AGP Fellowship Accredition
What?
The Academic Pediatric Association (APA) has undertaken to provide consultation and potential accreditation of academic general pediatrics (AGP) fellowship programs.
Why an Accreditation Program?
- Ensure that future faculty are equipped with the fundamental skills to succeed in academic pediatrics.
- Enhance the quality and consistency of academic general pediatric fellowships.
- Allow for individuality of programs, yet enable them to achieve core goals and objectives.
- Promote more recognition of AGP fellowships.
- Encourage more residents to select academic general pediatrics as a career choice.
What is the background of this project?
The discipline of Academic General Pediatrics (AGP) is increasingly recognized within pediatric departments in the United States as an important source of teachers, clinical epidemiologists, health services researchers, education researchers, and health care policy experts.
In 2004, a consensus conference sponsored by the American Board of Pediatrics Foundation proposed the development of an accreditation process for AGP fellowship training programs to strengthen the discipline and ensure the success of AGP in pediatric departments. To develop a curriculum for AGP Fellowships, the Academic Pediatric Association (APA) obtained a grant from the Bureau of Health Professions. A process for program review and consultation has been developed and piloted with seven volunteer AGP Fellowship programs and the core curriculum have been published in Academic Pediatrics, 2007. Vol 7, pp. 340-347 and 328-339.
Who is eligible to apply?
Programs eligible for APA Accreditation are:
- Dedicated to the teaching of scholarly skills to fellows in general pediatrics, including academic general pediatrics, hospital medicine, community pediatrics, health services research, health policy and related pediatric disciplines
- Training program of at least 2 years duration
- Not a purely clinical training program
- Not eligible for ACGME accreditation
What are the steps to apply for consultation and/or accreditation?
- Decide whether your program is eligible to apply.
- Carefully review:
- Download a copy of the Program Description Form .
- Decide whether your program can meet the accreditation requirements.
- Decide whether you wish to apply immediately, or would like a consultation visit to help you develop a plan to meet accreditation standards.
- Call the APA Office for answers to any questions (703) 556-9222.
- Submit your application by September 1 to assure review before the following July. Cover letter
- A site visit will be scheduled to discuss your program's compliance with accreditation standards. Accreditation Site Visit
Consultation Site Visit - Accreditation, if approved, will begin on July 1, 2009 at the earliest.
- Accreditation Evaluation
Note: In some cases, provisional accreditation based on careful review of the written application may precede a site visit.
| Fee Schedule: | |
| Initial Application Fee: | $3,000 |
| Annual Registration Fee: | $2,500 |
| Consultation Visit: | $3,000 + expenses |
Annual Schedule of Submission and Review
July 1: Applications accepted for next accreditation cycle
September 1: Final date for submission of applications to be considered for next accreditation cycle
January 1: Beginning of annual site visit period
June 30: Accreditations take effect for the current cycle
APA Accreditation Project Committee
Louis M. Bell, M.D., Committee Chair, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Ray baker, M.D., Children's Hospital Medical Center
Constance D. Baldwin, Ph.D. University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Daniel L. Coury, M.D., Columbus Children's Hospital and The Ohio State University
Paul M. Darden, M.D., Medical University of South Carolina
Thomas G. DeWitt, M.D., University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Marge Degnon Academic Pediatric Association
Benard P. Dreyer, M.D., New York University School of Medicine
Stephen Ludwig, M.D., The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Mary Ottolini, M.D., M.P.H., Children's National Medical Center
Peter G. Szilagyi, M.D., M.P.H., University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Terri Turner, M.D., M.P.H., Baylor College of Medicine
If you have any question please contact:
Louis M. Bell, M.D., Committee Chair
The Academic General Pediatric Accreditation Program:
Encouraging Applications
The Academic General Pediatric Accreditation Committee (AGPAC) had a productive meeting while attending the 2009 PAS meeting in Baltimore.
As an APA Core activity our mission is to strengthen fellowship training in Academic General Pediatrics. By disseminating a set of standards for academic training and implement a rigorous, fair review process, fellowship programs will be strengthened and improved though accreditation. By enhancing the education of fellows we hope to attract outstanding residents to the disciplines of Academic General Pediatrics, thereby strengthening its unique roles in academic medicine.
Fellowship programs that focus on health services research, clinical effectiveness, quality and safety, community pediatrics, environmental health, hospital medicine and academic general pediatrics are all encouraged to apply for accreditation. In addition to accreditation, there is a consultation service that will help divisions that are thinking of starting a fellowship training program or wish to have an evaluation and site visit prior to applying for accreditation.
Based on feedback from those fellowship programs participating in the accreditation process (we have received six applications for accreditation and one application for consultation in the first cycle) we will improve the application process with a redesign of the Program Description form and other documents.
Information concerning the accreditation program and all documents required for an application can be found on the website (www.academicpeds.org) under the 'education'section. AGPAC is currently completing the review of the current applications and will announce the accreditation decisions in the APA's August newsletter.
All those in the APA family with fellowship programs are encouraged to apply.
Members of the AGPAC are:
Raymond Baker
Constance Baldwin
Louis M. Bell (Chair)
Dan Coury
Paul Darden
Marge Degnon
Tom DeWitt
Benard Dreyer
Steve Ludwig (past-chair)
Mary Ottolini
Peter Szilagyi
Teri Turner
Please call or email Lou Bell, MD, Division of General of General Pediatrics, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (215-590-1964 or belll@email.chop.edu ) or Marge Degnon, Executive Director, Academic Pediatric Association (703-556-9222 or marge@academicpeds.org)
AGPFP Chair
Louis M. Bell, MD
belll@email.chop.edu
