Advocacy
Keep updated on the latest AAIM successes and take action on key policy issues affecting academic internal medicine.
The Alliance Joins NAM Change Maker Campaign for Health Workforce Well-Being
October 2023 - In October 2022, The National Academy of Medicine released the National Plan for Health Workforce Well-Being to drive collective action to strengthen health workforce well-being and restore the health of the nation, as more nurses, physicians, and public health employees than ever are poised to leave their professions. To celebrate the first year of the national plan, NAM launched the Change Maker Campaign, which aims to advance the national plan priority areas and spark a national movement to support health workforce well-being. The campaign will provide a dynamic mechanism to facilitate information sharing and collaboration across ongoing initiatives, document their impact, and amplify effective solutions to common challenges. As a Change Maker, AAIM joins more than 190 organizations representing health care and public health leaders, government, payers, industry, educators, and other groups to drive policy and systems change.
The Alliance Recommends Title Change Administrators in ACGME CPRs
September 2023 - AAIM sent a letter to ACGME recommending to change the title from “program coordinator” to “program administrator” in the Common Program Requirements. A task force analyzed results from the 2023 APDIM Program Administrators Survey and found the data shows that 30% of individuals currently serving in this role hold a bachelor's degree, with 31% of individuals either pursuing or having completed a master's degree or higher. Moreover, survey results over the last eight years show that the percentage of individuals in this role who hold a bachelor’s degree or higher has consistently increased. This title change will more accurately reflect the level of responsibility and education required for this role.
The Alliance Signs on to Support Disability-Inclusive Health Care
September 2023 - AAIM joined more than 20 organizations to support a roadmap developed by the Action to Build Clinical Confidence and Culture coalition to improve the health care of 14 million Americans who have intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD). The coalition will work with professional societies, such as AAIM, ACP, and ACGME, to map IDD competencies, create curriculum standards and quality measures, incentivize clinical education, advocate for licensing and certification standards, and promote clinical environments that are supportive of people with IDD.
View the roadmap | See the steering committee
AAIM Urges NASEM to Improve Internal Medicine Representation for Primary Care
August 2023 -- Earlier this week, the Alliance sent a letter to the leadership of the National Academies Standing Committee on Primary Care, urging them to consider increasing the number of representatives to be included in the newly established Standing Committee on Primary Care. Internal medicine is the specialty with the largest number of active physicians specializing in primary care, yet only two internal medicine physicians are listed in the provisional committee appointments. AAIM also recommended considering individuals from community-based teaching hospitals.
Read the letter>
Alliance, Other Stakeholders Send Letter to Congress Urging Appropriate Funding for NDDs
May 2023 -- The Alliance and 760 local, state, and national organizations signed onto and sent a letter calling on Congressional leadership to reject cuts to non-defense discretionary appropriations (NDDs).
Read the letter>
Alliance, Other Stakeholders Sign Letter Supporting the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2023
May 2023 -- The Alliance and nearly 80 other organizations signed-on to a letter sent to congressional leaders supporting the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2023 (H.R. 2389). This bipartisan legislation is crucial to expanding the physician workforce and ensuring that patients across the country are able to access quality care from providers. The Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2023 supports a gradual increase of the number of Medicare-funded GME positions by 2,000 per year for seven years, for a total of 14,000 new slots.
Read the letter>
Alliance, Other Stakeholders Sign-on to Letter in Support of the DACA Program and Dreamers
March 2023 -- The Alliance and 77 other organizations signed-on to and sent a letter to congressional leaders urging enactment of legislation that provides permanent protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. The letter, which was also sent to Sen. Durbin and Sen. Graham, the sponsors of the Dream Act, outlines the invaluable contributions that "Dreamers" provide to the US health and biomedical workforce. Legislation is needed in light of recent court rulings that have left the DACA program in legal limbo.
Read the letter>
Alliance, Other Stakeholders Sign-on to Final Ad Hoc Group Recommendations
March 2023— The Alliance, as one of almost 400 members of the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research, signed onto the final Ad Hoc Group Recommendations letter sent to House and Senate Appropriations Committee leaders in March 2023. The Ad Hoc Group FY 2024 funding recommendation requests at least $50.924 billion for NIH’s foundational work, a $3.465 billion increase over the comparable FY 2023 program level.
Read the letter>
AAIM Supports Seven Program Signals for 2023-2024 Residency Application
March 2023 — The Alliance has been an integral part of the ERAS Supplemental Application Pilot in FY 2022 and FY 2023. In FY 2024, geographic preferences and the revised experiences section of the pilot will be fully integrated into the application. Program signals are also being fully integrated into the MyERAS application for applicants in 2024, but due to the complexity of program signaling, each interested specialty was asked to explicitly agree to participate in program signals. After careful consideration, the Alliance has indicated that internal medicine will use program signaling in FY 2024; APDIM and CDIM leaders selected seven as the best number of program signals.
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AAIM Responds to Proposed ACGME Revisions to Subspecialty Program Requirements
February 2023 — The Alliance provided feedback to ACGME about the proposed revisions to the internal medicine subspecialty program requirements. Rather than sharing specific views on individual subspecialities, AAIM comments relate the general requirements that apply to all subspecialties. In particular, the Alliance urged ACGME to acknowledge the broad variability of institutional support available to programs and therefore to be more flexible in requirements related to required rotations, nontraditional settings, and telemedicine. AAIM also urged ACGME to be less prescriptive in the requirements for minimum core faculty and faculty expertise in novel technologies.
Read the feedback>
Alliance, Other Stakeholders Urge Congress to Finalize FY2023 Funding
December 2022— The Alliance, as one of almost 300 members of the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research, signed onto a November 8 letter sent to House and Senate Appropriations Committee leaders urging the passage of the final FY 2023 funding bills. Specifically, the letter called for passing the $47.5 billion for the NIH base budget that the House Appropriations Committee has already passed. The letter also requested that Congress avoid another continuing resolution (CR) after the current FY 2022 CR ends on December 16, and encourages passage of a final FY2023 spending bill.
Read the letter
AAIM Provides Feedback on Unintended Consequences of New ACGME FTE Requirements
September 2022—Through the work of a cross-council writing group, the Alliance developed a letter summarizing many of the concerns about the new program requirements for core faculty support of internal medicine residency and fellowship programs. Sent September 8, the letter to ACGME acknowledges the shared goal of providing outstanding training and the mutual commitment to prioritizing resources for education. However, the new requirements have raised several financial challenges and potential repercussions for training, compensation, and research that AAIM hopes to ameliorate through cooperation with ACGME and other key stakeholders.
Update: In a September 21 response, ACGME shared that in response to the input from the Alliance and others, the current core faculty member FTE requirements for internal medicine subspecialties will not be enforced in 2023 and that they will be revised as part of the major revision of subspecialty program requirements currently underway.
Read the letter | Read the ACGME response
The Alliance Signs On to GME Advocacy Coalition Letter
July 2022—The Graduate Medical Education Advocacy Coalition--of which AAIM is a member--sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to urge them to build upon historic investment in the health care workforce as they consider upcoming budget reconciliation legislation. Investments to increase the number of physicians are sorely needed; the coalition specifically asked leaders to include policies that would increase Medicare support for GME in the budget reconciliation legislation.
Read the letter
The Alliance Joins More than 75 Organizations in Statement Against Legislative Interference
July 2022—Initially developed by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Medical Association in response to the June 24 US Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the statement asserts that “as the US health care system enters a post-Roe era, we, representing dozens of major organizations of health care professionals, oppose all legislative interference in the patient–clinician relationship. Our patients need to be able to access—and our clinicians need to be able to provide—the evidence-based care that is right for them, including abortion, without arbitrary limitations, without threats, and without harm.”
Read the full statement
The Alliance Calls for Policymakers to Support Gun Safety Legislation
May 2022—The Alliance is saddened and horrified by the most recent spate of mass shootings in the United States. More than two years ago, AAIM joined 40 other leading organizations to call for policies to help reduce firearm related injury and death in the United States. Today, the Alliance calls for policymakers to represent the interests of the public—which includes our patients, learners, and faculty and staff—and support legislation to mandate background checks, enact “red flag” laws, ban access to assault weapons, and increase federal support for research on gun violence as a public health issue.
Read the full statement
Alliance Continues Advocacy for Formal DIO Evaluation Process
April 2022— Because the support of a DIO is critical to a successful education mission, the Alliance has again asked ACGME to strongly consider developing and implementing an assessment tool to objectively assess the performance of the DIO. To be beneficial to the program, institution, and ACGME, this tool should be anonymous, administered on a 360-degree basis (including all key stakeholders), and include feedback from all program directors within the institution. The Alliance also asked ACGME to consider a formal DIO evaluation process in March 2021 in consideration of the challenges posed to institutions by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read the April 2022 letter to ACGME | Read the March 2021 letter to ACGME