Program Director’s Corner – April 2018
We Started Our Self-Study! Gaaah!
Dr. Richard Auchus
rauchus@med.umich.edu
Program Director
University of Michigan
We started our Self-Study! Gaaah! Not that this is the “right” or “only” way to do it, but here is our plan:
First, we formed a committee of 6 faculty members, spanning junior to senior and including some recent graduates of the program. We had our first meeting recently to discuss the purpose and process, and we will meet monthly until the report is due in October. We decided to deviate slightly from the ACGME blueprint; we are starting with each member completing a SWOT analysis independently. Based on his/her analysis, we will each formulate 2 Aims. Our Program Coordinator will collate the responses and distribute a composite analysis back to the group. At our second meeting, we will review the composite analyses and proposed Aims and decide on about 5 Aims to use moving forward. This is basically Phase I.
In Phase II, we will present the Aims to the fellows at one of our monthly meetings. We will also present the Aims at our June faculty meeting. In parallel, we will poll the clinic staff and some other stakeholders, such as our endocrine surgeons and primary care physicians. This next phase will allow adequate vetting of the Aims and input from all stakeholders. By the July meeting, we will have a finalized SWOT analysis and Aims.
In Phase III, we will prepare our report with specific plans to achieving each of the Aims. The report will detail the rationale for our goals, the approach to each Aim, the parameters that we will use to gauge success, and the prioritization of the Aims. In the time between the report and the ACGME visit, we will begin the implementation and evaluation of the 2 or 3 top priority Aims in preparation for the review.
We are taking this opportunity to evaluate if we are keeping pace with the changing landscape of endocrinology science and clinical practice today as well as the anticipated changes in the near future. While many traditional aspects of endocrinology training will continue similar to past years, we will consider modifications to the curriculum, which will best prepare fellows to meet the demands of contemporary practice, teaching, and research in endocrinology.
The ACGME provides a toolkit with forms to help you generate the SWOT analysis, Aims, and other aspects of the Self-Study:
http://www.acgme.org/What-We-Do/Accreditation/Self-Study
No need to re-invent the wheel everyone, just shamelessly start with the blueprint and modify as you see fit. I welcome feedback from other PDs who have started and strategies that have been successful.
For those of you who write NIH grant proposals, does this sound familiar?