ACGME Announces Second Cycle of Funding Recipients for Resident-Led Back to Bedside Initiative

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Today the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) announced the second cycle of funding recipients for Back to Bedside, a resident-led initiative to develop innovative strategies for finding deeper connections with patients, improving physician and patient well-being.

The ACGME selected 33 proposals from nearly 200 submissions from across the nation. Institutions will receive a total of $235,000 at different funding levels, renewable for up to two years. View the list of newly selected Back to Bedside recipients, projects, and team leaders.

“We continue to be thrilled by the engagement of residents and fellows around Back to Bedside,” said Dink Jardine, MD, chair of the Back to Bedside Work and Advisory Group at the ACGME.  “Now in its second cycle, we have been able to increase the total number of funded projects to 63 since the initiative launched in 2018.”

The work and advisory group will explore lessons learned from the first cycle of projects to build upon the success residents and fellows have experienced in their programs and institutions. “We strive to cultivate a community of practice around physician and patient well-being by sharing strategies, resources, and processes with every new cycle of Back to Bedside,” Jardine said.

The new projects encompass a diverse range of specialties, geographic locations, and institutions, including community and rural programs. Each includes direct patient interaction, as well as patient satisfaction and outcome measures. Projects will aim to improve the clinical learning environment and promote behaviors that advance physicians’ and patients’ well-being by focusing on spending meaningful time with patients.

Projects will commence with the start of the new academic year in July 2019. Current projects will be funded through January 2020. Read highlights from the first cycle of Back to Bedside.

Back to Bedside project member Joshua Belfer, MD has enjoyed his experience so much that he joined the work and advisory group to help guide new recipients through their projects. “Back to Bedside not only helped me find greater joy and meaning in work; it gave me the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues and top administration at both the hospital and health system,” he said. “The skills I learned on this journey are skills I can take with me throughout my career as well as in my current role as pediatric chief resident at Cohen Children’s Medical Center. I look forward to helping other residents and fellows succeed in their projects.”

A group of approximately 30 resident and fellow members of the ACGME Review Committees and Board developed Back to Bedside to combat burnout by fostering meaning in the learning environment by engaging on a deeper level with what is at the heart of medicine: their patients. The group, known as the ACGME Council of Review Committee Residents, regularly advises the ACGME about graduate medical education from the resident perspective.