Commentary: trust, accountability, and other common denominators in modernizing medical training

Modernization of specialist training in a competency-based framework is not unique to the United States. In the following commentary, the authors explore the current environment within which graduate medical education (GME) in the United States operates, using the perspective framework developed by Wallenburg and colleagues from the Netherlands: the accountability perspective, the educational perspective, the work-life balance perspective, and the trust-based perspective. In this exploration, they identify factors within and beyond the medical profession that shape GME in the United States and influence the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the professional self-regulatory body charged with setting standards and assessing compliance for allopathic GME in the United States. The authors conclude that the modernization of medical education examined by Wallenburg and colleagues must be approached with the needs of future trainees and patients in mind.