Chattanooga Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC)

Robert C. Fore, EdD, Associate Dean/Designated Institutional Official, and Chair of the GMEC

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requires every Sponsoring Institution to have a Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC) that, in cooperation with the Designated Institutional Official (DIO), oversees the GME Programs sponsored by the institution.  Meetings must be conducted at least once each quarter.  The ACGME requires that voting members must include:

• Designated Institutional Official (DIO)
• A minimum of two Program Directors of ACGME-Accredited Programs
• A minimum of two peer-selected Residents from its ACGME-Accredited Programs
• A quality improvement or patient safety officer or designee

Our GMEC is chaired by the DIO (Dr. Robert Fore).  Voting Members include:

• All Department Chairs
• All Program Directors
• Dean, College of Medicine Chattanooga Campus
• Associate Dean, Research
• Assistant Dean, Medical Student Education and Well-Being
• Assistant Dean, Finance
• CLER Quality Director
• Peer-selected Residents/Fellows from each Department
• House Staff Association Officers
• Erlanger CEO
• Erlanger Interim Chief Medical Officer
• Director of Finance and Administration
• Director of Graduate and Medical Student Education

Non-Voting Members include:

• All Associate Program Directors (may vote when representing a Chair and/or Program Director)
• Erlanger Chief Nursing Officer
• Erlanger Chief Information Officer
• Erlanger Chief Medical Information Officer
• Chief Medical Officer, Erlanger Medical Group
• Chief, Medical Staff, Erlanger Health System
• Other Erlanger Administration, e.g., Chief Financial Officer (may vote if representing Erlanger Administration)
• GME Lead Coordinator

We ask that at least one department official (Chair, Program Director, or Associate Program Director) represent each Department at the GMEC meetings.  Our GMEC usually meets ten times per year -- the fourth Tuesday of each month except December and June).   

Each GMEC meeting must be attended by at least one resident representative.  Minutes must be maintained and must document the requirements and responsibilities identified as part of the ACGME Institutional Requirements.  Minutes and GMEC documentation for our Campus are the responsibility of the Director of Graduate and Medical Student Education.

Responsibilities of the GMEC include:

Oversight of:

• the ACGME accreditation status of the Sponsoring Institution and each of its ACGME-accredited programs;
• the quality of the GME learning and working environment within the Sponsoring Institution, each of its ACGME-Accredited programs, and its participating sites;
• the quality of educational experiences in each ACGME-accredited program that lead to measurable achievement of educational outcomes as identified in the ACGME Common and specialty-/subspecialty-specific Program Requirements;
• the ACGME-accredited program(s)’ annual program evaluations and self-studies; 
• all processes related to reductions and closures of individual ACGME-accredited programs, major participating sites, and the Sponsoring Institution; and,
• the provision of summary information of patient safety reports to residents, fellows, faculty members, and other clinical staff members. At a minimum, this oversight must include verification that such summary information is being provided.

Review and Approval of:

• institutional GME policies and procedures;
• annual recommendations to the Sponsoring Institution’s administration regarding resident/fellow stipends and benefits; 
• applications for ACGME accreditation of new programs;
• requests for permanent changes in resident/fellow complement;
• major changes in each of its ACGME-accredited programs’ structure or duration of education;
• additions and deletions of each of its ACGME-accredited programs’ participating sites;
• appointment of new program directors;
• progress reports requested by a Review Committee;
• responses to Clinical Learning Environment Review (CLER) reports;
• requests for exceptions to clinical and educational work hour requirements;
• voluntary withdrawal of ACGME program accreditation;
• requests for appeal of an adverse action by a Review Committee; and,
• appeal presentations to an ACGME Appeals Panel.
• is committee are to establish and implement policies and procedures regarding the quality of education and the work environment for residents, review and make recommendations on resident stipends and benefits, establish and maintain oversight of program directors, establish and implement policies regarding duty hours, ensure programs provide appropriate supervision, review all ACGME program accreditation letters, and approve correspondence to ACGME.

The GMEC must demonstrate effective oversight of the Sponsoring Institution’s accreditation through an Annual Institutional Review (AIR). 

The GMEC must identify institutional performance indicators for the AIR, to include, at a minimum: 

• the most recent ACGME institutional letter of notification;
• results of ACGME surveys of residents/fellows and core faculty members; and,
• each of its ACGME-accredited programs’ ACGME accreditation information, including accreditation statuses and citations.

The DIO must annually submit a written executive summary of the AIR to the Sponsoring Institution’s Governing Body. The written executive summary must include:

• a summary of institutional performance on indicators for the AIR; and,
• action plans and performance monitoring procedures resulting from the AIR.

The GMEC must demonstrate effective oversight of underperforming program(s) through a Special Review process.   The Special Review process must include a protocol that:

• establishes criteria for identifying underperformance; and
• results in a report that describes the quality improvement goals, the corrective actions, and the process for GMEC monitoring of outcomes. 

Role	Name	Title/Area
Chair, GMEC (Voting Member)	Robert C. Fore, EdD	Associate Dean and Designated Institutional Official
Vice Chair, GMEC (Voting Member)	Sudave Mendiratta, MD, FACEP	Chair, Department of Family Medicine
Deans and Dean's Office Administration (Voting Members)	James W. Haynes, MD, MBA, FAAFP	Interim Dean, UT College of Medicine Chattanooga (and Chair, Department of Family Medicine)
	Jeffrey Bennett, MD, MBOE	CLER Quality Director
	Jane Clay	Director, Finance and Administration
	Cindy Olson	Assistant Dean, Finance and Administration
	Mukta Panda, MD, MACP, FRCP-London	Assistant Dean, Well-Being and Medical Student Administration
	Giuseppe Pizzorno, PharmD	Associate Dean, Research (and Erlanger Chief Research Officer)
GME Administration (Voting Member)	Pamela D. Scott, C-TAGME	Director, Graduate and Medical Student Education
GME Administration (Non-Voting Members)	Jacqueline Hogan, CAP	GME Financial Specialist
	Vacant	GME Lead Coordinator
Erlanger Administration (Voting Members)	William Jackson, MD, MBA	President and CEO, Erlanger Health System
	Donald Barker, MD, FACS	Interim Chief Medical Officer, Erlanger Health System
Erlanger Administration (Non-Voting Members.  One of these may vote to represent either the Erlanger CEO or CMO if not present)	Dave Garrett	Chief Information Officer, Erlanger Health System
	TBA	Chief Medical Information Officer, Erlanger Health System
	Doug Brewer, MD, FASCRS, MSc, CPE	Chief Medical Officer, Erlanger Medical Group (and a Gastroenterologist)
	Christopher Poole, MD	Chief, Medical Staff, Erlanger Health System
	Rachel Harris, BSN, RN	Chief Nursing Executive, Erlanger Health System
	Adam Campbell, Phd	Vice President for Quality & Patient Safety (Quality Officer), Erlanger Health System
Chairs (Voting Members)	Jigme Sethi, MD, FACP	Interim Chair, Department of Medicine
	Mounzer Yassin-Kassab, MD, MS	Chair, Department of Neurology
	Stephen DePasquale, MD, FACS	Chair, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
	Richard Alvarez, MD	Interim Chair, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
	Charles Woods, Jr, MD, MS, FAAP	Chair, Department of Pediatrics (also Chief Medical Officer, Children's Hospital at Erlanger)
	Mark Brzezienski, MD, MS, FACS	Chair and Residency Program Director, Department of Plastic Surgery
	Justin Calvert, MD	Chair, Department of Radiology
	R. Philip Burns, MD, FACS	Chair, Department of Surgery, and Erlanger Board Member
	Amar Singh, MD, FACS	Chair, Department of Urology
Program Directors (Voting Members)	Dharmendra Patel, MD	Program Director, Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship
	J. Daniel Stanley, MD, FACS, FASCRS	Program Director, Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship
	Frank Tift, MD, FAEMS, FACEP	Program Director, Emergency Medical Services Fellowship
	W. Douglas Gregorie, MD, FACEP	Program Director, Emergency Medicine Residency
	Leslie Griffin, MD, MPH	Program Director, Family Medicine Residency
	Arslan Kahloon, MD	Program Director, Gastroenterology Fellowship
	L. Curtis Cary, MD, FAAP, FACP, MRCP (London)	Program Director, Internal Medicine Residency (also Faculty, Pediatrics Residency)
	R. Phillip Burns, MD, FACS	Program Director, Mastery in General Surgery Program (American College of Surgeons-approved)
	Todd Boren, MD	Program Director, Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery Fellowship (AAGL Accredited)
	Harris Hawk, MD	Program Director, Neuro-Interventional Surgery Fellowship
	Mitch Dizon, MD, MSCR, FACOG	Program Director, Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency (also Associate Program Director for the MIGS Fellowship)
	Jeremy Bruce, MD	Program Director, Orthopaedic Surgery Residency
	Warren Gardner, II, MD	Program Director, Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery Fellowship (Accredited by the Orthopaedic Trauma Association)
	Karla Garcia, MD, FAAP	Program Director, Pediatrics Residency
	W. Heath Giles, MD, FACS	Program Director, Surgery Residency Junior Associate Director, ACS Mastery in General Surgery
	Robert Maxwell, MD, FACS	Program Director, Surgical Critical Care Fellowship
	Charles Joels, MD, FACS, RPVI	Program Director, Vascular Surgery Fellowship
	Anand Shridharani, MD	Program Director, Urology Residency
Associate Program Directors (may vote if representing a Chair or Program Director)	Richard Moore, MD, PhD, FACS, FASCRS	Associate Program Director, Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship and Surgery Residency
	Karen Rogers, MD	Associate Program Director, Emergency Medicine Residency
	Robert Zylstra, EdD, LSW	Assistant Program Director, Family Medicine Residency
	Jensen Hyde, MD	Associate Program Director, Internal Medicine Residency
	Radhika Shah, MD	Associate Program Director, Internal Medicine Residency
	Angela Yates, MD	Associate Program Director, Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency
	Jesse Doty, MD	Associate Program Director, Orthopaedic Surgery Residency
	Dirk Kiner, MD	Associate Program Director, Orthopaedic Trauma Fellowship
	Vanessa Pigg, MD	Assistant Program Director, Pediatrics Residency
	Amy Wells, MD	Assistant Program Director, Pediatrics Residency
	Jason Zurawick, MD	Associate Program Director, Pediatrics Residency
	Jason Rehm, MD	Associate Program Director, Plastic Surgery Residency
	S. Dave Bhattacharya, MD, FACS	Associate Program Director, Surgery Residency
	Benjamin Dart, MD, FACS	Vice Chair, Department of Surgery, and Associate Program Director, Surgery Residency
	Eric Nelson, MD, FACS, FASCRS	Associate Program Director, Surgery Residency
	Darren Hunt, MD, FACS	Associate Program Director, Surgical Critical Care Fellowship
	Phillip Smith, MD, FACS	Associate Program Director, Surgical Critical Care Fellowship
	Benjamin Waldorf, MD	Associate Program Director, Urology Residency
Peer-Selected Residents/Fellows (one voting member per program)	Joshua Davis, DO	Cardiovascular Diseaes Fellow Representative, 3rd Year, PGY-6
	Connor Kimbrell, MD	Emergency Medicine Resident Representative, PGY-3, Chief Resident
	Kelsey Chason, MD	Emergency Medicine Resident Representative, PGY-3, Chief Resident (Backup)
	Matthew Plott, MD	Emergency Medicine Resident Representative, PGY-3, Chief Resident (Backup)
	Kaitlyn Greer, MD	Family Medicine Resident Representative, PGY-3, Chief Resident
	Krista Cowan, MD	Family MedicineResident Representative, PGY-3, Chief Resident (Backup)
	Maaz Sohail, MD	Gastroenterology Fellow Representative, 3rd Year Fellow, PGY6
	Natasha Amjed, DO, MPH, MA	Internal Medicine Resident Representative, PGY-3
	William Oelsner, MD	Internal Medicine Resident Representative, PGY-3, House Staff Association Secretary
	Chanda Hall, MD	OB/GYN Resident Representative, PGY-4
	Joseph Bird III, MD	OB/GYN Resident Representative, PGY-3
	Burton Dunlap, MD	Orthopaedic Resident/Fellow Representative, PGY-5 Chief Resident
	Tyler Ward, MD	Orthopaedic Resident/Fellow Representative, PGY-5 Chief Resident (Backup)
	Benjamin Welborn, MD	Orthopaedic Resident/Fellow Representative, PGY-5 Chief Resident (Backup)
	Pahola Rodriguez, MD	Pediatrics Resident Representative, PL-1
	Brittney Johnston, MD	Pediatrics Resident Representative, PL-1 (Backup)
	Luke Boone, MD	Plastic Surgery Resident Representative, PGY-8, Chief Resident
	Phuoc Nguyen, MD	Plastic Surgery Resident Representative, PGY-9, Chief Resident (Backup)
	Hayley Everett, MD	Surgery Resident/Fellow Representative, PGY-4, House Staff Association President
	Chace Hicks, MD	Surgery Resident/Fellow Representative, PGY-3, House Staff Association Treasurer
	Dresden Melton-Soderstrom, MD	Surgery Resident/Fellow Representative, PGY-5, House Staff Association Vice President
	Michael Tonzi, MD	Urology Resident Representative, PGY-3
	Matthew Watson, MD	Urology Resident Representative, PGY-5, Chief Resident (Backup)
Invited Guess (Non-Voting Members)	Samantha Bond	Cardiovascular & Gastreonterology Fellowships Coordinator
	Maggie Hamblen, CAP	Surgery Residency and Colon & Rectal Surgery Fellowship Coordinator
	Hollie Daugherty	Emergency Medical Services Administrative Assistant/Coordinator
	Velvet Green	Emergency Medicine Residency Coordinator
	Robbin Williams, C-TAGME	Family Medicine Residency Coordinator
	Deborah Fuller	Internal Medicine Residency Coordinator
	Jessica Howell, RN	OB/GYN Residency Coordinator
	Donna Gibson, CAP	Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Coordinator
	Ashley Thurston, CAP	Pediatrics Residency Coordinator
	Marsha Williams	Plastic Surgery Residency and Research Coordinator
	Cindy Rudolph, MS	Surgery Residency Lead Coordinator; and Coordinator for the Vascular Surgery Fellowship)
	Stacey Blanks, CAP, C-TAGME	Urology Residency Coordinator
Other Guests (Non-Voting)	Jetina Okereke, MD	Instructor/Administrative Chief Resident, Internal Medicine
	Kathryn Oelsner, MD	Instructor/Administrative Chief Resident, Pediatrics