A Transformative Collaboration: ACGME Shares its Experience with Indonesia on Building a Well-Prepared Specialist Physician Workforce

ACGME leaders  made a two-day visit to Jakarta, Indonesia in late July as part of a collaboration with the country’s Ministry of Health, providing an update on the status of collective efforts, and sharing the ACGME’s broad experience with Indonesia’s graduate medical education (GME) community .

The visit provided an opportunity to share and learn from each other and solidified the collaborative work between ACGME Global Services and Indonesia’s Ministry of Health, building a path for further collaboration. Led by President and Chief Executive Officer Thomas J. Nasca, MD, MACP, ACGME staff members met with Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin and other officials.

ACGME Global Services, the ACGME department tasked with building and supporting international collaborations, delivered an update on the work to assess Indonesia’s specialist physician education and training environment.

ACGME Global Services also conducted a video interview with the Health Minister. ACGME Chief Financial and Administrative Officer and ACGME Global Services Executive Vice President John Ogunkeye, MS joined Health Minister Sadikin in conversation on the state of the Indonesian health specialist workforce and the plans to expand its development. The recording of this interview will soon be available in the Learn with ACGME Global Services section of the ACGME’s digital learning portal.

ACGME representatives also took part in the “Shaping the Future through MoH and ACGME Collaboration in Strengthening Medical Residency Programs in Indonesia” seminar. The event gathered participants from Indonesia’s health care sector, including educators, administrators, and government officials. ACGME participants shared their experience in improving health care and population health by assessing and enhancing the quality of resident and fellow physicians' education through advancements in accreditation and education in the US. Panel discussions followed.

Former ACGME Chief Accreditation Officer Lynne M. Kirk, MD, MACP, participating via Zoom, delivered a presentation entitled, “Essential Elements of Sponsoring Institutions, Programs, and Accreditation Oversight of Postgraduate Medical Education.” Dr. Kirk focused on the development of GME, especially in relationship to expanding the specialist physician workforce while ensuring the quality of education and training and adherence to requirements, essential elements of the goals of Indonesia’s ambitious Health System Transformation.

Dr. Kirk was joined by ACGME Chief of Staff and Chief Education Officer Timothy P. Brigham, MDiv, MS, PhD and specialists in Indonesia’s health workforce to discuss the challenges and opportunities in enhancing medical residency programs in Indonesia, citing examples from the ACGME’s international activities.

Indonesia’s Vice Minister of Health Dante Saksono Harbuwono, SpPD-KEMD, PhD’s Keynote Address addressed physician well-being. He noted that good mental health of doctors will improve the quality of health services to the community.

Dr. Brigham also discussed well-being in his presentation entitled, “Deepening our Commitment to Faculty, Residents Patients, and All Members of the Healthcare Team.” Dr. Brigham challenged the audience to prioritize their own well-being, as well as that of everyone in the health care delivery system.

“Habits of practice promote well-being, and resilience needs to be cultivated across the educational and practice continuum,” said Dr. Brigham, noting that physicians with high levels of well-being provide better care, are less prone to making mistakes, and are less inclined to leave the profession, adding, “Who’s/what’s inside the white coat is more important than the white coat.”

ACGME Global Services is a department of the ACGME created to advance the ACGME Mission by working with global entities to enhance the quality of resident and fellow physicians’ education. The Global Services staff works to support improvements in health care and population health beyond US borders through collaboration, education, information exchange, and advisory services.