Blog Archive

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

ACGME (Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education)/ IMG





ACGME (Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education)/ IMG
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hL3mwmLdMZE

Image result for maze images free     The ACGME, via CEO Thomas Nasca MD, does not support the legislation enacted in Missouri.  It deals with using unmatched doctors in underserved rural areas, supervised by a licensed physician within a 50 mile radius.  The doctors could work and reapply for a residency, while performing meaningful and necessary work until the number of residencies catches up with the deficit.  Dr. Nasca bases this belief on patient safety and quality concerns.(1)  He further states that once an unmatched doctor has gone through 2 application cycles, he/she will probably never get trained.  They will remain untrained for the duration of their career.  Dr. Nasca also infers that unmatched international medical graduates are not as smart as US grads, or they would have been accepted into a US medical school.  It sounds like Dr. Nasca is not too worried about unmatched IMGs (International Medical Graduates)!

 I can certainly see the points Dr. Nasca makes about patient safety and quality.  Yet, residency also deals with training “new doctors” under a supervisory set of physicians, albeit closer in proximity.

 However, I have a different opinion about the qualifications of the IMGs.  Two of my own children have graduated from medical schools, one a US grad and one an IMG.  As an educator and mother, I would categorize the child who went to a US medical school as “system smart”, and the one who went to an IMG as “intellectually smart”.

  The US grad decided to go to medical school 2 years after graduating from college in “Broadcast Journalism”, with an “A” average.  The IMG attended the same, very competitive university (97% of incoming freshman have an academic scholarship), intending to go to medical school from the beginning, and majored in “Cell Science/Microbiology”, obtaining a “B” average.  The US grad attended a local less competitive university for pre-med classes and got an “A” average.  The IMG grad took pre-med classes, along with a competitive pre-med science major, while at the highly competitive university, getting a “B” average.

 The US grad was accepted “Early Decision” into a medical school with 1 application.  The IMG med student was only accepted into an international med school.  Two graduates, fairly comparable intellectually, one worked “smarter” in applying for medical school, while the other majored in a subject intended to “help” in Medicine.  It pays to know the system before you begin!

 Yes, this story deals with only 2 medical students. There is a whole “continuum” of ability and IQ in MDs, some are “book smart” and some are “system smart”.  Probably all applicants wished to have gone to a US medical school.  They would not have had to deal with this residency deficit, waited heavily against IMGs.  In spite of all these points, all doctors applying through NRMP have PASSED ALL THE REQUIREMENTS!  Why shouldn’t they be allowed to complete the last step of their training!

 As CEO and spokesperson for the ACGME, I believe Dr. Nasca has a responsibility to suggest a workable solution to this residency dilemma.  Not only is a solution warranted, but leadership in this role of CEO for such a vital organization in medical education is warranted!  If such leadership had taken charge of this travesty, we would not be talking about each state enacting its own legislation.  We would not be dealing with the utter waste of human time, talent, and money.  The AMA has “adopted” a similar stance, based on Dr. Nasca’s recommendation.  So 2 of the most powerful agencies dealing with healthcare in the US are leaving it up to others to fix this bureaucratic nightmare!