ACGME Instituting New Mandatory Medical, Parental and Caregiver Leave Requirements

Organizations that oversee doctor training (such as ABMS)¹ And ACGME²Recently, we have shown a new initiative to support the overall development of physicians by adopting new mandatory leave requirements for residents (residents and fellows).

These changes occur when the United States is reacting to the post-pandemic work vision after COVID-19. The days when personal identities and commitments are expected to fall into the door of the workplace are gone. Rather, employers are required to look at their employees as a whole, with conflicting personal and professional priorities. In medicine, trainee and fellowship training programs find similar needs to address the trainee’s personal life, especially in family planning and wellness. Years of residency and fellowship clash with years of major family development. Recognizing this, ABMS and ACGME have adopted new minimum vacation requirements to standardize vacation rights for medical, parent and caregivers throughout the national training program.

Specifically, last year, ABMS adopted a new vacation policy.³ We explicitly seek a program to provide medical, parental and caregiver leave for all residents / fellows. Currently, from 1 July 2022, ACGME will provide all Residents / Fellows with 6 weeks of paid leave for medical, parent and caregiver leave for all ACGME accredited programs. It is obligatory. The first day of the program’s individual.^Four

The new requirements apply to the sponsoring body (the body that manages the ACGME accreditation program) and are required to take important steps to comply with the requirements of the new core body before July 1, 2022. .. ACGME recently made it clear that the ACGME Institutional Review Board will not take enforcement action against sponsoring bodies related to the new requirements until after 1 July 2023. However, the requirement came into effect on July 1, 2022, and it is time for the sponsoring agency. Create and implement a new vacation policy to adapt your existing vacation framework to your new requirements.

The following checklist describes the activities that sponsors should now consider to ensure that their education program complies with ACGME accreditation requirements.

• Recruitment materials: Make sure that the resident / fellow interview process includes information about vacations and vacation institutional policies. This includes paid benefits during such vacations.

• Appointment / Employment Contract: Modify all appointment and employment contracts (and templates associated with future contracts) with Residents / Fellows to describe new medical, parent, and caregiver vacation policies.

• Institutional policy: Adopt institutional policies and procedures that explain new leave rights and how to apply for leave. (This may be a new policy or a modification of an existing policy, but clarify when the vacation eligibility will occur, address an additional week of paid leave during the applicable year, and be on vacation. Certain insurance contracts must be clearly defined and these rights are aligned and properly integrated with other vacation policies, such as federal government-required family and FMLA-based medical leave rights. It is also important to make sure that it is done.)

• GMEC monitoring: The sponsoring agency, the Graduate School of Medicine Board of Education (“GMEC”), is responsible for overseeing vacation policies and ensures that all institutional policies that manage vacations and vacations (including this new vacation requirement) are actually reviewed annually. increase. Institutions may need to revise policies and processes to ensure that this requirement is met.

• Resident / Fellow Program Progress: Each ACGME accreditation program will provide residents / fellows with information about the impact of long vacations on the completion of the program and their eligibility to participate in accreditation committee exams.

• Supporting happiness: Each ACGME accreditation program allocates organizational resources to make resources available to residents / fellows to support overall well-being and education and to minimize the impact of leave on clinical agenda. Try to adopt the process.

¹ American Board of Medical Specialties (“ABMS”)

² Graduate School Medical Education Accreditation Council (“ACGME”)

³ American Board of Medical Specialties Policy on Parents, Caregivers, and Medical Leave During Training

^Four ACGME institutional requirements