A University of Nebraska Medical Center professor, Rowen Zetterman, M.D., has been appointed chair of the governing board of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
Dr. Zetterman has served as vice chair, chair elect, and a member of the ACGME board's executive committee. He will serve two additional years as the chair.
Born in York, Neb., Dr. Zetterman grew up in Shickley, Neb. He earned his bachelor’s degree with distinction from Nebraska Wesleyan University in 1966 and his medical degree from UNMC in 1969. He is an internist, gastroenterologist and hepatologist, as well as a professor of internal medicine at UNMC, where he is director of faculty mentorship programs and associate vice chancellor for planning.
He is dean emeritus, Creighton University School of Medicine, and a former chief of staff for the Nebraska-Western Iowa VA Health Care System.
He has served in leadership positions as president of the American College of Gastroenterology; chair of both the Board of Governors and the Board of Regents of the American College of Physicians (ACP); president of the Metropolitan Omaha Medical Society; and president of the Nebraska Medical Association.
UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., praised Dr. Zetterman for his "extremely prestigious" appointment.
"I am proud to see Dr. Zetterman, who has accomplished so much for his UNMC family, named to this key national leadership role," Dr. Gold said. "He deserves our congratulations."
As the chair, Dr. Zetterman will lead several initiatives that the ACGME is currently exploring. One of the most important is the drive to create a single accreditation system for both allopathic and osteopathic residencies. Allopathic medical training awards the M.D.; osteopathic training awards the D.O.
"Until two years ago, there were no osteopathic residencies only accredited by the ACGME," he said. "To this point, the osteopathic residencies have been accredited by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA)."
But from 2015 to 2020, AOA representatives will be added to the ACGME board, and after 2020, both allopathic and osteopathic residencies will be accredited just by the ACGME.
Another initiative is to review the common program requirements for residencies. The common program requirements cover issues such as how many hours residents can work in succession, resident wellness issues, educational requirements and similar concerns.
Dr. Zetterman is pleased to be accepting the position.
"I think it also reflects well on the University of Nebraska," he said. "But for me personally, it's also a great opportunity to have an influence in something that I've worked at for the last 42 years. Education has been a crucial component of my job wherever I was . . . So it is an opportunity for me hopefully to make things better in all those residencies and make the life of the resident better along the way."
The ACGME is a private, 501(c)(3), not-for-profit organization that sets standards for U.S. graduate medical education (residency and fellowship) programs and the institutions that sponsor them, and renders accreditation decisions based on compliance with these standards. In academic year 2015-2016, there were approximately 800 ACGME-accredited institutions sponsoring approximately 10,000 residency and fellowship programs in 150 specialties and subspecialties.
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