TAGME Newsletter
Get great articles and tips.
Sign up and keep up-to-date.

Introduction to Initial Certification Assessment Tools

There are no study guides or textbooks to read. Knowledge of the day to day management of a residency training program is a major part of preparation for your certification.

There are two separate and distinctly different parts of the TAGME certification process.

Monitored Assessment

The monitored assessment is designed to assess your knowledge of the ACGME requirements for successful maintenance of a residency training program.

Process:

  • 5-hour, proctored assessment
  • Questions types include Matching, Multiple Choice, True/False
  • Citations are required in support of answers
  • Open Book: reflects the underlying philosophy that the crucial skill of the program administrator is the ability to find the answer; NOT the necessity of having instant recall.
    • *Bring copies of the required resource documents to the assessment site; you will need to provide citations in support of your answers.

  • Successful completion is 80%

Components of the Monitored Assessment

  1. Global Monitored Assessment: consists of 60 questions that address your knowledge of the ACGME Common Program and Institutional requirements
  2. Clinical Specialty Monitored Assessment: consists of 90 questions that address your knowledge of the:
    • Program requirements for your clinical specialty
    • Competencies
    • Definition of Terms from the ACGME Glossary
    • Acronyms - commonly utilized acronyms, which encompass those common to all specialties (for example, ERAS, ACGME, AOA), and those specific to your clinical specialty.

Resource Documents:

It is your responsibility to be knowledgeable of the requirements and bring copies of the resource documents with you to the assessment site.

  • ACGME Common Program Requirements
  • ACGME Institutional Requirements
  • ACGME Glossary of Terms
  • ACGME Program Requirements for your clinical specialty
  • Additional documents as required by your specialty - refer to your clinical specialty's page for specific resource document details

Work Effort Tool

The Work Effort Tool is designed to assess your knowledge of your residency training program and how it functions as well as your ability to find and access information relative to graduate medical education.

Process:

  • The Work Effort Tool is sent to you via email
  • Completed at your desk, within a 2-month timeframe
  • Returned to TAGME, via email, on/before the required deadline
  • Successful completion is 80%

Knowledge content areas include:

  • Academic Curriculum
  • Required Annual Surveys - your understanding of the different annual reports, such as WEB-ADS and GME Track
  • Duty Hours
  • Competencies- your knowledge of how the competencies are related to your clinical specialty within its program requirements.
  • Evaluations
  • Procedure/Case Logs
  • Site Visit
  • Website Navigation and Governing Bodies
  • ACGME Policies and Procedures (Section II)
  • ECFMG
  • Recruitment and Recruitment Tools

Unsuccessful Completion

In the event you are not successful on your first attempt, you will have up one year to retake the assessment (s) at no additional cost. Note: only the tool (s) that you did not successfully complete needs to be repeated.

Good luck and congratulations on your decision to pursue certification as a part of your personal professional development!