The following describes the various aspects of the designated job.  Some or all of these aspects may be changed over time, with or without notice, at the sole discretion of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States (U.S.) on a full-time basis.  The ACGME will not provide employment sponsorship for this position (e.g., H-1B Visa or other U.S. employment authorization).

Title:                           Associate Executive Director

Department:              Department:             Department of Accreditation, Recognition and Field Activities

Reports To:               Executive Director

Work Schedule:        Full-Time 

Job Summary

The Associate Executive Director assists the Executive Director in managing the flow and execution of work for the assigned Review Committee, and educates the Review Committee, program directors, program coordinators, and designated institutional officials (DIOs) on ACGME requirements.

The Associate Executive Director oversees and manages duties of Review Committee support staff, and performs additional Department of Accreditation Services (DAS) work to improve operations, and the quality of the accreditation process and its effect on the quality of resident/fellow physicians’ education.

Job Context/Background Information 

The primary charter of the ACGME and the Review Committees is to provide accreditation standards for resident/fellow physician education programs and the institutions that sponsor them, and to monitor adherence with these standards to ensure consistent delivery of high-quality graduate medical education (GME). Within this charter, goals include: fostering innovation and improvement in the physician learning environment; increasing accreditation emphasis on educational outcomes; and increasing efficiency and reducing burdensome work often associated with accreditation.

The Review Committees are composed of physicians who review GME programs and sponsoring institutions for accreditation purposes. They do this by reviewing extensive information provided by the programs and institutions, reports prepared by ACGME site visitors, and other relevant materials. Based on their reviews, the Review Committees issue findings which may include citations for program infractions and inadequacies. ACGME staff handles the communication and follow-up of Review Committee findings with the programs and sponsoring institutions.

Each Review Committee meets two-to-four times per year to review programs and sponsoring institutions. The review schedule is based on program and institutional performance on screening indicators for outcome measurements (e.g., surveys of residents/fellows and faculty members, program changes, board pass rates, etc.) and requests for changes by the programs (e.g., resident complement, program additions). GME programs and institutions with identified areas of non-compliance or concerns are reviewed more frequently, and may be required to provide progress reports addressing those issues. Between meetings, interim requests for program changes (e.g., temporary changes in resident complement) and correspondence from accredited programs and institutions with issues are processed by Review Committee staff. In addition, Review Committees periodically review and revise program and institutional requirements.

Residency/fellowship program directors, faculty members, coordinators, and institutional officials regularly contact the ACGME with questions or concerns, and residents and fellows occasionally contact the ACGME. These interactions are handled by the ACGME staff assigned to support the Review Committees. Responses may be simple or may require a detailed understanding of the intentions of the accreditation requirements and knowledge of the Review Committees’ past decisions on similar matters. Additionally, the ACGME provides periodic instruction to the staff of programs and institutions on how to prepare for accreditation reviews and how to implement the accreditation standards.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

• Assist the Executive Director in every aspect of Review Committee meeting preparation, including agenda development, preparation and electronic dissemination of meeting materials, assignment of reviewers and collection of reviews, handling of meeting logistics, and preparation of annual data reports.
• Review data in visual software, and based upon screening criteria or exception reports, examine select program files for details to determine the need for Review Committee review or the need for other information.
• Ensure agendas reflect all scheduled reviews and other important issues, and that all needed materials are present.
• Check reviewer findings for consistency and adherence to accreditation standards to identify issues prior to meetings, and confer with Review Committee Chair or reviewers on accreditation recommendations that may not be consistent with program and institutional requirements and precedents.
• Participate in discussions to advise on policies, procedures, and the application of program and institutional requirements, precedents, and ACGME policies and procedures.
• Facilitate group consensus on difficult accreditation actions, sometimes through significant discourse.
• Participate in guiding the maintenance of consistency in Review Committee actions and decisions. Record and document material for all citations and other salient meeting information.
• Assist the Executive Director in performing duties after Review Committee meetings, including completing meeting minutes, reviewing Committee decisions, recording/processing recommendations, producing updates for e-Communications or website containing important information to be disseminated, follow-up for business-related items on the meeting agenda, and following up with programs and institutions. Review Committee meeting decisions to ensure fairness and consistency in the application of standards, and review data to support every citation. Maintain consistency in Review Committee output and determine when exceptions are warranted.
• Compose initial drafts and oversee processing of official accreditation Letters of Notification to programs to communicate the Review Committees’ accreditation decisions and the required program and institutional actions. Ensure the letters are accurate and clear, and provide actionable recommendations to programs and institutions.
• Manage/oversee communication with the programs and institutions, including program and institutional questions related to Review Committee decisions and program requirements.
• Serve as a resource to program and institutional staff regarding the accreditation process and preparation for review. Oversee the handling of requests by the programs; decide which items need to be reviewed by the Committee and which can be handled administratively.
• Oversee the development and revisions of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). 
• Manage the development, revision, and dissemination of core specialty and subspecialty program requirements for the Review Committee, and work closely with the ACGME Requirements Development Team to adhere to established formats.
• Oversee the functioning and development of the administrative staff to support the work of the Review Committees and ACGME initiatives.
• Work with other ACGME departments and teams, particularly with the staffs of the Requirements Development Team and the Committee on Requirements, for approval of program and institutional requirements, new subspecialties, Monitoring Committee reports, and related issues.
• Serve in various capacities to support the maintenance and improvement of department-wide operations.
• Participate in conferences and meetings, including ACGME annual conference, program director and designated institutional official meetings.
• Prepare and give instructional presentations to variety of GME audiences/stakeholders.
• Ensure that the assigned RC’s and associated specialties’ and sub-specialties’ web pages and online information are kept current.
• Assist the Executive Director with other special projects/duties as assigned.

Education, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, organizational development, education, or an applied social science (equivalent experience may also be considered).
• Superior organizational and workflow management skills, along with demonstrated project management skills.
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills.
• Have strong attention to detail and expert follow-up skills.
• Have demonstrated ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
• The ability to apply and use meeting technology to facilitate communications.

Preferred

• Master’s degree.
• Previous experience in medical education, an academic environment, or business administration.
• Be skilled in working under tight timelines and comfortable balancing multiple projects and priorities simultaneously.
• Be an enthusiastic team player with strong work ethic and demonstrated flexibility.
• Have good judgment and common sense, and be dependable.
• Be proficient in all components of Microsoft Office, and have the ability to learn and apply new software programs

Equipment

Position requires the significant use of standard office equipment such as a computer, keyboard, mouse, photo copier, fax machine, telephone, etc.

Working Conditions

• During the COVID-19 pandemic, ACGME employees are working remotely.  When it is safe to return to the Chicago office, your manager will work with you to determine if a flexible work schedule is available based on your specific role and responsibilities, etc.
• Proof of an FDA approved COVID-19 vaccination is required as a condition of employment.  ACGME will follow all ADA guidelines for exemptions.
• This position requires weekend work in conjunction with the attendance at Review Committee meetings, and a heavy time commitment, often exceeding normal work hours, for meeting preparation.
• This position requires domestic travel to attend some out-of-state meetings with duration of one-to-four days per meeting, typically including evenings and weekends, with overnight stays at hotels.

Physical Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job.

While performing the duties of this job, the Associate Executive Director:

• Will frequently be required to sit in meetings for long periods of time.
• Will be required to listen to, participate in, lead, understand, record, and summarize complex discussions during Review Committee meetings.
• Will be required to review large quantities of hard copy and electronic written information, and to review others’ hard copy and electronic written work product, including layout and appearance.
• Will frequently be required to participate in training via Zoom or other video conferencing platforms.

The ACGME is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Pro Disabled and Veteran Employer. The ACGME welcomes differences in the form of gender, race, ethnicity, disability, geography, socioeconomic status, age, politics, religion, philosophy, sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression status. All applicants who share this goal are encouraged to apply.