New GME-CME Osteopathic Learning Community

Hear from Co-Chairs of the new AOGME GME-CME Osteopathic Learning Community

In this article, the co-chairs of a new AOGME committee, GME-CME Osteopathic Learning Community, respond to questions related to the genesis of the group and what they hope to accomplish.

Co-Chair Becky Martin is the Administrator of Osteopathic Integration at Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (HCOM). Working with a small team of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) HCOM faculty, they develop and provide HCOM’s Year 3-4 undergraduate medical education (UME), graduate medical education (GME) and Continuing Medical Education (CME) OMM curricula, educational materials, and courses. 

Co-Chair Michelle Chadek, MS, is the Director of Graduate Medical Education for Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences and the Regional GME Liaison for Family Medicine Residency Network. One area of her responsibility is to develop resources for ACGME programs with Osteopathic Recognition, including the development and delivery of osteopathic-focused educational activities in the WA, WY, AK, MT and ID region. 

What is the intent of the group?

Michelle Chadek and Becky Martin met at Educating Leaders: The AACOM Annual Conference in 2017, and realized that program directors and CME leaders were asking similar questions on how to develop osteopathic education activities that supported the single GME accreditation system transition and Osteopathic Recognition (OR).  They imagined having a group with combined synergy and sharing best practices to nationally support engagement among Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (COMs) in the UME-GME continuum. COM GME and CME staff may be working on similar training programs with little knowledge of what everyone else in the country was doing. 

Why is this type of learning community important to your work?

The GME-CME Osteopathic Learning Community (LC) is important to our work because it connects us to COM GME and CME leaders who are working on similar educational projects to share best practices, gather ideas, learn what other COMs are doing, allow for innovation and help others by share our successes and opportunities for improvement. COMs need to meet COCA Standards related to GME, ACGME Osteopathic Recognition requirements and ACCME standards. By working in the LC, we can provide insights and content on what we are doing to meet accreditation standards.

What is your vision for the group?

Our vision for the GME-CME Osteopathic LC is to collaborate on the development of Osteopathic Principles and Practices (OPP)/OMM activities that can be shared and taught at the participating COMs. This group would help to develop osteopathic training to the country’s allopathic physician faculty and preceptors teaching in programs with Osteopathic Recognition.  This would encourage and continue our osteopathic heritage and distinction.

What are the group’s activities to date?

GME and CME leaders from 12 osteopathic medical schools and universities attended the first meeting in February 2019. After much discussion, it was determined that this forum had value and the group decided to continue to meet on a quarterly basis.  The GME/CME Leaders Osteopathic Learning Community met again in May and August. The LC meets quarterly via ZOOM and is planning a live meeting at the 2020 AACOM Conference.  This new LC is inclusive of any GME and CME staff or faculty who want to share or gain more information on developing osteopathic educational activities supporting the single accreditation system and Osteopathic Recognition. Through our meetings thus far, we have discovered which COMs are providing training and which have not. We have learned about the unique challenges each COM faces with GME staffing, financial support and training development. The LC has given us a way to connect with others in similar COM positions and has helped us discover different ways to approach similar challenges. We now have a support system and sounding board for the work we do to meet the continued COM GME/CME osteopathic educational challenges.

Next Steps

We encourage anyone working in GME and CME Leadership who are responsible for developing and teaching osteopathic educational activities to join our next Zoom meeting, Tues. Nov. 19, 2019. Contact Michelle Chadek for meeting information: mchadek@pnwu.edu. To sign up for the learning community, contact aogme@aacom.org.