Residency program solutions: making a difference in quality residency education

Residency Program Solutions (RPS) consultants assist family medicine residency programs in solving issues perceived as limiting quality resident education. Residencies ask RPS to assist in preparing for accreditation site visits by the Residency Review Committee-Family Medicine (RC-FM). The RPS Criteria for Excellence in Family Medicine Education (RPS Criteria) may have influenced the accreditation standards of the RC-FM. RPS consultations also may affect accreditation visit cycle length and number of RC-FM citations.

The authors reviewed the RC-FM Program Requirements for Family Medicine Residency Education and the RPS Criteria from 1978 to 2007, comparing statements between the two documents for "nearly verbatim" and equivalent "must" or "should" requirements. The average number of citations and cycle length for programs seeking a Comprehensive Accreditation Program (CAP) Consultation from 2004--2010 were compared to cohort programs evaluated at the same RC-FM meeting using an independent samples t test.

The strongest relationship between the RC-FM requirements and the RPS criteria occurred in 1983--1984. Nine "nearly verbatim" statements, 15 "must-should" or "must-must" statements, and 11 "should-should" statements existed. Over time, additional concurrences between organizational statements occurred. Residency programs with CAP consultations benefited significantly by both a decrease in number of citations and an increase in the length of accreditation cycle.

The RPS Criteria have positively impacted iterations of RC-FM requirements. Family medicine residency programs concerned about successful accreditation by the RC-FM will likely benefit from RPS CAP consultations by increased length of accreditation cycle and/or a decreased number of citations.