At the spring meeting of the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians (ACOEP), held in Phoenix, the Foundation for Osteopathic Emergency Medicine (FOEM) provided start-up funding for a novel proposal to study the adoption of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) single-pathway accreditation by the 62 osteopathic-accredited training programs in emergency medicine.

At full funding, the ACOEP-ACGME Paradigm Research Group will provide multi-year grant support to up to 27 core faculty researchers to develop a database documenting changes in cost, quality, and satisfaction of osteopathic residents, core faulty, and program directors during the transition to the single pathway. Participating residency programs will have access to the database during and after completion of the project.

Expected outcomes are the identification and dissemination of best practices and the identification of common regulatory impediments and potential strategies for accommodation. The ACOEP board has voted to support this specialty-wide quality improvement initiative. The ACOEP-ACGME Paradigm Research Group was proposed and is directed by Michael Allswede, DO, chair of the Research Committee at ACOEP. For more information and updates, visit www.acoep.org.