Initiatives

The ACGME leads and participates in activities that further its mission to improve health care, population health, and the health and well-being of those in the graduate medical education (GME) community.

ACGME Awards

The ACGME recognizes notable institutions, program directors, designated institutional officials, residents, and coordinators for their outstanding work and contributions to graduate medical education through its Awards Program. The Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award is specifically for program directors, while the GME Institutional Coordinator Excellence Award and Debra L. Dooley GME Program Coordinator Excellence Award acknowledge coordinators. Nominations are accepted in the spring. Winners are announced in the fall, and are honored at the Annual Educational Conference.

Back to Bedside

The Back to Bedside initiative is designed to empower residents and fellows to develop transformative projects that foster meaning and joy in work and allow them to engage on a deeper level with what is at the heart of medicine: their patients. Supported by the ACGME, the initiative provides a competitive funding opportunity for resident- and/or fellow-led teams to innovate and create a learning collaborative. Program directors and coordinators are encouraged to share information about Back to Bedside with their residents/fellows, and to encourage participation in this grant program.

Clinical Learning Environment Review (CLER) Program

The CLER Program is designed to provide clinical settings affiliated with ACGME-accredited institutions with periodic feedback that addresses six Focus Areas. The feedback is designed to improve how clinical sites engage resident and fellow physicians in learning to provide safe, high-quality patient care. While having regular CLER Program site visits is a requirement of accreditation, the results of those visits have no impact on accreditation decisions.

Physician Well-Being

The ACGME’s Physician Well-Being initiative has expanded in recent years within the work of the organization and through partnerships in the medical community, with the ultimate goal of reducing burnout and helping physicians rediscover joy and meaning in work. The ACGME provides tools, resources, and educational opportunities to support the elements in Section VI of the ACGME’s Common Program Requirements.

Pursing Excellence in Clinical Learning Environments

Pursuing Excellence is a four-year initiative designed to promote transformative improvement within the clinical learning environments of ACGME-accredited Sponsoring Institutions in which resident and fellow physicians pursue their formal clinical training in a specialty or subspecialty. Participation in this initiative is determined through an application and grant award process, and has no impact on accreditation or recognition status.