Nov. 30-The Hurley Internal Medicine Residency Training Program recently earned five years of accreditation – with zero citations – from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), a nonprofit organization that certifies the quality of a medical residency or fellowship program through its accreditation process. The outstanding rating puts Hurley in the “high level of performance” category as indicated by the Residency Review Committee (RRC).

“Our residents get an excellent experience at Hurley,” said Program Director Ghassan Bachuwa MD, MS, MHSA. “That helps us to recruit highly qualified residents.”

Dr. Bachuwa added, “What makes our program special is our hospital support of graduate medical education, our wide diversity of patients and pathology, our highly experienced and committed faculty, our educational resources, and our ancillary and community support.” The five-year accreditation also “allows us to pursue new innovation and experimentation in medical education that could lead to a special exemption status with ACGME” in the future, he said.

Hurley Academic Officer and Designated Institutional Official James Buterakos said, “The 5-year accreditation with no citations is a phenomenal accomplishment. These excellent results are indicative of the necessary curriculum and structural changes that were made since the last review, proper preparation for the site review, and a commitment to academic excellence. Dr. Bachuwa has provided the leadership to bring everyone together and to strive for clinical and academic superiority.”

Mr. Buterakos continued, “Hurley’s strong academic program will improve quality, outcomes and patient safety, will address health care reform, and will train the next generation of residents.”   

Chief Medical Officer Michael Jaggi DO explained that a combination of factors led to the exceptional accreditation results. “Without the collaboration, innovation and commitment of our teaching faculty, community physicians and residents all working together to implement changes, we would not have been able to achieve such an outstanding review,” he said.

Nationwide, ACGME accredits 9,008 residency programs in 120 specialties and subspecialties, with 116,229 on-duty residents (as of Nov. 1, 2011, according to online ACGME data). The 2010-2011 year contained 380 accredited internal medicine training programs with 22,751 residents.