Residency

TAGME update

Residency Program Connection, February 13, 2007

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TAGME update

There is increasing interest in residency coordinator certification and the role of the National Board of Certification for Training Administrators of Graduate Medical Education (TAGME). As President of the Board of Directors of TAGME, I want to give administrators some current information.

TAGME was created a little over four years ago in response to interest from coordinators across specialties to acknowledge the skills, knowledge and abilities necessary to manage the day-to-day activities of a graduate medical education training program. The criteria for certification were established based upon the concept that it takes at least three years to have a good understanding of the job, and to have experienced each of the major components of the coordinator's role (i.e., recruitment, a site visit or internal review, opportunity for attendance at regional or national meetings, etc).

A core assessment document was developed and piloted by both surgical and non-surgical programs to assess the commonality of the items and topics. This core is expanded upon through task forces established for the purpose of developing assessment tools for coordinators of particular clinical specialties. Only when those tools are approved by TAGME can that clinical specialty offer certification. At this time, the following specialties are approved to offer certification:

  • Pediatrics
  • Surgery (and the subspecialty of Vascular Surgery)
  • Psychiatry
  • Thoracic Surgery
  • Orthopedic Surgery
  • Preventative Medicine & Rehabilitation
  • OB/GYN

    Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Neurology and Diagnostic Radiology have organized task forces in the various stages of assessment development. One very important point is that the choice whether or not to seek certification is personal. Certification is voluntary.

    The term "training administrator" was chosen after a National survey was conducted. Job titles for coordinators were as varied as the institutions, hospitals and departments they represented. Many coordinators are also responsible for tasks outside of the realm of training programs. But all coordinators, regardless of title, have administrative responsibilities for their graduate medical education program.

    If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me, or go to the TAGME Web site-www.tagme.org-and contact any of the officers or clinical specialty contact people listed there. The TAGME Web site provides a wealth of information on its history, the criteria for certification, the process and the application. We are continually updating the Web site, and new information is added monthly. If you have not already visited the site, please do.

    All the best,


    Jeri L. Whitten, C-TAGME
    President
    National Board of Certification for Training Administrators of Graduate Medical Education



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