Assessing the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s Clinician Educator Milestones

Purpose This study aimed to assess the capacity of the Clinician Educator Milestones to distinguish between those who place less career emphasis on clinical education and those who have been recognized by their peers for their teaching abilities. Method The authors conducted a survey (January-April 2024) of clinician educators at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who were nominated by their peers for an institutional educator award between 2012 and 2023. Award nominees who responded were asked to identify 2 colleagues of similar academic rank who would not identify educator as their lead identity (control respondents). Respondents from both groups self-assessed from level 1 (novice) to 5 (expert) across the 20 subcompetencies of the Clinician Educator Milestones. The authors tested for differences between award nominees and the comparison group and for differences based on demographic characteristics. Statistical significance was set at P < .0025 to account for multiple comparisons. Results Of the 85 award nominees contacted, 71 (84%) completed the survey, compared to 91 (66%) of the 138 individuals in the control group. Award nominees rated themselves higher on 18 of the 20 subcompetencies compared to the control group. No statistically significant differences were found for commitment to professional responsibilities or leadership skills (P = .107 and .064, respectively). No subcompetencies reached the adjusted significance threshold when comparing across demographic groups. Conclusions The findings of this study suggest that the Clinician Educator Milestones can effectively differentiate between educators nominated by their peers for an institutional education award and other educators and showed few differences based on demographic characteristics. These findings support the milestones’ potential utility for self-assessment and educator development. Further study of the milestones would add valuable information with which to compare these findings.