Today, the Council on Graduate Medical Education (COGME) released a letter addressed to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and Congress providing the Council’s policy recommendations regarding COVID-19.
As part of its letter, COGME recommended that the CMS “[a]llow flexibility and extend the 5-year GME cap period for new GME programs during the pandemic in high priority and needed specialties.” The COGME made this recommendation after finding that “GME programs are struggling to adapt in the COVID-19 crisis, and may lack the necessary resources to fully focus on and develop their residency programs within the mandated 5-year cap period.”
As the premier advisory council for Graduate Medical Education in the federal government, the Council’s letter and recommendation provides strong support for HHS and Congress to adopt a more flexible GME cap policy.