Here is an article in the Spring 2008 AF Medical Corps Newsletter (on the AFIT website) from the AF Medical Corps Director Col. (Dr.) Arnyce Pock. I bolded the parts about the proposed new AF GME programs. I also bolded a part about a plan to allow some O-6's in clinical billets.
"Spring-time greetings from Washington, DC! Although it will be a few more weeks until cherry blossoms officially herald the arrival of Spring, I wanted to take an opportunity to provide some brief updates on several key topics of interest.
Let's begin with Graduate Medical Education (GME). The current year's Integrated Forecast Board (IFB) is now in full swing and the Medical Corps has 900 training man-years to allocate among all the various specialty areas. This is the process by which the AFMS designates the number & type of "spaces" that will be made available for training purposes—be it at the Internship, Residency or Fellowship level. The IFB is a requirement driven process, but once complete, the results are posted on the AFPC website. Applications will then be solicited and individual "faces" will be matched to the available spaces at the Joint Service GME Selection Board, which typically convenes during the first full week after the Thanksgiving holiday.
As we talk about GME, we're all certainly aware of the BRAC related changes affecting some of our stand-alone GME programs—particularly those at Wilford Hall and Andrews, but over the last few weeks, there has been a concerted effort to revitalize some existing and/or to develop alternative GME platforms. This will help ensure that AF GME remains vital & robust well into the future—even if the face of GME, as we know it now, may be changing…. That said, here's a short summation of some of the strategic partnerships that are currently under development:
**Internal Medicine: Resuming Internal Medicine residency training at Travis AFB, but under the auspices of a combined, UC-Davis/Travis AFB program starting in '09. The initial class will likely be limited to 2 starts, but could expand to 4 starts per year the following year.
**Pediatrics: The existing partnership between Langley AFB & Portsmouth Naval Hospital will be expanded, with the plan of having 2-5 pediatric residents train at these facilities each year starting in '09.
** OB-GYN: The close working ties between Langley AFB & Portsmouth Naval Hospital are also planned to continue with 2 AF OB-GYN starts forecasted to in '09 and at least 1 AF start per year thereafter.
**General Surgery: Efforts are underway to explore the possibility of developing a partnership with the General Surgery program at the University of Las Vegas & incorporating the patient population & professional expertise associated with Nellis AFB. This proposal is still in its nascent stages, but if successful, it might be implemented within the next two years ('10).
Also of note, is the current initiative involving the stand-up of a brand new Family Practice (FP) Residency program at Nellis AFB. This program is already in the advanced stages of development and is scheduled to begin training FP residents in '09 with an initial class size of 6 per year.
The important message to keep in mind, is that while the face of AF GME may be changing, it's definitely not "going away!"
As many of you may know, our Medical Corps Developmental Team (DT) conducted its Spring meeting last month. In addition to developing customized career vectors for approximately 490 active duty AF physicians, we also discussed a variety of issues related to the myriad of recruitment & retention related issues facing the AFMS. Among these, was an effort to develop a means by which senior clinicians could in fact return to full time clinical duties, even after they achieve the rank of full Colonel. One such mechanism, which is currently being developed for formal staffing, involves pre-identifying and reserving a select number of clinical billets for O-6 physicians. Doing so would greatly facilitate clinical matches during the O-6 "Game Plan" process and would add a measure of stability (assignment-wise) for those who are competitively selected to fill these billets. Allowing senior clinicians to return to the bedside not only helps restore senior military & clinical mentorship to our hospitals & teaching facilities, but also helps reinforce the fact that one can pursue a clinical/ academic career trajectory from Captain to Colonel. While this too, is still in the early stages of development, look for more on this topic in subsequent issues of this newsletter!
Related to this, during the course of our recent DT, we reviewed 46 applications for one of our two, MC specific, Special Experience Identifiers (SEI). Of the 41 who received a SEI, 29 were awarded a MF SEI, designating excellence in clinical and/or academic teaching, while 12 were recognized with the award of the ME SEI, designating achievement of a "Grand Master" type status in their respective specialties. To view a master listing of all MC SEI holders to date, log on to our Medical Corps home page, which is located on the Knowledge Exchange (https://kx.afms.mil/mc), under the Force Management functional menu.
Lastly, as much as we'd like to see as many people as possible remain on active duty, we recognize that sooner or later all of us will need to transition to the civilian sector. In order to better understand what factors are more likely to lead one to make that transition sooner versus later (i.e. after 20 years of active duty service), we've designed a new, web-based MC "Exit Interview/ Survey." The survey can either be completed online or printed & submitted via postal mail. In either case, it's a 1-page questionnaire that is designed to be completed in 5 minutes or less. While specifically meant for individuals who elect to leave active duty prior to achieving retirement eligibility, comments are welcome from all sectors. To view or take the survey, please log on to the Knowledge Exchange website, click on the Force Management menu at the top of the screen, and from there, go to the Medical Corps Force Management site on the drop down menu. You'll see a link to the "MC Exit Interview" on the left hand side of the screen.
With that, I'll close for now, but as always, if anyone has any comments, suggestions, and/or ideas that they'd like to share with our Senior eadership, or with the Corps overall, please feel free to send me a note at: [email removed] Until next time, A.P."
"Spring-time greetings from Washington, DC! Although it will be a few more weeks until cherry blossoms officially herald the arrival of Spring, I wanted to take an opportunity to provide some brief updates on several key topics of interest.
Let's begin with Graduate Medical Education (GME). The current year's Integrated Forecast Board (IFB) is now in full swing and the Medical Corps has 900 training man-years to allocate among all the various specialty areas. This is the process by which the AFMS designates the number & type of "spaces" that will be made available for training purposes—be it at the Internship, Residency or Fellowship level. The IFB is a requirement driven process, but once complete, the results are posted on the AFPC website. Applications will then be solicited and individual "faces" will be matched to the available spaces at the Joint Service GME Selection Board, which typically convenes during the first full week after the Thanksgiving holiday.
As we talk about GME, we're all certainly aware of the BRAC related changes affecting some of our stand-alone GME programs—particularly those at Wilford Hall and Andrews, but over the last few weeks, there has been a concerted effort to revitalize some existing and/or to develop alternative GME platforms. This will help ensure that AF GME remains vital & robust well into the future—even if the face of GME, as we know it now, may be changing…. That said, here's a short summation of some of the strategic partnerships that are currently under development:
**Internal Medicine: Resuming Internal Medicine residency training at Travis AFB, but under the auspices of a combined, UC-Davis/Travis AFB program starting in '09. The initial class will likely be limited to 2 starts, but could expand to 4 starts per year the following year.
**Pediatrics: The existing partnership between Langley AFB & Portsmouth Naval Hospital will be expanded, with the plan of having 2-5 pediatric residents train at these facilities each year starting in '09.
** OB-GYN: The close working ties between Langley AFB & Portsmouth Naval Hospital are also planned to continue with 2 AF OB-GYN starts forecasted to in '09 and at least 1 AF start per year thereafter.
**General Surgery: Efforts are underway to explore the possibility of developing a partnership with the General Surgery program at the University of Las Vegas & incorporating the patient population & professional expertise associated with Nellis AFB. This proposal is still in its nascent stages, but if successful, it might be implemented within the next two years ('10).
Also of note, is the current initiative involving the stand-up of a brand new Family Practice (FP) Residency program at Nellis AFB. This program is already in the advanced stages of development and is scheduled to begin training FP residents in '09 with an initial class size of 6 per year.
The important message to keep in mind, is that while the face of AF GME may be changing, it's definitely not "going away!"
As many of you may know, our Medical Corps Developmental Team (DT) conducted its Spring meeting last month. In addition to developing customized career vectors for approximately 490 active duty AF physicians, we also discussed a variety of issues related to the myriad of recruitment & retention related issues facing the AFMS. Among these, was an effort to develop a means by which senior clinicians could in fact return to full time clinical duties, even after they achieve the rank of full Colonel. One such mechanism, which is currently being developed for formal staffing, involves pre-identifying and reserving a select number of clinical billets for O-6 physicians. Doing so would greatly facilitate clinical matches during the O-6 "Game Plan" process and would add a measure of stability (assignment-wise) for those who are competitively selected to fill these billets. Allowing senior clinicians to return to the bedside not only helps restore senior military & clinical mentorship to our hospitals & teaching facilities, but also helps reinforce the fact that one can pursue a clinical/ academic career trajectory from Captain to Colonel. While this too, is still in the early stages of development, look for more on this topic in subsequent issues of this newsletter!
Related to this, during the course of our recent DT, we reviewed 46 applications for one of our two, MC specific, Special Experience Identifiers (SEI). Of the 41 who received a SEI, 29 were awarded a MF SEI, designating excellence in clinical and/or academic teaching, while 12 were recognized with the award of the ME SEI, designating achievement of a "Grand Master" type status in their respective specialties. To view a master listing of all MC SEI holders to date, log on to our Medical Corps home page, which is located on the Knowledge Exchange (https://kx.afms.mil/mc), under the Force Management functional menu.
Lastly, as much as we'd like to see as many people as possible remain on active duty, we recognize that sooner or later all of us will need to transition to the civilian sector. In order to better understand what factors are more likely to lead one to make that transition sooner versus later (i.e. after 20 years of active duty service), we've designed a new, web-based MC "Exit Interview/ Survey." The survey can either be completed online or printed & submitted via postal mail. In either case, it's a 1-page questionnaire that is designed to be completed in 5 minutes or less. While specifically meant for individuals who elect to leave active duty prior to achieving retirement eligibility, comments are welcome from all sectors. To view or take the survey, please log on to the Knowledge Exchange website, click on the Force Management menu at the top of the screen, and from there, go to the Medical Corps Force Management site on the drop down menu. You'll see a link to the "MC Exit Interview" on the left hand side of the screen.
With that, I'll close for now, but as always, if anyone has any comments, suggestions, and/or ideas that they'd like to share with our Senior eadership, or with the Corps overall, please feel free to send me a note at: [email removed] Until next time, A.P."
