February 22, 2012

Thomas J. Nasca, MD, MACP
ACGME Chief Executive Officer

Dear program directors, designated institutional officials, coordinators, faculty members, residents, fellows, and other members of the GME community,

I am pleased to tell you that today, the ACGME announced the rollout of the Next Accreditation System (NAS) in the online issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The NAS is a significant evolution of the existing accreditation system, and the culmination of the work of many in the field that began with ACGME’s Outcome Project in 1998.

A more detailed explanation of the philosophy of the NAS is available in today’s online issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The specifics of this system will be announced over the next few months through letters and PowerPoint presentations made available to the field on the newly created ACGME NAS microsite: www.acgme-nas.org.

This will be a major topic of discussion and presentation at the ACGME Annual Educational Conference in Orlando next week. For those of you unable to attend, I will be publishing more detailed letters and presentations on the microsite in the next few weeks, explaining in greater depth the philosophy of the NAS, and demonstrating how the rollout of competency-based accreditation will reduce administrative burden, facilitate innovation, improve patient safety, and enhance quality of patient care. I will also be visiting many program director and designated institutional official organizational meetings this spring and fall to personally explain the NAS.

The ACGME is excited about the future of graduate medical education, and the role each of us will play in the education of the next generation of highly qualified physicians in serving the public over the first half of the 21^st century.

Sincerely,

Thomas J. Nasca, MD, MACP
Chief Executive Officer