Comparison between ACGME Review Committees for General Surgery and Internal Medicine in Assignment of Program Cycle Length

Accreditation information for each residency training program is mostly confidential, but program directors and other stakeholders can draw some conclusions from what is available on www.acgme.org. The primary objective of this analysis was to compare the decisions of the Review Committees for General Surgery and Internal Medicine regarding assignment of program cycle length. Cycle length is the time between the Review Committee's decision on accreditation and the scheduled next site review. The ACGME considers cycle length to be a measure of program compliance with requirements. The secondary objective was to ascertain the value of the informa- tion available on the website for predicting program success, again measured by cycle length. A snapshot sample of cycle lengths assigned and other program information available for each pro- gram from the ACGME website as of July, 2005, was accessed. Data for Internal Medicine and General Surgery programs were downloaded and compared. Cycle length was normally distributed for General Surgery, with a mean of three years; however, cycle length was an increasing ramp function for Internal Medicine, with a minimum of programs at one year and a maximum at five years. The percent of programs at each cycle length was not different between specialties for cycle lengths of 1, 2, or 3 years, but differed significantly for cycle lengths of 4 and 5 years, with the lon - ger cycle lengths having a higher percentage of Internal Medicine programs (p=0.001, X2=88.11). None of the program information available on the website was predictive of cycle length. Review Committees for Internal Medicine and General Surgery differ in allocation of program cycle length. This difference may decrease with increased transparency, information exchange between Review Committees, and public accountability. Provision of more information to stakeholders by the AC- GME may permit an analysis of significant predictors of positive outcome.