Council on Graduate Medical Education

COGME reviews physician workforce trends, training issues, and financing policies. It also recommends federal and private sector efforts to address these issues. 

We give advice and recommendations to the:  

• Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 
• Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions 
• House Committee on Energy and Commerce 

Authority 

COGME is governed by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463 §1 (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2), as amended, which established standards for advisory committees. 

Originally authorized in 1986 for 10 years, subsequent legislation extended COGME. The Health Professions Education Partnerships Act of 1998 redesignated the authority for the Advisory Council as section 762 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. §294o). That authorization ended in September 2003 but was extended through annual appropriations for the Department of Health and Human Services. In March 2020, the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) was passed. The Advisory Council must now be renewed every two years, as required by the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).

Charge to the Advisory Council 

The charge to COGME is broader than the name would imply. Title VII of the PHS Act, as amended, requires COGME to give advice and recommendations to the HHS Secretary and Congress on the following issues: 

1. Supply and distribution of physicians in the United States 
2. Current and future shortages or surpluses of physicians in medical and surgical specialties and subspecialties 
3. Foreign medical school graduates 
4. Appropriate federal policies on matters specified in items 1 – 3, including changes to financial policies for undergraduate and GME programs and changes in the types of medical education training in GME programs 
5. Appropriate efforts by hospitals, schools of medicine, schools of osteopathic medicine, and accrediting bodies on matters specified in items 1 – 3, including changes in undergraduate and GME programs 
6. Problems with, and solutions for improving, databases focused on the supply, distribution, and postgraduate training of physicians in the United States 

Finally, the authorizing legislation calls for the Advisory Council to support groups providing GME to voluntarily achieve our recommendations, as specified in item 5, above. We also create performance measures and guidelines for programs under our charge, and we recommend funding levels for these programs, except for programs authorized under Parts C and D of the PHS Act. 

Contact us

Email Shane Rogers, Designated Federal Officer (DFO)