X.A. Supervision and Accountability

X.A.1 Levels of Supervision

To promote appropriate resident supervision while providing for graded authority and responsibility, the program must use the following classification of supervision[1]:

Direct Supervision: the supervising physician is physically present with the resident during the key portions of the patient interaction; or, PGY-1 residents must initially be supervised directly, only as described:

A supervising physician must be immediately available to be physically present for PGY-1 residents on inpatient rotations who have demonstrated the skills sufficient to progress to indirect supervision.

The supervising physician and/or patient is not physically present with the resident and the supervising physician is concurrently monitoring the patient care through appropriate telecommunication technology.

Indirect Supervision: the supervising physician is not providing physical or concurrent visual or audio supervision but is immediately available to the resident for guidance and is available to provide appropriate direct supervision.

Oversight: the supervising physician is available to provide review of procedures/encounters with feedback provided after care is delivered.

The privilege of progressive authority and responsibility, conditional independence, and a supervisory role in patient care delegated to each resident must be assigned by the program director and faculty members.

PGY 1 residents must be supervised by either faculty or more senior residents in the hospital setting.

The Sponsoring Institution will monitor implementation of these policies through Annual Program Evaluations and Special Focus Reviews. Furthermore, the Sponsoring Institution monitors supervision through a series of questions in the Annual Resident Survey. The Program will monitor supervision through feedback from House Officers and monitoring by Chief Residents and Program Directors.


[1] ACGME Common Program Requirements (Residency),  ACGME-approved focused revision: June 13, 2021; effective July 1, 2022


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