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Office of Academic Affiliations

Medical and Dental Education

VA's medical education program began in the post-war years of World War II. By forming affiliations with medical schools and universities, VA has become the largest provider of health care training in the United States. VA's medical and dental is conducted through affiliations with University Schools of Medicine. Currently 130 VHA medical facilities are affiliated with 107 of the nation's 126 medical schools. Through these partnerships, almost 33,600 medical residents and  18,700 medical students received some of their training in VA facilities in 2006. Accounting for approximately 9 percent of U.S. medical and dental education, VA supports 8,800 physician and dental resident positions in almost 2,000 residency programs accredited in the name of our university partners. VA physician faculty have joint appointments at the university and at VA, seeing patients at VA, supervising students and residents, and conducting research. It would be difficult for VA to deliver its high quality patient care without the physician staff and residents that are available through these affiliations.

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GME Enhancement for Academic Year 2008-2009

Phase 3 GME Enhancement Request for Proposals are now available.

AY 2007-08 was the first of a multi-year expansion in order to address the recommendations of the Federally Chartered External Advisory Committee on VHA Resident Education. The Advisory Committee was charged with an examination of the philosophy and deployment of VA's residency training positions. The Advisory Committee affirmed the critical role that VA plays in provision of high-quality graduate medical education (GME) and recommended that VA increase its proportional support of the national GME enterprise. In this third year of expansion, the VA Office of Academic Affiliations has developed three Requests for Proposals (RFPs) which will create about 400 new, permanent resident positions nationwide in AY 2009-2010 (residents start July 1, 2009). In phases 1 and 2 of the GME Enhancement initiative, 698 physician resident positions were awarded to 72 facilities in 61 specialty training programs. Resources permitting, VA facilities will continue to have the opportunity to apply for additional new ('base' or permanent) positions over the subsequent two to three years.

  • GME Enhancement: Critical Needs and Emerging Specialties. These positions will be used to encourage VA sites (that currently have greater than 40 resident positions), in collaboration with their affiliates, to offer new or expanded residency programs in specialties critically needed for veterans' care, either in existing or in new and emerging specialties. Wherever appropriate, innovative interdisciplinary or inter-professional training opportunities are strongly encouraged (see the Educational Innovations RFP). Applications for positions in mental health and rehabilitation specialties are particularly encouraged under this RFP. Proposals will be accepted for positions in accredited allopathic or osteopathic programs.
  • GME Enhancement: New Affiliations and New VA Sites of Care. Over the past several years, VHA has opened a number of new healthcare delivery sites that may provide additional opportunities for trainee education. New or expanded facilities planned through implementation of the CARES (Capital Assets Realignment for Enhanced Services) recommendations provide increased opportunities for training, especially in community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs) and in new or replacement hospitals. Moreover, at selected VA facilities, opportunities exist for new affiliations with previously unaffiliated sponsors of GME or expanding affiliations in VA facilities with limited current involvement in GME. Again, wherever appropriate, innovative interdisciplinary or inter-professional training opportunities are strongly encouraged. Proposals will be accepted for positions in accredited allopathic or osteopathic programs.
  • GME Enhancement: Educational Innovation. This RFPs allows VA facilities to request new physician resident positions to enhance their ability to care for veteran patients by transforming established systems of education and patient care. It is expected that such changes will require concomitant redesign of clinical care processes, and only GME programs and VA facilities willing to enhance existing educational and clinical infrastructure to support the proposed innovation(s) should apply. Applicants are expected to demonstrate creative approaches to redesigning educational processes for one or more specific GME programs. This RFP is limited to ACGME-accredited programs with exemplary accreditation histories and may include ACGME-accredited training years (i.e., both general and sub-specialty training time). Close collaboration with academic affiliates and open communication with the ACGME Residency Review Committees (RRCs) will be necessary for these applications to succeed.

VA facilities with appropriate programs and affiliations are encouraged to apply for additional positions under these RFPs.

Deadlines

  • Application submission for all RFPs: July 2, 2008
  • Educational Innovation only: April 10, 2008 for Letter of Intent to apply
  • A letter of intent is not needed for the other two RFPs.

Please refer to the RFPs for complete application instructions and further details.

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