Criteria for Excellence | Chapter 5: Strategic Planning
Turn your residency program’s vision into goals, strategies and meaningful improvement.
Strategic planning for family medicine residency programs
A Program of Excellence strategic plan will have:
Vision and mission statements that are reviewed annually and revised at least every three to five years. The review and revision process incorporate feedback from program participants and key stakeholders. The mission describes the overall purpose of the program. The vision creates a powerful image of the program as it carries out its work. These statements should guide and inspire members of the program toward innovative training and patient care.
Defined core values and a delineation of how they were derived and how often they are to be reexamined. These values should describe the key priorities in the
program’s culture and the core of the program and what it cherishes. The description should reflect how members of the program interact in the workplace and what they describe as their most significant commitments.A formal strategic planning process that allows the program to develop and
articulate its vision for the overall purpose of the program and the outcomes of its graduates. The strategic plan outlines the outcomes that will guide decisions in keeping with the program’s vision, including:
- Goals and/or objectives that support obtaining the program’s vision.
- Specific tactics and a timeline to accomplish the goals. Programs of Excellence utilize formal project management tools, techniques, and processes to clearly document, manage, track, and report on the execution of strategies and tactics to achieve elements of their strategic plan.
- An ongoing process that assesses the progress toward these goals and
reevaluates the steps needed to attain the program’s vision.
Engage stakeholders in residency strategic planning
The program should communicate its strategic plan to the appropriate stakeholders at least annually, with their support and participation enlisted in the development of the strategic goals and objectives. The governing board of the sponsoring institution should be included as a stakeholder. The sponsoring institution should endorse the program’s strategic plan and provide the resources necessary to achieve the program goals.
Assign responsibility for strategic priorities
Specific tactics within the program’s strategic plan should be assigned to those responsible for executing them to attain the program’s vision.
Evaluate and update your residency strategic plan
The program should regularly evaluate the progress of assigned goals and tactics, redeveloping these as needed to achieve the program vision. This should be at least annually as part of the program evaluation committee (PEC) and annual program evaluation (APE). As change in the program mission, internal and external environment occurs, the program’s faculty and stakeholders must meet to realign the program’s goals and tactics. It should be aligned with annual program evaluations required by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
Review the strategic plan every three to five years
The formal strategic planning process should be revised at least every three to five years, and any time significant changes in the health care environment occur that could affect program outcomes. This includes changes in the national health care environment; the educational, clinical, or accreditation environments; or the local environment.