The Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC), together with the Associate Dean of Graduate Medical Education/Designated Institutional Official (DIO), is responsible for the oversight of all Tulane resident/ fellow programs, and of the quality of the learning and working environment at all participating sites. As part of its mission to monitor all aspects of residency education, the GMEC regularly conducts special reviews of Tulane's residency and fellowship education programs to assess each program's compliance with ACGME requirements.
GMEC members include the program directors of Tulane’s core residency programs (Internal Medicine, Surgery, OB/GYN, Pediatrics, and Psychiatry), and program directors representing the surgical and medical subspecialty training programs, the internal medicine fellowships, and the hospital-based training programs. The Committee also includes 2-6 members of the Tulane Resident/Fellow Congress, and two program coordinators. A quality improvement/safety officer or his or her designee from clinical partners Tulane Hospital, the VA Hospital, and the University Medical Center/LCMC also serve on the GMEC. The DIO and Assistant DIO preside as Chair and Vice Chair, respectively, of the Committee, which is staffed by the Senior Director of Graduate Medical Education.
The GMEC has five subcommittees that meet at least quarterly to carry out portions of the GMEC’s responsibilities: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), Accreditation, Professionalism, Wellness, and Faculty Development.
The Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Subcommittee was formed to enhance the educational environment for residents/fellows and to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion throughout the ACGME and non-ACGME-sponsored programs. The Subcommittee is charged with assessing the current state of EDI in Tulane’s residency and fellowship programs, including ensuring that each program has a current EDI statement, that implicit bias training is provided annually in each training program, and to assist with building pipelines for the recruitment of underrepresented medical students to medical school and graduate medical education training programs.
The Accreditation Subcommittee ensures GMEC oversight of accreditation requirements for GME residency and fellowship programs. In coordination with the Office of Graduate Medical Education, the Subcommittee is charged to identify program(s) to be subject to Special Review according to GMEC protocol that sets out criteria for recognizing program underperformance or areas of concern, to identify issues/areas of concern in the Annual Program Evaluations, make recommendations for improvement, and provide a quarterly update to the GMEC
The Professionalism Subcommittee plays a role in addressing day-to-day professionalism issues residents experience at the School of Medicine and at clinical sites, including oversight of how program directors (PD), Chairs, and faculty respond to reported incidents at a department level, and how clinical sites address issues. The Subcommittee focuses on a global view of overall program culture and coordination with the School’s Professionalism/Environment of Learning Program and clinical departments to improve the educational environment for trainees and faculty.
The Faculty Development Subcommittee collaborates with the Office of Graduate Medical Education to provide training to program directors on GME and ACGME processes and procedure. This committee also creates and organizes opportunities for ongoing faculty development for all program directors, associate program directors, and core program faculty as needed or requested.
| Calendar of GME Faculty Development Programs | |
|---|---|
| 2024 | |
| April |
Generational Differences in Communication: Kara Sawarynski, PhD and Stefanie Attardi, PhD |
| February |
How to Deal with Difficult Patients/People and Look Forward to It!: Steve Shama, MD |
| 2023 | |
| June |
AHME Webinar: Survey Results Are In - Now What?!: Association for Hospital Medical Education |
| May |
GME Hurricane Preparedness |
| April |
Adverse Event Analysis: Andrea Murina, MD |
| March |
Conflict Resolution: Wendy Smith, Office of Human Resources |
| February
|
MedHub Mystery: Linzi Conners and Helen Weisler |
| January |
Navigating the 2023 ACGME Survey: Association for Hospital Medical Education: Grievance Process Review: Howard Boyd, Esq., Sarah Hunter, Esq., Illiana Kwaske, PhD Time Management- Tulane University Leadership Institute: Javier Pineda |
The Wellness Subcommittee ensures that the GMEC provides oversight for programming and services related to resident and fellow wellbeing and monitors the effectiveness of those services. The Subcommittee promotes resilience and well-being initiatives in the Tulane GME community, with particular focus on resources and activities for residents and fellows.
