Compact Between Resident Physicians and Their Teachers (PDF - 5 pages, 80 KB)

Washington, D.C., November 3, 2005 - A new Compact Between Resident Physicians and Their Teachers, which articulates the principles underlying the education of U.S. residents, was announced today by the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges). Twenty-one medical education organizations have endorsed the compact, including the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (pending ACGME board approval), the American Board of Medical Specialties, the Council of Medical Specialty Societies, and the National Board of Medical Examiners. Numerous other stakeholders in graduate medical education (GME) are expected to lend their support to the compact in the coming weeks.

The AAMC initiated the development of the compact to re-focus attention on the primary goal of U.S. residency training-physician education-following the ACGME's imposition of restrictions on resident duty hours in 2003. The compact, which will be sent to all residency programs directors and their institutional sponsors this month, articulates the three core tenets of graduate medical education:

• Residents are, first and foremost, learners
• Residents must learn in clinical settings that embody the highest standards of medical practice and patient safety
• Residents' well being must be a high priority.

In addition, the document outlines 10 commitments for faculty who participate in residency training and 10 commitments for residents that foster academic excellence, exemplary professionalism, and safe, high quality patient care throughout the educational process.

"Our hope is that this compact will serve as a model agreement between residents and their teachers to clarify each group's expectations, promote more open communication and, most importantly, re-energize the national commitment to the primary educational mission of training tomorrow's doctors," said AAMC President Jordan J. Cohen, M.D.

During the compact's development process, the AAMC invited the broader GME stakeholder community to comment and offer suggestions on how faculty and residents could use the final document. One key recommendation was to encourage the nation's more than 8,000 residency programs to tailor the compact to their individual educational and program circumstances. It was also suggested that the compact be used in new resident orientation, in resident and faculty evaluations, and as part of residency "professionalism" ceremonies.

A PDF file of the AAMC's new Compact Between Resident Physicians and Their Teachers is attached, along with a list of endorsing organizations. Additional information about the compact can be found at www.aamc.org/residentcompact.

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The Association of American Medical Colleges is a not-for-profit association representing all 129 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 68 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and 94 academic and scientific societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC represents 109,000 faculty members, 67,000 medical students, and 104,000 resident physicians. Additional information about the AAMC and U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals is available at www.aamc.org/newsroom.

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