APMA News - September/October 2017 - 56

CPME Update
CPME Self-Study
The mission of the Council on Podiatric Medical Education
is to promote the quality of doctoral education, postdoctoral
education, certification, and continuing education. The CPME
review process encourages accredited professional degree programs and approved continuing education providers to engage in careful self-study followed by changes directed to quality improvement. Similarly, CPME conducts its own self-study
every six or seven years, and as part of that process, the council surveys those it evaluates and those who help the council in
its accreditation and approval processes. In March, the council
emailed a survey to 703 individuals representing specialty
boards; residencies; fellowships; continuing education providers; colleges of podiatric medicine; CPME volunteers (current
and former CPME members, committee members, and college,
residency, and fellowship evaluators); students; young members; the APMA House of Delegates; and the APMA Board of
Trustees. Responses were submitted by 272 members of the
community of interest, yielding a 39-percent response rate. The
responses were provided anonymously, but specific categories
of responders were identified.

Survey Responses
The following selected statements identified as important
to CPME's core effectiveness received from 87-92-percent
positive responses:
* The CPME accreditation process helps those being evaluated to become more aware of their strengths and opportunities for improvement.
* CPME on-site evaluations are accurate and complete.
* Team reports are prepared and distributed in a timely
manner.
* [The] approval process helps institutions achieve their
mission/goals/competencies, etc.
* CPME effectively establishes standards for podiatric education.
* CPME assures that standards for podiatric medical education are met.
* The council and its committees and staff are knowledgeable about council policies and procedures and provide
helpful, clear, and consistent responses to questions.
The lowest-ranked statements were: Approval process enhances patient care competencies (69 percent); CPME uses
technology in an effective manner (71 percent); and CPME is
open to feedback for improving its services and processes
(73 percent).
The survey asked whether the council should establish a
continuing education on-site evaluation process. The majority (74 percent) of respondents believe that no changes should
be made to the overall process for approving providers of continuing education.
56 APMA News September/October 2017

The survey also asked whether there should be a relationship
between residency availability and college enrollment. When it
appears that the number of graduates will exceed the number of
residency positions, 68 percent believe the colleges should
voluntarily agree to lower their enrollments until a mutually
agreed-upon number of graduates is reached. When it appears
the number of graduates will exceed the number of residency
positions, 54 percent think the council should mandate that
each college temporarily reduce its enrollment by a specific
number. The profession seems to remain divided on how best to
remedy a college graduate-residency position imbalance.
CPME reviewed the survey results and comments at its
April meeting as the council began its 2017 self-study. Written
comments from 161 respondents (60 percent) in general reflected overall satisfaction with CPME activities. The council, however, takes concerns and suggestions for improvement seriously regarding the lowest-ranked items, as well as such issues as
the number of residency positions, the length of the residency
approval application process, and continued improvement in
the ability of members of the community of interest to comment on document changes. The concerns and suggestions for
improvement will become formal agenda items for CPME and
its committees as they strive to continually improve the council's accreditation and approval processes.

What's Next?
At its October meeting, the council will review a draft of the
self-study report and take actions related to objectives developed from the survey results, including ranking the objectives
in order of priority, and strategies to be pursued over the next
five years. The council will provide the profession its final selfstudy report following the October meeting.

Fall 2017 Residency Visits-Invitation for Comments
As part of the residency approval process, CPME conducts
on-site evaluation of new programs and on-site re-evaluation of
approved programs. To review the programs currently scheduled for on-site evaluation during fall 2017, visit www.cpme.org
and select "Approval Information for Residencies." The council
updates the list as evaluation dates are confirmed.
The council's residency approval process includes consideration of third-party comments concerning an institution's
qualifications for either provisional or continued approval.
Comments must be received no later than 15 days prior to the
program's scheduled site visit date. All third-party comments
must be signed. Comments are forwarded to the evaluation
team, and anonymously to the program director for response,
if appropriate, prior to the visit.
Please submit third-party comments to: Nahla Wu, CPME
associate director, at ngwu@cpme.org.
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http://www.cpme.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of APMA News - September/October 2017