PREAMBLE
The Institutional Requirements of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) charge the Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC) with assuring that each residency program establishes and implements formal written criteria and processes for the evaluation and promotion of residents in compliance with both the Institutional and relevant Program Requirements.


POLICY
Evaluation: Each residency program must establish formal written criteria and processes for the evaluation of residents. These policies are to be included in the appropriate sections of the program’s Policies and Procedures Binder. The GMEC as part of the annual program review shall review the criteria, processes and forms. All programs should have a standardized form for use in the evaluation of the residents. This form must be included in the Policies and Procedures Binder. It is suggested that each program use this form to record the assessment of intellectual abilities, clinical skills, interpersonal skills, and the development of professional attitudes consistent with being a physician. Humanistic qualities such as integrity, respect, compassion, professional responsibility, sensitivity to the patient's needs for comfort and encouragement, and an appropriate professional attitude and behavior toward colleagues should be evaluated. Communication skills should be evaluated and deficiencies documented and corrected to comply with one requirement of the core curriculum components. The program should also evaluate the resident’s technical proficiency. Competency in program-specific procedures should be documented in logbooks and/or databases.

Each program is expected to comply with their specific Program Requirements regarding resident evaluation. In general, written evaluation of each resident's knowledge, skills, professional growth, and performance, using appropriate criteria and procedures, must be accomplished at least semiannually and must be communicated to and discussed with the resident in a timely manner. Permanent records of the evaluation and counseling process for each resident must be maintained for each resident. Such records must be available in the resident's file and must be accessible to the resident and other authorized personnel.

Final Evaluation: The program director must prepare a final written evaluation for residents completing the program. This final comprehensive evaluation should include an assessment of the resident’s performance throughout the program and in the final months. It is recommended that the exact language cited in the program requirements be used in the final evaluation, e.g. “the resident has demonstrated sufficient professional ability to practice competently and independently.”

Promotion: PGY1 trainees must take Step 3 of the United States Medical Licensing Exam in order to successfully complete the intern year.

Each residency program must establish formal written criteria and processes for the promotion of residents. The GMEC as part of the annual program review shall review the criteria and processes. No resident shall be promoted to a higher level of responsibility unless there is documented evidence of satisfactory progressive scholarship and professional growth. The evaluation processes of the program shall provide an assessment of the resident’s ability to assume progressively increasing responsibility according to his or her level of education and experience.

Adopted Aug. 2000; Reviewed July 2002, Aug. 2004; Revised Sept. 2007

< Back to Policies & Procedures Page