Survey of developmental milestones in internal medicine among residents and faculty.

OBJECTIVES

The published Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) milestones represent a novel method of evaluation of trainees in graduate medical education. We surveyed agroup of teaching faculty and residents, regarding the new ACGME milestones project. We obtained their input on the expected timeline for the developmental milestones and compared their responses to the ACGME recommendations.

METHODS

A 42-item survey questionnaire, derived from the original 142 item publication, was completed by 26 internal medicine teaching faculty and 34 internal medicine residents.

RESULTS

We found statistically significant differences in the responses given by residents and faculty compared to those in the standard recommendations. The differences were more pronounced with the residents than with the faculty.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of our survey showed significantly different responses as compared to the standard recommended timelines. Since this is a novel evaluation process, substantial faculty development and resident education regarding the process can help improve its implementation. Future studies should focus on how learners might better understand and refine the milestone evaluation process.