The Internal Medicine Education Advisory Board (IMEAB) was established in 2011 as a forum for discussion, collaboration, and consensus building around issues impacting the education of internal medicine physicians. In its initial meetings, the IMEAB discussed a variety of topics; however, the majority of its work focused on the development and implementation of the internal medicine milestones and issues related to assessment of competence in residency training. The feedback provided by the IMEAB and the collaboration amongst its members proved invaluable at furthering the work of the internal medicine education community around this and other important issues. Reflecting upon this initial work, the IMEAB members strongly believed that the relationships between the stakeholder organizations were strengthened. The IMEAB then recognized the need to examine and further define the scope and purpose of its work to continue providing meaningful guidance to the internal medicine education community.
The scope of the IMEAB is to:
- Focus on items and issues related to the professional education of internal medicine physicians.
- Serve as a forum for discussion about specific issues related to internal medicine education with the goal of providing guidance, and, when possible, consensus recommendations to the internal medicine education community regarding that issue.
- Serve as a “think tank” to identify and consider emerging issues related to internal medicine education and appropriately frame that discussion to facilitate advocacy, research, or communication within the internal medicine community.
- Communicate directly with leadership from key stakeholder organizations, with the goal of strengthening this emerging learning community.
- Facilitate collaboration and communication amongst IMEAB member organizations.
- Establish a culture of mutual accountability necessary to further the collective work of the internal medicine education community as a whole.
To accomplish the extent of this work, the IMEAB and its members have committed to purposeful inquiry around issues of common importance and purposeful communication with their respective communities. The IMEAB convenes twice a year, discussing current trends, future programs, and organization initiatives that impact the medical education field.