ACGME core competencies: helpful information for psychologists

The mission of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) is to improve graduate medical education in order to ultimately improve the quality of healthcare. To meet this mission the ACGME has firmly established a competency based focus for resident education. The current manuscript describes the six general ACGME competencies of Patient Care, Medical Knowledge, Practice-based Learning and Improvement, Interpersonal and Communication Skills, Professionalism and Systems-based Practice. Then, a brief description of efforts by the institution of the authors to create best practice models for competency based curriculums and outcomes is provided. Specific focus is on strategies used within the psychiatry residency and ways a Graduate Psychology Education grant fostered interdisciplinary training between psychology and family medicine that enhanced the development of competencies for both disciplines. The paper also comments on the training experiences and attitudes that can prepare psychologists to assist physician colleagues in meeting competencies.