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.

As a new academic year approaches, it is important to continue breaking the silence surrounding clinician burnout. During a highly emotional and personal panel discussion at the 2019 ACGME Annual Educational Conference in March, Dr. Nasca and colleagues from other national organizations in medicine discussed how burnout and self-doubt touched their lives. Influenced by those experiences and others throughout his career, Dr. Nasca has positioned the ACGME to help lead the charge to address physician well-being.

Results recently published from a national survey of more than 6,000 graduate medical education (GME) program and institutional coordinators, led by members of the ACGME Well-Being team and published in Academic Medicine, reveal concerning levels of depression, anxiety, and burnout—underscoring the urgent need for greater support and recognition of these essential professionals.

As part of its commitment to staff and community well-being, the ACGME is partnering with Hope For The Day, a Chicago-based non-profit organization dedicated to mental health support and suicide prevention.

The ACGME is proud to announce the 21 recipients of the third cycle of funding for Back to Bedside, a resident-led initiative to develop innovative strategies for finding deeper connections with patients, improving physician and patient well-being.

The ACGME has selected 30 resident/fellow teams to receive the fourth cycle of funding for Back to Bedside, a resident-led initiative to develop innovative strategies for finding deeper connections with patients, improving physician and patient well-being. 

Dink Jardine, MD, chair of the ACGME's Back to Bedside Advisory Work Group, recently participated in a discussion on NEJM Resident360 about physician well-being and wellness focusing on the resident and fellow experience.

This week's edition includes details on a Letter to the Community from ACGME President and Chief Executive Officer Thomas J. Nasca, MD, MACP regarding feedback gathered at listening sessions regarding ACGME processes during the COVID-19 pandemic; information on the Annual Educational Conference; updates to the ACGME's Physician Well-Being section of the website, and Review and Comment of Milestones 2.0 and ACGME Specialty-Specific Requirements.

This week's e-Communication includes information on the Clinical Learning Environment Review (CLER) Program's latest report, new AWARE resources for well-being, Milestones news, and more.

Dr. Hedy Wald of Boston Children’s Hospital-Harvard Medical School and the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University was a first-time ACGME Annual Educational Conference attendee as a result of acceptance of her poster, Faculty Videos – An Innovation within Residency Resilience Skills Programs at Two Institutions, for presentation at the Poster Session. An avid social networker, she introduced herself to us at the Twitter Board on Thursday morning before the pre-conferences, and we continued the conversation throughout and after the conference. We asked Dr. Wald about her experience as a poster presenter and first-time attendee of our conference.