Over time, hospitals and their medical staff services have developed unique forms to verify 
resident training for credentialing as required for hospital accreditation. Most facilities seek verification of resident training within the past five years from the primary source, the residency program which can lead to potential challenges for program directors. Program directors receive numerous requests for verification of training, which often coincide with the start of a training program year and the rush of new interns and residents. In some cases, program directors may not know the applicants who completed training in prior years, nor can they attest to competency of procedures or provide volume of procedures in many of the specialties. Hospitals, however, are required to collect this data as a condition of their accreditation.
AHA, in partnership with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the National Association of Medical Staff Services, and the Organization of Program Director Associations and others developed a workgroup to discuss options to alleviate this problem and ways to streamline and standardize the residency verification process and meet hospital credentialing needs.
To address the issue, the group has developed a template letter and form that would 
provide the necessary information to meet credentialing needs while reducing the need for program directors to complete multiple requests for information. The standardized “Verification of Graduate Medical Education Training” form is designed to be completed once by each program director at the completion of training (or at the first opportunity thereafter when completing a verification/credentialing form).
Hoping to ease the workloads of hospitals, residents, program directors, and other stakeholders during this important transition point from residency to practice, we are disseminating this form and encouraging its adoption and use across the field.