This week's e-Communication includes an update from the Physician Coalition for Accountability, a sneak peek of the Annual Educational Conference's virtual platform, an invitation to nominate colleagues for the 2022 ACGME Awards, and more.

Dr. Chinelo Okigbo is a PGY-3 Internal Medicine Chief Resident at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in New Jersey. She attended the 2019 ACGME Annual Educational Conference as part of the Back to Bedside initiative. As a resident and first-time Annual Educational Conference attendee, we asked her to share her impressions based on her experience.

In 2016, a Castlight Health report named Wilmington, North Carolina, the city with the highest abuse opioid abuse rate in the US. In response, Joseph Pino, MD, MHA, and members of the community sought to safely reduce the number of opioids prescribed, increase adherence to best practices in opioid prescribing, and reduce emergency department visits due to opioid overdose. His poster, presented at the 2019 ACGME Annual Educational Conference, reports the outcome of these multiple initiatives.

Beginning in 2021 and going forward, the Journal of Graduate Medical Education (JGME) will be a completely open-access journal.

As 2019 revs up, we thought it was a good time to look ahead at what the CLER Program has lined up for the coming year.

ACGME Manager, Employee Communications Emily Vasiliou wrote about her experience attending the ACGME's annual Awards Retreat for recipients of the Courage to Lead and Courage to Teach Awards for the first time in 10 years.

Lauren Wojnarowski, MA is the ACGME's Associate Director, Educational Projects, working in the Education Department's Educational Activities team. She is one of the planners of the Annual Educational Conference, and her team's role is to handle collection of educational content and logistics (besides AV) to produce the conference each year. We asked her to share some more about her role and what the conference experience is like for her behind the scenes.

If you’re joining us in Orlando next week, here’s a quick list of tips and information to know before you arrive! See you soon!

The ACGME has released a statement opposing the Presidential Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping issued September 22, 2020. The ACGME will continue to enforce and enhance its requirements to promote safe and inclusive clinical and work environments in institutions to ensure delivery of high-quality care to the patients and communities they serve.

“All of you are a part of the solution… if there is anything we can do to help you individually or institutionally, we are here to help. I want to thank you for taking on the responsibility to make these cultural changes. It will make this change happen.”

More than 3,000 attendees gathered for the CEO Address at the Annual Educational Conference. The message was loud and clear: it’s time for us to collaborate and make change.