Effective July 1, 2017 the ACGME rolled out its major revision of Section VI of the Common Program Requirements. According to Thomas Nasca, MD, Executive Director for the ACGME, “These revisions emphasize that medical education is professional education. The emphasis is being placed on systems of and experiences in team care, patient safety, and quality of care as well as a physician well-being.“ The public expects resident physicians to emulate professional values and behaviors while at the same time learning in a safe environment with supervision that is appropriate to their skill level.
The new requirements related to patient safety, quality improvement, and well-being have been instituted which require both program and institutional resources to comply. These new areas will not be subject to citations until July 1, 2019. However, several analogous common requirements in these areas along with work environment hours, supervision and accountability, professionalism, fatigue mitigation, and transitions in care are subject to citations effective July 1, 2017.
In order to comply with these standards, the LSU Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC) has tasked a subcommittee of members and participating sites administrators to develop standards and protocols that ensure compliance at the sponsoring institution and participating sites. The committee offers the opportunity for every training program to bring ideas and initiatives to the forefront for both the wellness of physicians and the safety of patient care.
A list of the revised requirements and timeline are available at the GME Knowledge base on the Accreditation page https://lsugme.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ACGME/overview (under the Specific ACGME Program Requirements heading).