The residency program must require its residents to obtain competencies in the 6 areas below to the level expected of a new practitioner. Toward this end, programs must define the specific knowledge, skills, and attitudes required and provide educational experiences as needed in order for their residents to demonstrate:

a.  Patient Care that is compassionate, appropriate, and effective for the treatment of health problems and the promotion of health

b.  Medical Knowledge about established and evolving biomedical, clinical, and cognate (e.g. epidemiological and social-behavioral) sciences and the application of this knowledge to patient care

c.  Practice-Based Learning and Improvement that involves investigation and evaluation of their own patient care, appraisal and assimilation of scientific evidence, and improvements in patient care

d.  Interpersonal and Communication Skills that result in effective information exchange and teaming with patients, their families, and other health professionals

e.  Professionalism, as manifested through a commitment to carrying out professional responsibilities, adherence to ethical principles, and sensitivity to a diverse patient population

f.  Systems-Based Practice, as manifested by actions that demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context and system of health care and the ability to effectively call on system resources to provide care that is of optimal value

Evaluation

Evaluation of Residents

The residency program must demonstrate that it has an effective plan for assessing resident performance throughout the program and for utilizing assessment results to improve resident performance. This plan should include:

a.  use of dependable measures to assess residents' competence in patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, and systems-based practice

b.  mechanisms for providing regular and timely performance feedback to residents

c.  a process involving use of assessment results to achieve progressive improvements in residents' competence and performance

Programs that do not have a set of measures in place must develop a plan for improving their evaluations and must demonstrate progress in implementing the plan.

Program Evaluation

a.  The residency program should use resident performance and outcome assessment results in their evaluation of the educational effectiveness of the residency program.

b.  The residency program should have in place a process for using resident and performance assessment results together with other program evaluation results to improve the residency program.