AAIM offers a variety of resources to improve your programs. Learn more about "best practice" resources and tools, guidelines and positions, curricular resources, and other features for internal medicine faculty and staff.
AAIM Provides Guidance for 2020-2021 Fellowship Application Season
June 2020—AAIM represents the entire continuum of medical education, from medical student to practicing physician; as key stakeholders in learner transition, the Alliance has provided guidance for the 2020-2021 fellowship application cycle and interview season.
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AAIM Recommends Uniform July 1 Fellowship Start Date
June 2020—Based on CMS funding support of residents and backed by AAIM and subspecialty organizations in internal medicine, residents are not available to begin fellowship activities prior to July 1. However, due to COVID-19, some fellowships are now instructing residents to arrive two weeks prior to orientation so that they may quarantine in their new location. This additional requirement would place unwarranted pressure on programs and trainees alike.
The Alliance encourages fellowship programs to consider what aspects of the onboarding process can be conducted virtually. Critical orientation activities scheduled prior to July 1 can be pre-recorded or executed using virtual platforms, provided that they are administered independent of resident required duty hours at their current institution. AAIM developed a letter template to notify fellowship program directors about the repercussions; programs should enhance this correspondence by articulating the pandemic’s impact on their particular institution and learners as well as support the use of virtual platforms instead of in-person orientation.
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AAIM Recommendations for the 2020-2021 Internal Medicine Residency Application Cycle in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
June 2020—AAIM represents the entire continuum of medical education, from medical student to practicing physician; as key stakeholders in learner transition, the Alliance has provided guidance for the 2020-2021 residency application cycle and interview season. The recommendations also include template documents for personalization and use.
Read the guidance and sample templates
Guidelines for a Standardized Fellowship Letter of Recommendation
June 2020—AAIM has endorsed standards for the program director letter of recommendation (LOR) for fellowship applicants. Published in the May 2017 issue of The American Journal of Medicine, these guidelines seek to improve reliability and efficiency through standardization, while continuing to allow advocacy and discussion of applicant characteristics and reflect efforts to overcome challenges of the current LOR involving variation in terminology, length, interpretation, and meaningful comparison.
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AAIM Releases Interview and Post-Interview Communication Guidelines for GME IM
The Alliance has adopted the guidelines for communication related to graduate medical education recruitment in internal medicine. The three main components include a program statement, annual training, and structured initial communication with applications. Developed by a work group with representation from ASP Council, APDIM Council, and the AAIM Medical Student to Resident Interface Committee, these guidelines seek to overcome current challenges with inappropriate communication, transparency, and trust in internal medicine recruitment, as noted in recent studies.
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APDIM Council Develops Time Away from Training FAQ
In its continuing goal to reduce common sources of stress for program directors, APDIM has collaborated with ABIM to develop a "frequently asked questions" document that will help to ensure that trainees who require extended time away have appropriate training and stay with ABIM policies. APDIM Council members worked closely with ABIM leaders to clarify answers to common questions that arise when trying to determine whether trainees will require an extension of their training time, while the APDIM Survey Committee polled program directors to determine how their understanding of ABIM policy aligns with the provided clarifications.
The downloadable FAQ document incorporates a few case vignettes to allow practice in applying the principles while the answer key for the 2019 APDIM Spring Survey section provides reinforcment to understanding the principles.
Review the FAQs
AAIM Introduces Primary Care Track Toolkit
The AAIM Primary Care Track Toolkit is a practical evidence-based curriculum for medical educators interested in starting or enhancing primary care tracks in their residency programs.
Access Toolkit
Alliance Invited to Comment on ABIM Procedural Competency Requirements
The ABIM Internal Medicine Board recently invited AAIM to provide its feedback about procedural competency as a complement to ACGME's upcoming efforts to update the training requirements for accredited residency programs; ABIM sets duration of training and procedural requirements for internal medicine certification.
The Alliance provided a response by the September 6, 2018 deadline.
ABIM Response
AAIM Guidelines for Residency Interview Scheduling
The Alliance strongly urges all programs to extend interview invitations in a manner that preserves and protects the educational value of the fourth year and allows students to fully participate in educational activities without the fear of missing interview invitations.
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FAQs About the ACGME Resident Survey for Program Directors
The ACGME Resident Survey is an annual survey required as one of several tools used by the Review Committee (RC) to monitor programs for accreditation. The 2017 APDIM Spring Survey identified stress and pressure on program directors attributable to the annual resident survey. The stress is related to the implications of the survey for accreditation, vague and confusing language for trainees, and the pressure to make changes in their program to improve the survey. We share answers to program directors' frequently asked questions (FAQs) to help address these important concerns.
APDIM is also pleased to provide a customizable slideset, "Toolkit to Better Understand the ACGME Resident Survey," that residency leaders can use to communicate with residents and fellows to help them better understand the specific language, requirements, and intent of the ACGME Resident Survey. This toolkit, which has been vetted by ACGME for accuracy, can be downloaded and modified for use in your training program with your residents and fellows.
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AAIM and ACE Collaboration on CMS Ruling Regarding Medical Student Documentation
On February 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a revision to its medicare manual, which allows teaching physicians to utilize student documentation for billable services provided that the attending verifies the student’s notes. The teaching physician must either personally perform or re-perform the physical exam and medical decision-making but does not need to re-document.
AAIM, led chiefly by CDIM, worked with stakeholders on the Internal Medicine Education Advisory Board (IMEAB) to advocate for this change. Resources clarifying the new policy and processes developed by member institutions to meet the new conditions were shared within the AAIM community.
The Alliance for Clinical Education (ACE) established a resources page dedicated to the CMS guidelines on student documentation. ACE acquiesced to be the central repository of sources, and the AAIM has provided them with additional references.
AAIM trusts that this collaboration with ACE will benefit the healthcare community. ACE CMS guidelines resources page
Verification of Graduate Medical Education Training
In an effort to improve and streamline the credentialing process, APDIM has provided feedback and clarification for the standardized “Verification of Graduate Medical Education Training” (VGMET) to ensure that all program directors are providing similar information to state medical boards.
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