ACGME Survey and implications

[Kidney__Stone]

Hey all,

Long time lurker, first time poster here.

This may sound like a wierd question, but I'm in the (rather negative) headspace where I have to ask it.

I'm a resident at a small-ish training program in my final year. I am in the unfortunate situation that I have a very negative relationship with a lot of the program leadership. It's at a known malignant and prestitigious insitution, where it seems there is an unspoken understanding that because the place is really desirable, trainees will put up with anything as long as "the ends justify the means" and they go on to bigger and better fellowships, jobs, etc.

Other programs at the hospital have had issues with ACGME investigation, etc due to poor survey results, and so the program leadership is basically telling us how to fill out our survey to make sure they also don't get under investigation. Again, trainees generally comply year after year.

I'm at the point where I'd like to fill out the survey honestly and catalogue all the crap that I've put up with over the years. I wouldn't make stuff up, but the amount of insane things that go on in our program and our department would make for harrowing reading and I'm at a point where it seems like my only way to "hit back" at people who've made my life miserable.

My question is simple: What is the potential for blowback? These are meant to be anonymous, but having seen how the place operates, I am significantly worried that if I actually write down the things that I see, I'll be the target of a witch-hunt. As I said, people tend to put their head down and put up with abuse just to make it through, and the leadership is used to it. First of all, do programs receive their end of the year surveys once the new year academic year starts, or do they receive it early enough to investigate their graduating class? Second, are these surveys actually anonymous, or linked with one's email in some way?

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[HemeOncHopeful19]

They’re anonymous.

One bad survey is unlikely to do anything (IMO), need to probably get multiple bad surveys so that the average is below a certain threshold.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

There's no comments on the survey (I think?), just scaled questions.

 

[Dominus]

I am not sure if this is universal or institutional but at my current place small programs also aggregate their surveys to make it more anonymous. So if there's only 2 residents a year they might let surveys build up for 2-3 years and then release so it's harder to pick out who put what in when.

 

[mvenus929]

The PDs will have access to the survey results in Aprilish--they have to respond to issues by the start of the next academic year, I think. We go over the ACGME survey results (for our fellowship, but I think the resident/fellow surveys are run concurrently) at our program evaluation committee meeting, which is usually end of April or early May.

But I don't recall (either as a trainee or as part of the PEC) ever seeing comments, just scaled responses. All the trainee's results are collated together, I believe, so we can't even tell if the first years answer differently than the second years, etc.

 

[mido114]

It is anonymous - PD will receive aggregate data without any possible identification - you would be gone by then - not that I encourage you do it but just saying - I have a strong negative opinion about the ACGME survey as it is based on how do residents and faculty "feel" rather than on objective data - I have seen in prior years PG-Y3's submit negative review to dang a program.