TERMS OF AGREEMENT FOR PROGRAMS

AMERICAN COLLEGE OF PREVENTIVE MEDICINE
GENERAL PREVENTIVE MEDICINE/PUBLIC HEALTH RESIDENCY

STANDARDIZED ACCEPTENCE PROCESS
PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT FOR PROGRAMS
The American College of Preventive Medicine (“ACPM”) desires to improve quality and increase access to residencies in general preventive medicine and public health (“Residency Program(s)”) by offering a standardized acceptance process.  By agreeing to these terms, the Residency Program is expressing a desire to participate in the standardized acceptance process (the “SAP”), described in this Participation Agreement. Only non-military Residency Programs that do not combine General Preventive Medicine/Public Health (GPM/PH) Training with training in another specialty are eligible to participate in the SAP (“Categorical Residency Positions”).

To accomplish these goals, the parties agree as follows:
  1. Start Date The Residency Program agrees that its Categorical Residency Positions offered through the SAP will commence within the next June 1 through August 31 period. 
  2. Process
    1. Between August 28 and September 29, program directors should send an email to SAP@acpm.org notifying ACPM of the total number of unfilled categorical residency positions for which their program plans to make offers for the upcoming academic year.  The program name should be included in the email.  All categorical positions a participating program plans to offer should be offered through the SAP; it is an “all-in” system.
    2. The names of participating programs and the number of categorical residency positions they plan to offer will be posted on a publicly-accessible web page maintained by ACPM shortly after the September 29, 2017 deadline.  A link to this web page will be placed on the “Residency Programs” section of the ACPM website.  After the deadline, programs may increase the number of positions posted if additional funds or other capacity will enable more positions to be offered in the current recruiting season.  Programs may decrease the number of positions posted if changes in funding or other capacity necessitate, or if one or more available training slots are awarded to military trainees with permission to pursue civilian residency training (i.e. “military out-placement”).  To make any such change after the deadline, please contact SAP@acpm.org describing the rationale for the change.
    3. Candidates applying to participating programs will be required to register for the SAP between October 16, 2017 and January 12, 2018.  There is no fee for candidates to register.  Registrants will be asked to provide at least one email address and at least one phone number where they can be reliably reached on and around January 22, 2018.  Candidates will receive an email confirming their registration. They will receive information about the SAP at the time of registration and periodically throughout the recruiting season.
    4. By 12:00 pm Eastern Time on Wednesday, January 17, 2018, participating programs and registered candidates must submit “rank lists” showing their most preferred candidates and programs, respectively.  ACPM will then review and contact only those applicants/programs with corresponding first-choice matches.  ‘First choice’ candidates for a given program will be defined based on the number of slots a program is offering.  For a program with three positions to offer, for example, the top three candidates will be considered first choice candidates.  If any of these first choice candidates rank that program as #1, then the program will be notified by ACPM and allowed to immediately make an early offer to that/those candidate(s) between January 17 and January 19 (5:00 pm Eastern Time).​  When the identified candidate confirms acceptance of the program’s offer, the program should notify ACPM (copying the candidate) so that the slot and applicant can be removed from the SAP.  Such notification must be given by no later than 5:00 pm Eastern Time on Friday January 19, 2018.  This will make the ensuing process more efficient by preventing other programs from offering positions to these applicants.*
    5. On the fourth Monday in January (January 22, 2018) at 12:00pm Eastern Time, programs may begin making offers to remaining candidates of their choice; no offers may be made by participating programs before this date (outside of corresponding first-choice matches).  Only one offer may be pending at any given time for each available residency position a program has. 
    6. Offers should be made by email.  Optionally, programs may also contact candidates by phone, text message, or other means.
    7. When a candidate accepts an offer, the residency position accepted can no longer be offered to other candidates; and the accepted candidate cannot accept any other offers.
    8. When an offer is declined, the program may immediately offer that spot to any candidate who has not yet accepted an offer from another program.  Candidates are encouraged to decline offers as quickly as possible once they are certain they will not accept the offer.
    9. If a candidate fails to accept or decline an offer within 6 (six) hours of receipt, the program making the offer may (but is not required to) withdraw the offer and immediately offer the position to another candidate.
    10. When an offer for a position in a participating program is accepted, the program should immediately report the resident’s name and SAP registration number, and the program name to ACPM by emailing SAP@acpm.org; the accepted candidate should be copied on this email.  ACPM staff will record the institution, candidate, and date and time at which ACPM was notified on a password-protected web-page accessible by participating program directors.  When a candidate accepts an offer, any offer from another program to that candidate is then considered rescinded, and the other program can immediately offer the spot to another eligible candidate. 
    11. On the fourth Monday in January, ACPM staff will monitor the SAP@acpm.org account continually from 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm Eastern Time.  On the following day, ACPM staff will monitor emails to this address continually from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm Eastern Time.  Beginning on the fourth Wednesday of January, ACPM staff will monitor emails to this address on an hourly (at most) basis between the hours of 9:00 am and 8:00 pm Eastern Time for five business days.  Accepted offers will be posted to the participant-only web page as soon as they are received by ACPM staff.  At the same time, ACPM staff will update the publicly-available web page to reflect any open positions still available within participating programs.
    12. During the interview process, programs may express their level of interest in candidates but should not discuss their intentions or plans regarding ranking or making offers.
    13. Candidates must understand that a program may rescind an accepted offer a) If the candidate fails to satisfy prerequisite requirements for beginning the residency, including admission to the program’s partner school of public health or completion of prerequisite clinical training, b) If the program is unable to fund salary or other expenses related to the position, or c) if the candidate is found to have interviewed with other programs after an acceptance has been registered with ACPM. 
  3. Oversight Oversight of program participation, consideration of any challenges to the process, or review of proposed process changes will be provided by the SAP Task Force for the duration of its existence and, subsequently, by the Chair of the ACPM Preventive Medicine Residency Director’s Council or a committee appointed by him or her or the ACPM President.
  4. Fees To participate in an annual selection cycle, Residency Program will pay to ACPM $145 plus $5 per available residency position. Candidates will not pay a fee. Residency Program fees are due upon execution of this Agreement. Positions will not be posted through the SAP until payment is received.  Fees will be payable online and due by November 17, 2017
  5. Modifications to the SAP ACPM reserves the right to modify SAP if necessary or useful to promote the efficient process or protect the interests of ACPM.
  6. License to Utilize Name of Institution The Institution hereby grants to ACPM a limited license to use the name of the Institution to identify participants in the SAP. ACPM may utilize the name of the Institution for such purposes in any medium. The Institution agrees that ACPM is permitted to list participating institutions and the Residency Program on its website and in other media.
  7. Limitation of Liability The parties agree that ACPM is undertaking its involvement in the SAP to improve quality and facilitate access to Categorical Residency Programs. Approval of Institution as a participant does not mean or imply any guaranty or warranty of the quality. THE PARTIES AGREE THAT ACPM SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES OR COSTS ARISING FROM THE INSTITUTION’S PARTICIPATION IN THE SAP. BOTH PARTIES AGREE TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN ACTIONS AS PROVIDED BY APPLICABLE LAW.
  8. Assignment. Neither party may without the written consent of the other assign, delegate or otherwise transfer this Agreement or any of its rights or obligations under this Agreement.
  9. Entire Agreement. This Agreement constitutes the entire understanding and agreement between the parties concerning the subject matter of this Agreement, and supersedes all prior negotiations, agreements and understandings between the parties, whether oral or in writing, concerning it subject matter.
  10. Third-Party Beneficiaries. ACPM and the Institution agree that candidates and residents are not third-party beneficiaries of this Agreement, and nothing in this Agreement is intended to create any third-party beneficiary to this Agreement.
  11. Waiver. No provision of this Agreement may be waived except by an agreement in writing signed by the waiving party. A waiver of any term or provision shall not be construed as a waiver of any other term or provision.
  12. Relationship of the Parties. The parties are independent contractors of each other. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to create an employer/employee, joint venture, or other similar relationship between the parties. Neither party shall have the right to exercise control or direction over the business of the other party.
* The deidentified full rank lists will be used by ACPM and the SAP Task Force to explore the benefits and feasibility of creating a full “match” system in future years.