Assessing Laboratory Administration Instruction As Part Of An Outcomes Based Learning Program For Pathology Residents In ACGME Accredited Programs In The United States

Abstract

In the 1990's the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) recognized a need to fully integrate learning outcomes assessment into the accreditation process for resident physician training programs. ACGME leaders had concluded that by increasing emphasis on curricular development and by evaluating student performance through measurement of learning outcomes, the accreditation process would become a more reliable predictor of the residency program's success. In 1994 the ACGME created an initiative that would transform the current accreditation model of minimum threshold requirements towards a student performance based model of improved learning outcomes based on curricular development. responsible for the accreditation of over 8037 physician residency training programs in the United States. One hundred fifty of these programs provide training in the specialty of pathology and its anatomic and clinical sub-disciplines (AMA , 2007). Concurrent with the beginning of the ACGME Outcomes Project (1994) , four major pathology education groups in North America entered into a collaboration to improve the quality of pathology resident training. Their focus encompassed improvements in both clinical and managerial skills . The findings of this joint study culminated in the publishing of the Graylyn Conference Report in 1995 (Smith et al., 2006). One of the major recommendations in the report was that resident training in clinical laboratory administration should be improved. National leaders in pathology education felt that these changes were necessary to accommodate the evolving role of the pathologist as a clinical and administrative leader in a rapidly changing health care delivery setting. Prior to this current investigation, no studies appear to exist that provide an in-depth analysis of the perceptions of the residency directors about the need of expanded training in laboratory administration. This quantitative study has evaluated the amount of time and priority given to managerial training, the inclusion of administration topics in the curriculum and the extent of learning outcomes assessment in administration that residency program directors believe are being linked to successful professional performance in recent graduates .