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Resident and Fellow Policy Manual

Appendix 1 - Policy on Resident Recruitment, Selection, Appointment, and Reappointment:

RECRUITMENT:

All programs will follow ethical guidelines while recruiting qualified applicants to their programs.  If applicants are recruited through a match, all match guidelines regarding recruitment must be followed.

SELECTION:

1. All appointments of medical residents to the Resident Staff of the University of Rochester Medical Center, including post-residency fellows, must hold the MD or DO degree and they must be graduates of schools approved by the LCME (Liaison Committee on Medical Education) or the AOA (American Osteopathic Association) or, in the case of international schools, approved for listing by the World Health Organization or equivalent accrediting bodies and possess a valid ECFMG (Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates) certificate or have a full and unrestricted license to practice medicine in a US licensing jurisdiction in which they are training.  Graduates of medical schools outside the US who have completed a Fifth Pathway program provided by an LCME-accredited medical school are also eligible for appointment.  Dental residents must hold a DDS or DMD degree from a school approved by the CODA (Commission on Dental Accreditation) or if graduates of foreign dental schools, must satisfy New York State licensure requirements for a limited permit to practice dentistry.

2. All medical trainees must meet the minimum selection criteria as described by the ACGME, ABMS or AOA for the specialty.  The University will not support the appointment of a medical trainee who does not meet criteria for board certification upon program completion (if board certification is available).

3. Only J-1 visas are generally accepted for medical residency positions at the University of Rochester. In selected circumstances, the University of Rochester will sponsor individuals for a H-1B visa.  In order for this option to be approved, the program director must substantiate the fact that the individual will significantly improve the educational quality of the program in a letter to the ADGME.  Dental residents can complete their training on a TN visa, H1B visa or under the F1 practical training allowance (maximum one year).

4. Each program must have a set of written standards, appropriate to the specialty, to guide resident selection.  No resident will be asked to sign a non-competition guarantee.

5. For each program, the selection of residents should be the responsibility of a committee of the faculty which has the opportunity to review application materials, rate residents against the published selection standards, and agree as a group on those residents to be selected either through the match or otherwise.  Such decisions should ordinarily not be those of an individual program leader.

APPOINTMENTS, REAPPOINTMENTS:

1. All contract letters are for one year and each resident must be reappointed for each subsequent year of training, contingent upon satisfactory completion of the current post-graduate year.  The University will honor the full term of the contract letter except when a resident’s performance justifies termination. 

2. Recommendations for the appointment and reappointment of residents should be initiated by departments and programs and sent to the Office for Graduate Medical Education.

3. A resident whose performance has failed to meet the level of competence for reappointment to a subsequent year shall be notified by his/her department in writing.  Specific guidelines for decisions on termination or non-reappointment are found in the Disciplinary Procedures and Appeals Policy.

4. Residents are expected to notify their department sufficiently in advance (preferably by March 1st) if they do not intend to return the following year.

Appointment and/or reappointment do not constitute an assurance of successful completion of a residency program or post-graduate year.  Successful completion is based on performance as measured by individual departmental standards.  Successful completion of a residency program does not entitle a resident to appointment to the Faculty of the School of Medicine and Dentistry or to the Medical Staff of Strong Memorial Hospital.  These appointments are governed respectively by the University Faculty Handbook, the School of Medicine and Dentistry Regulations of the Faculty and by the Strong Memorial Hospital Medical Staff Bylaws.

Updated by GMEC 10/1/03