Mystery behind the match: an undergraduate medical education-graduate medical education collaborative approach to understanding match goals and outcomes.

Background: There is a paucity of information regarding institutional targets for the number of undergraduate medical education (UME) graduates being matched to graduate medical education (GME) programs at their home institutions. At our institution, the Duke University, the number of UME graduates matched to GME programs declined dramatically in 2011. To better understand why this decline may have happened, we sought to identify perceived quality metrics for UME and GME learners, evaluate trends in match outcomes and educational program characteristics, and explore whether there is an ideal retention rate for UME graduates in their home institutions' GME programs.

Fostering creativity: how the Duke Graduate Medical Education Quasi-Endowment encourages innovation in GME.

The Duke Medicine Graduate Medical Education Quasi-Endowment, established in 2006, provides infrastructure support and encourages educational innovation. The authors describe Duke's experience with the "grassroots innovation" part of the fund, the Duke Innovation Fund, and discuss the Innovation Fund's processes for application, review, and implementation, and also outcomes, impact, and intended and unintended consequences.In the five years of the Innovation Fund described (2007-2011), 105 projects have been submitted, and 78 have been funded.

Internal reviews benefit programs of the review team members and the program under review.

Background: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) mandates that sponsoring institutions conduct internal reviews. In 1998, the ACGME Institutional Review Committee gave Duke University Hospital a citation for an inadequate internal review (IR) process. Since then, we have instituted several iterative changes.

Use of an institutional template for annual program evaluation and improvement: benefits for program participation and performance.

Purpose: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) expects programs to engage in ongoing, meaningful improvement, facilitated in part through an annual process of program assessment and improvement. The Duke University Hospital Office of Graduate Medical Education (OGME) used an institutional practice-based learning and improvement strategy to improve the annual evaluation and improvement of its programs.

Methods: The OGME implemented several strategies including the development and dissemination of a template for the report, program director and coordinator development, a reminder and tracking system, incorporation of the document into internal reviews, and use of incentives to promote program adherence.