Marie Hugley, Assistant Director, Graduate Medical Education

Lisa Payne, Director, Graduate Medical Education

GME Program Coordinator (PC) turnover is a priority of Graduate Medical Education.  With an increase in ACGME oversight responsibilities the role of the PC is only crucial and required.  The role of the PC is recognized as necessary to guarantee an excellent learning environment for trainees.  Retention of this valuable resource is a priority of GME and not only an issue locally, but nationally.

Increasing demands and tracking required by the ACGME at the resident and program levels fall squarely on the shoulders of PCs. The ACGME…describes the PC as “critical to the success of the program” and “a member of the leadership team” who “must possess skills in leadership and personnel management.” (JGME 2019 Dec; 11(6):732).

The PC Leadership Committee (PCLC) was piloted in July 2022 for collaboration and PC advocacy planning with a small cohort of PCs. With 104 GME programs, the PCLC chose to emphasize well-being, development of leadership skills aiming to garner recognition for the PC community and increase retention by eliminating the need to onboard and train new PCs.

Through a Cultural North Star grant in 2023, we created a Professional Development series to educate the PCs and elevate positions, provide collateral and special events for recognition and community building.  A pre-survey of the PC population provided a deeper understanding of the needs and were used to identify topics for a Core Curriculum.

Curricula ranged from ACGME topics, GME institutional processes, to resource sharing, culminating in a full-day retreat for wellbeing and community building at the Sunset Recreation.  Each segment of the GME PC curriculum was evaluated for alignment with the goal of meeting the PC needs for education and support.  Feedback will be used for future curriculum planning.

The GME PC Development Series will be followed by evaluation of the success of the curriculum by overall PC retention.  We look forward to presenting those results at a future date.