Using the AOA Opportunities database and ACGME public records, the ACGME accreditation status of all AOA-accredited programs was determined as of April 11, 2017.
The accreditation status was also examined by rurality (determined by RUCC ≥ 4) and program size.
The accreditation status of AOA-approved family medicine GME slots was determined.
Policy Relevance
The SAS transition offers expanded rural and decentralized GME options for all ACGME residents.
Family Medicine GME stands to lose up to 1870 accredited positions if AOA programs are not supported through the SAS transition, a serious problem for primary care workforce production.
These programs may require support to prevent a net loss of primary care GME slots.
ACGME Accreditation Status of Non-dually Accredited AOA Family Med GME Slots
Acknowledgements: Thanks to the AOA and McKenya McRae for their collaboration on this project.