An Analysis of Graduate Medical Education Program Coordinator Job Descriptions

Program coordinators play a critical role in managing the daily operations of graduate medical education programs. While the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Common Program Requirements formally define expectations for the role, job descriptions vary widely. This variability may affect role clarity, professional development, and the extent to which program coordinator responsibilities are consistently defined and supported across programs.

To examine how publicly posted program coordinator job descriptions align with ACGME-defined responsibilities and assess whether institutional characteristics and required qualifications are associated with the inclusion of those responsibilities.

Job descriptions were collected from sponsoring institutions across 6 Midwestern states. A 9-domain framework, derived from the ACGME Common Program Requirements, was used to assess the presence of expected program coordinator responsibilities. Descriptive statistics summarized qualifications, settings, and alignment with ACGME-defined responsibilities. Chi-square tests compared academic-affiliated institutions with other institutions by education requirements and inclusion of all ACGME-defined responsibilities.

Of 77 job descriptions analyzed, 62.3% (48 of 77) were from academic-affiliated institutions. Most (85.7%, 66 of 77) were full time, and 42.9% (33 of 77) required a bachelor's degree. Job titles varied, with 36 distinct titles. More than half (54.5%, 42 of 77) included 5 to 8 ACGME-defined responsibilities, while 31.2% (24 of 77) covered all 9. Personnel management and program administration were most frequent, while leadership and operations management were least frequent.

More than half of the reviewed job descriptions included 5 to 8 of the 9 ACGME-defined responsibilities, with wide variation in job titles and required applicant qualifications.