News

Oct. 31, 2019 — The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has released new Family Medicine Milestones that go into effect in July 2020, with the first reporting due in the winter of the 2020-2021 academic year. Milestones are targets for resident performance on each of the ACGME Competencies and sub-competencies.

The new Milestones incorporate many recommendations made by the Academic Family Medicine Advocacy Committee (AFMAC) for stronger language about advocacy skill development.

The original Milestones document included a sub-competency:“is an advocate for individual and community health.” The milestones toward achieving that sub-competency were centered around resource assessment and collaborating with community practices and agencies to improve health care for patients and communities.

The new Milestones document, under Systems-Based Practice sub-competencies #2 and #3, includes milestones related to advocating for populations and communities with health care inequities, advocating for system change, and participating in health policy activities. Systems-Based Practice sub-competency #4, Advocacy, has milestones that set expectations for advocacy as a professional responsibility.

The Supplemental Guide lists the STFM Advocacy Course and the Advocacy portion of STFM website as potential resources to be used for the education of residents.