House Calls and the ACGME Competencies

Abstract

Background: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) “core competencies” (patient care, medical knowledge, interpersonal and communication skills, practice-based learning, and systems-based practice) are challenging to achieve in today's complex, high-acuity, hospital-based setting. House calls provide unique clinical exposure to opportunities for learning the ACGME competencies in a single integrated experience. We review the medical literature on the educational value of house calls and describe a pilot questionnaire of housestaff perceptions of the value of house calls in addressing all of the competencies. Description: Focused literature review and questionnaire. Evaluation: A substantial body of literature supports our hypothesis that house calls expose residents to all of the ACGME competency domains. Residents actively engaged in house call training perceive that their experiences allow them to fulfill all of the ACGME competencies. Conclusion: House calls provide an ideal and highly valued opportunity for internal medicine residents to learn the ACGME competencies.