 |
Vicki Hamm |
Being an author was not among them – until she got a call last fall.
Today, UNMC’s Graduate Medical Education Program administrator is the author of “The Graduate Medical Education Committee Handbook,” published recently by HCPro. Inc., a leading authority in health care regulation and compliance.
Within the 167-page book and CD-ROM, Hamm describes the roles and responsibilities of the Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC) and provides insight on how to make the GMEC run smoothly and efficiently.
“I hope it helps other people in similar positions and gives them insight into how to do things better,” Hamm said. “That was my goal.”
For the past 32 years, Hamm — one of the longest serving GME administrators in the country — has been the point person to thousands of residents who make UNMC their home for specialty training stretches lasting one to eight years.
As GME administrator in UNMC’s College of Medicine, Hamm advises each resident on a range of issues from program requirements, payroll and licensing, work hours and orientation to UNMC.
She is a resource to UNMC’s 450 residents or house officers, 42 residency coordinators and 42 program directors. The GME office has institutional oversight to make sure all residency requirements and accreditation standards are fulfilled.
With her keen attention to details, Hamm manages all the internal reviews for the training programs as well as budget, orientation, International Medical Graduates sponsorship, National Resident Matching Program and Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education institutional and program reviews. She also oversees the online core competency training courses for house officers at the medical center.
“Vicki has an amazing wealth of expertise and experience in graduate medical education and has shared that with the nation in a succinct and easy-to-comprehend handbook,” said College of Medicine Dean John Gollan, M.D., Ph.D. “Our programs and students have greatly benefited from her careful oversight, attention to detail and guidance.”
The call from editors at HCPro Inc. came after Hamm contacted the administrator of a residency coordinator chat room, in which GME ideas and policies are shared with coordinators across the country. Soon afterward, HCPro editors contacted Hamm and pitched the idea of her writing a book based on her expertise.
“It is great that Vicki is sharing her considerable experience and expertise in graduate medical education with other institutions and administrators,” said Robert Wigton, M.D., associate dean for GME at UNMC. “This is a much needed guide to the management of residency education programs. It is clearly written and informative and takes the reader step-by-step through the all the elements of GME administration including how to conduct internal program reviews, how to manage residency records and how to deal with accrediting agencies.”
Graduate medical education is changing, Hamm said, with the increased focus on competency-based education. Accreditation organizations want proof, she said, that graduates meet educational outcomes and core competencies and so they are capable physicians.
Although the $149 handbook has been selling steadily since last month’s release, Hamm knows there’s a limited market.
“There are only 800 academic medical centers in the country,” she said.
Even so, it was the professional development challenge that spurred the Cook, Neb., native to devote three winter months to the project.
“I really looked at it as an opportunity to examine the regulations by which we live and a chance for me to better understand them,” Hamm said. “It was a great learning process to look at how things are done and ask: Is this adequate?
“It also gave me confidence in a job I already love.”