RCC Site Visit

ACMGE FAQ's regarding site visits

Preparation Prior to the Site Visit

The Program Information Forms (PIF) for your RRC can be obtained directly from the ACGME web. We always recommend that you start reviewing your PIF before the anticipated site visit, as the PIF’s usually require date and information that will take time to compile. As soon as you are notified of the date of the site visit you can begin to develop a time-line for activities and input needed. If there are requests for information which you do not understand, contact Tina Espina, ACGME Coordinator at the GME office for assistance. The instructions should be followed carefully. Particular attention should be made to format, length of responses, font, etc. It is wise to circulate a draft of the PIF to key faculty members and house staff and ask for input as to inaccuracies. It is clearly preferable to clear up discrepancies and inaccuracies prior to the site visit rather than have faculty or house staff make statements that are inconsistent with what is written in the PIF. Such discrepancies are often the subject of noncompliance citations. The final PIF should be reviewed by each person to be interviewed prior to the site visit.

Important deadlines are as follows:

• Typically the site visitor will want to receive the PIF about 2 weeks prior to the scheduled site visit

• Please remember that Dr. Dooley, Designated Institutional Official (DIO) and the  Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC) will need to review and approve and sign your PIF prior to submitting it before the two week deadline. The dates of the meetings are listed under the topic “GMEC” on this web site. This may mean that you need to have a good draft completed a month or more before your scheduled visit. Please submit the draft to the GME office. If you have any questions please feel free to contact Tina Espina, ACGME Coordinator at the GME office at 312-503-0887.

The site visitor will contact you about a month prior to the site visit. He/she will designate when the PIF is expected, how and where it is to be sent, and the approximate schedule of interviews that he/she expects to conduct on the day of the site visit. Please understand that the details of the schedule the site visitor requests should be respected, both for the individuals to be interviewed as well as the duration of each interview. The site visitor will want to know the exact location for the visit and may request specific directions. Remember that we are very familiar with our own institution, but it can be quite confusing to a site visitor. Please provide cross streets, location of easiest entrance, floor number, etc. Sometimes the site visitor will request to meet with the “DIO”, which is the Designated Institutional Official. This is the current Associate Dean for GME. Contact the GME office to ensure that the DIO will be available for the site visit.

It is essential that an appropriate composition and cross-section of house staff be available for the site visit. If there are more than 10 house staff in the program, the site visitor will likely designate the desired complement, for example X number from each year of training. It is important that the house staff selected to be present are peer selected. Under no circumstances should the program director decide who should be present on the basis of availability or their anticipated favorable responses to questions asked. The task of selecting those to attend the site visit is best delegated to a chief resident or senior fellow. The site visitor may ask the house staff present at the site visit how they were selected, and it is important that they feel comfortable stating that they were selected by their peers. If, on the other hand, there are 10 or less house staff in the program, the site visitor will typically ask to meet with all house staff. If this is the case, it is important to “pull” house staff from off-site rotations to be present at the time of the visit.