‘Just Do It’ Video series: Program director on benefits, challenges of ACGME accreditation Want to know what ACGME accreditation could mean for your program? An internal medicine residency program director shares insights. https://youtube.com/watch?v=NsqFnFolE1w March 11, 2016Friday Rose Raymond Contact Rose Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Topics graduate medical educationsingle GME accreditation Just Do It. It’s not just a famous footwear company’s slogan from the ’90s. It’s also a key piece of advice David Pizzimenti, DO, gives to residency program directors who are applying for accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Related “My advice for anyone that’s completing the application process is you just have to do it,” he says. “I know it’s a lot of work. But overall, it’s a good self-study of your program.” As the internal medicine residency program director at Magnolia Regional Health Center in Corinth, Mississippi, Dr. Pizzimenti runs one of the first osteopathic residency programs to obtain ACGME accreditation. In this series of short videos, he provides insights for others on the application process. When a residency program applies for ACGME accreditation, it has the chance to re-evaluate and reinvent itself. That was the approach Dr. Pizzimenti's team took to the application. “It allowed us to re-engage our faculty,” he says, noting that the program established new committees for faculty to serve on. Dr. Pizzimenti recommends a team approach to applying for ACGME accreditation—he involved his whole team in the process and made sure everyone was aware of key deadlines. Applicants for ACGME accreditation who need support can contact their residency review committee's (RRC) executive director, Dr. Pizzimenti says, noting that the internal medicine RRC director helped him a great deal, often responding to his queries within 24 hours. “I feel that programs should seek osteopathic recognition so we don't lose our professional identity,” Dr. Pizzimenti says. “I feel that we have a lot to offer to ACGME through our osteopathic model of treating patients and training young physicians.” Program directors applying for ACGME accreditation need to give themselves plenty of time to complete the application, Dr. Pizzimenti says, noting that it's also a good idea to have affiliation agreements and faculty CVs on hand when you're working on the application. Previous articleKCU-COM names Paula Gregory, DO, as dean of its Joplin campus Next articleMore than half of US family physicians are burned out, according to survey