Osteopathic Medical Education Community Weighs in on First Meeting of the UME-GME Review Committee

The UME-GME Review Committee held its first meeting Sept. 14-15 to review the undergraduate (UME) to graduate (GME) medical education transition, particularly around preparation/selection for residency and the application process. Several membership organizations representing osteopathic medical practitioners and educators are involved in the ongoing review process, including AACOM, the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), and the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners (NBOME).

In March 2019, the Invitational Conference on USMLE Scoring (InCUS) was convened to address the use of numeric scores on licensure examinations for residency selection. One of the four recommendations that emerged from InCUS was to create a cross-organizational panel to create solutions for challenges in the UME to GME transition. This recommendation was subsequently considered by the Coalition for Physician Accountability, which agreed to convene a group of its representatives to develop a plan to review the transition from UME to GME, consistent with the proposal of the InCUS planning group.

The Coalition brings together the national organizations responsible for the oversight, education and assessment of medical students and physicians throughout their medical careers. The UME-GME Review Committee, convened by the Coalition, intends to make recommendations pertaining to the UME to GME transition while adhering to the following principles:

• Assuring learner competence and readiness for residency as well as wellness.
• Optimizing fit between applicants and programs to ensure the highest quality healthcare for patients and communities.
• Increasing trust between medical schools and residency programs.
• Mitigating current reliance on licensure examinations in the absence of valid, standardized, trustworthy measures of students’ competence and clinical skills.
• Increasing transparency for applicants to understand how residency selection operates.
• Considering the needs of all types of applicants in making its recommendations.
• Considering financial cost to applicants throughout the application process.
• Minimizing individual and systemic bias throughout the UME to GME transition process.

The Review Committee stated that they will provide periodic updates as their work progresses. The final product will consist of a set of recommendations provided to the Coalition for discussion and endorsement at its meeting in April 2021.