Adjustments to residency credentials for 2021

Temporary adjustments to the ECEIM residency programme credential requirements for candidates applying for the 2022 certifying examination

Following a review of the ECEIM Residency Covid-19 related risk assessment undertaken in October 2020, and in response to cancellation of the ECEIM examinations in January 2021, the Education & Credentials Committee have met and agreed temporary adjustments to the credential requirements for candidates submitting applications for the 2022 ECEIM certifying examination.  The ECC and the ECEIM Board fully recognise the widening impact that the Covid-19 pandemic will have had on all residents since the survey was conducted and have thus sought to ease the pressure on our residents as much as possible whilst retaining the necessary quality assurance of the residency programme. 

ADJUSTMENTS TO CREDENTIALS

The following adjustments, agreed by the ECC and the Board, will be effective for all applications for the certifying examination submitted on or before the 30th of June 2021 (Category 1a and 1b candidates).

Candidates will be permitted to submit for provisional approval to sit the certifying examination pending completion of the following credential requirements;

• 15 core internal medicine training weeks
• 100 cases in the case log
• 5 additional training rotation weeks
• 1 professional presentation

Provisional approval will be granted on the proviso that these outstanding requirements will be completed or attained be the 31st of December 2021. 

Consequently, when submitting for the certifying examination in June 2021, all candidates will now have a minimum requirement of 78 internal medicine training weeks, 500 cases in the case log, 8 additional training rotations and 5 professional presentations. All other residency training requirements (with the exception of the publication requirements – see below) will remain the same.

Where there are outstanding requirements within the above allowance, the committee request that each candidate also provides evidence to satisfy that the arrangements are in place to ensure the completion of the outstanding requirements.  Where there are still internal medicine weeks to be completed or clinical cases to be logged, the resident must provide a letter from their primary supervisor confirming that an appropriate schedule for the remaining training weeks is in place.  Where there are still any additional training rotation weeks to complete, the resident must provide a letter signed by the intended training rotation supervisor confirming that the rotation is scheduled to go ahead. No evidence is required for an outstanding professional presentation.

Once the outstanding requirements have been completed, residents will be required to submit their Resident Documentation Pack (RDP) for final review by the 31st of December.  If the outstanding credentials have not been met by that date, the provisional approval to sit the certifying exam will be revoked. 

PUBLICATION REQUIREMENTS

In addition to this, the committee have agreed a temporary relaxation of the requirements relating to the resident’s publications.  All candidates sitting the 2022 certifying examination will be required to provide evidence that both publications have, at the least, been submitted for review by the 31st of December 2021

In this scenario, candidates will be able to sit the examination whilst the publication review process is taking place. If the candidate is successful in the examination, the ECEIM diploma and specialist status will not be conferred until both the ECC and the Exam Committee have been provided with evidence that both publications have been accepted.  In this scenario, the candidate would then be required to provide evidence that the manuscript has been accepted for publication by the 31st of December 2022.  Where candidates are unable to meet this deadline they will be required to contact the ECC so that their situation can be further considered on a case-by-case basis.

CONFERENCES

Due to the COVID situation, the Summer school will be accepted as a major conference for 2020 and 2021. Only 1 of the 3 major conferences might be Summer school.

ONGOING MONITORING OF IMPACT OF COVID-19 

We trust that these adjustments will provide some reassurance, not only to those residents planning to sit the 2022 certifying exam, but to all residents enrolled in an ECEIM training programme.  It is essential that we are able to adapt to the ever-evolving challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, and we want to ensure you that appropriate contingences are being put in place.  It is only possible to make short-term adjustments at this stage, however, the ECC intend to continually monitor the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on our residency training programmes and we will conduct a further objective risk evaluation in the Autumn of 2021. 

If you have any concerns relating to this announcement, please contact the education & credentials committee at ecc@eceim.info