A recent study published in JAMA Surgery revealed that “ACGME Milestone ratings of “graduating vascular surgeons may be predictive of those surgeons’ risk-adjusted patient outcomes in their early career following a common vascular operation.”

The member organizations of the Coalition for Physician Accountability have released the following statement in support of strengthened efforts that must be in place to safeguard the public, and to protect our nation’s health care workforce.

To provide clarity for trainees and programs during this extraordinary time, the ABMS and ACGME offer the following statement of joint principles and will continue to address ongoing developments.

As the nation and world face the evolving COVID-19 (SARS COV2) crisis, the ACGME has granted a significant degree of flexibility to accredited Sponsoring Institutions and programs to realign their resident and fellow workforce to meet the increased clinical demands created by the pandemic. This flexibility with expectations is provided consistent with the ACGME’s commitment to patient safety and resident/fellow safety.

As a resource to the graduate medical education community, the ACGME is sharing the following statement from the AOA regarding COVID-19.

The ACGME recognizes and honors the extraordinary courage and commitment of those  working on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic to care for Americans in need, despite the toll it takes on their personal well-being.

In one of the final sessions at the 2018 Annual Educational Conference on Sunday, March 4, a panel of ACGME executives, deans, a patient safety expert, and a resident spoke to the crowd about how medicine is changing and graduate medical education may need to evolve to serve patients well into the 21^st century.

ACGME President and CEO Dr. Nasca kicked off his Saturday morning session at the Annual Educational Conference with some “non-rhetorical” questions: Can anyone predict what the health care system will look like in 2035? Can anyone predict how long your residents will practice? 40 years?

After stumping the room, he went on to explain that it is our job is to prepare residents to practice in the future—not to arm them with practices, skills, and knowledge of the present. We want our residents to be prepared not just for 2018 but for 2035—and beyond.

Jamie Dow, EdM, is assistant director for resident education and training at the University of Florida. Her poster, Mindfulness in Neurosurgery: Improving Neurosurgeon Wellness in Training and Beyond (with co-authors W. Christopher Fox, MD, Associate Program Director, University of Florida, and Gregory Murad, MD, Program Director, University of Florida), looked at wellness in neurosurgery, which Dow says “has traditionally been considered an oxymoron.” However, as priorities among neurological surgery residents evolve and the effects of physician burnout are increasingly recognized across specialties, life balance and overall well-being have become areas of emphasis and an opportunity for program improvement.