The shared drive has a folder named something like "overdue evals." Inside it is a list of faculty names, a rotation that ended last Friday, and a note that the Clinical Competency Committee meets Thursday. Nobody in that folder is confused about how to open the form. The form has no owner, no due date relative to the rotation, and no written rule for what happens if it is still blank when the grade posts, the CCC packet freezes, or the MSPE author starts writing.
This guide is the operational answer for UME and GME program leadership and coordinators: who owns the form, when it is due relative to rotation end, what incomplete files block (CCC packet, clerkship grade, MSPE freeze), and a downloadable checklist so the work is visible before the meeting.
Verified September 1, 2026 against ACGME, LCME, and AAMC. Sources at the end.
Who owns the assignment
Name three owners in writing before the rotation starts: who issues the form to a real evaluator, who can mark it complete or late, and who freezes the meeting the file feeds. A form issued to "the service" the week after the learner left is the expensive failure, not ignorance of the form.
| Owner | Job | When it is named |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment owner | Names the evaluator (or the small set) who actually supervised the learner, not the most senior person on the roster. Usually the clerkship or program coordinator who already builds the block. | Before day one of the rotation |
| Due-date owner | Can mark the assignment complete or late. For ACGME, whoever can mark it complete relative to 5.1.a. For UME, whoever posts the clerkship grade. After the due date, an incomplete file is an exception with an owner. | Before the rotation starts |
| Freeze owner | Publishes the freeze date for the CCC packet, the grade roster, or the MSPE authoring list, so faculty are not asked for one more comment after lock. | When the next meeting or letter window is known |
| Program or clerkship director | Visible sponsorship. Faculty skip optional forms. A kickoff that names the due date relative to rotation end, and names what the blank file will block, is worth more than a slide about feedback culture. | At kickoff |
Form Assignments
Manage form assignments across your program
| Select all | Form | Context | Responder | Recipient | Status | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of Rotation EvaluationRotationManual | RotationIM-Wards-A | F1Faculty 1Faculty | PAPGY-2 AResident | Overdue | A: Aug 18V: -D: Aug 25S: - | |
| End of Rotation EvaluationRotationManual | RotationIM-Wards-A | F2Faculty 2Faculty | PBPGY-2 BResident | Draft | A: Aug 20V: Aug 22D: Sep 1S: - | |
| End of Rotation EvaluationRotationManual | RotationIM-Clinic-B | F3Faculty 3Faculty | PAPGY-1 AResident | Submitted | A: Aug 12V: Aug 14D: Aug 28S: Aug 27 | |
| Semi-annual EvaluationRotationManual | ProgramProgram | F1Faculty 1Faculty | PAPGY-3 AResident | Draft | A: Aug 22V: -D: Sep 4S: - |
Demonstration data. The assignment list is the working file: named responder, due date letters, overdue versus incomplete. Enrollment, evaluations, and outcomes live in one system of record.
The assignment list is the working file: named responder, due date letters, overdue versus incomplete. It is not a second tracker sitting next to the system of record.
When the form is due
ACGME documents the evaluation at the completion of the assignment, and at least every three months on long blocks. That is the requirement. It is not a coordinator courtesy window.
This guide's own close window, not an accreditor clock: the documented evaluation is due at assignment end, and the file is late after seven calendar days. For a block longer than three months, the same close window applies to each required three-month documentation point, not only to the last day of the year. Publish that window in the faculty handbook and on the assignment itself so "I didn't know it was due" is not available as an explanation.
| Clock | What it means | Whose clock |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment end | Evaluation must be documented at the completion of the assignment. | ACGME 5.1.a |
| Every three months on long blocks | For block rotations of greater than three months in duration, evaluation must be documented at least every three months. Longitudinal experiences, such as continuity clinic in the context of other clinical responsibilities, must be evaluated at least every three months and at completion. | ACGME 5.1.a.1 and 5.1.a.2 |
| Late after seven calendar days | Due at assignment end; the file is late after this guide's close window. Same window at each three-month documentation point. | This guide's own close window, not an accreditor clock |
| Do not wait for a year-end batch | A form issued weeks after the learner left is a memory test, not an evaluation. | This guide's own operating model |
If you cannot name whether the blank form is an ACGME assignment-end evaluation, a UME clerkship grade input, or an MSPE narrative, you do not yet have a completion problem. You have an unlabeled file.
What incomplete evaluations block
Incomplete files do not "jeopardize accreditation" as a slogan. They block named work products. Write the block into the policy so faculty can see the meeting, not a vibe.
| Work product | What the incomplete file blocks | Freeze this guide sets |
|---|---|---|
| GME: CCC packet | The program must provide evaluation information to the Clinical Competency Committee. The Clinical Competency Committee must review all resident evaluations at least semi-annually, and must meet prior to the residents' semi-annual evaluations. | Lock the CCC packet seven calendar days before the meeting. An evaluation that arrives after freeze goes on a parking list for the next review. It does not get silently merged into a Milestone judgment the committee already recorded. This freeze is this guide's own operating model. The CPR does not publish a packet-lock date. |
| UME: clerkship grade | Fair and timely summative assessment is the title mapped to LCME element 9.8. Your local grade-posting calendar is the clock that article does not print. | Do not post a clerkship grade while a required preceptor evaluation is still open, and do not invent a second grade from a different faculty member to paper over the hole. If your school has a published number of days for grade posting, that number wins. Put it in the tracker first. |
| UME: MSPE freeze | The Medical Student Performance Evaluation is a comprehensive, standard document of a medical student's academic performance and professional development. Clerkship narratives should be edited at the clerkship level, not at the MSPE writer level. The MSPE may include any information available by October 1 of the year it is submitted, including M4 clerkship grades and evaluations. | The clerkship evaluation set that feeds a narrative is locked before the MSPE authoring window opens, so the writer is not chasing last week's form in September. After the MSPE is submitted in ERAS, AAMC's FAQ says additions go in an addendum. That is letter hygiene, not a reason to leave clerkship forms open forever. |
None of those blocks is an accreditation-outcome prediction. The work either exists in time for the meeting, or the meeting runs on an incomplete file. Say that out loud.
Clinical Competency Committee
Review who needs discussion, capture notes, then freeze the period.
Academic period
Not finalized
Showing 4 of 4
Medium flags hidden
Show medium flagsDemonstration data. A learner with no evaluations is Needs data on the meeting list. Finalize remaining is a named action, not a hope that the spreadsheet stops moving.
A learner with no evaluations is Needs data on the meeting list. Finalize remaining is a named action, not a hope that the spreadsheet stops moving.
This guide's reminder policy
The CPR does not schedule your emails. A fetched anesthesiology study of faculty-specific electronic reminders (DOI 10.1016/j.jclinane.2008.10.004) found that the share of possible daily resident evaluations submitted rose from 31.4% to 42.8% after reminders went in. That is one program's reminder system, not a national target. Reminders help. They do not replace an owner or a due date.
This guide recommends, as its own operating model:
- Eligibility notice at assignment end (or at the three-month documentation point on a long block). Name the evaluator, the learner, the rotation, and the due date. One link to the form.
- Second notice on calendar day 3 if the file is still open. Same names, same due date, no new sermon.
- Escalation on calendar day 7 to the clerkship director or program director, with the assignment owner copied. The message is that the file is now late against this guide's close window, not that the faculty member has failed a board.
- Stop the drip after escalation. A fourth generic "you have outstanding forms" note trains people to ignore the first three.
A fetched emergency-medicine clerkship study of a mobile, real-time end-of-shift form (DOI 10.5811/westjem.2016.5.29384) reported overall completion of 98% on the electronic form versus 69% on paper. Use that as evidence that reducing the delay between the encounter and the form can move completion. Do not import it as your program's promised rate. The abstract does not state a four-week window.
What the accreditor actually clocks
Do not import a completion-rate target onto a requirement that does not publish one. Name the body. Then time the form against that body's published evaluation clock. The tables above are the working version. The paragraphs below are the same clocks, spelled out.
ACGME programs (Residency CPR, effective July 1, 2026). Faculty members must directly observe, evaluate, and frequently provide feedback on resident performance during each rotation or similar educational assignment. Evaluation must be documented at the completion of the assignment. For block rotations of greater than three months in duration, evaluation must be documented at least every three months. Longitudinal experiences, such as continuity clinic in the context of other clinical responsibilities, must be evaluated at least every three months and at completion. Background and Intent in that PDF states that faculty members evaluate a resident's performance at least at the end of each rotation, and that the program director or their designee will review those evaluations, including progress on the Milestones, at a minimum of every six months. The program must provide that information to the Clinical Competency Committee for its synthesis of progressive resident performance. The Clinical Competency Committee must review all resident evaluations at least semi-annually, and must meet prior to the residents' semi-annual evaluations and advise the program director regarding each resident's progress. At least annually, there must be a summative evaluation of each resident that includes their readiness to progress to the next year of the program, if applicable.
The CPR does not publish a faculty completion-rate target, a reminder schedule, or a number of days after rotation end. Those are program operations. If the documented evaluation does not exist at assignment end, the CCC is synthesizing without the file 5.1.b.2 told the program to provide.
LCME. An LCME-hosted Academic Medicine article maps former standard ED-30 to current accreditation element 9.8, titled "fair and timely summative assessment," and maps ED-31 to element 9.7, titled "formative assessment and feedback." That is a mapping of titles, not the current Functions and Structure element body. As of March 9, 2026, LCME publications are not located on one page: standards live under the Resources tab; school and survey-team documents live under Schools or Survey Teams. The Substantive Changes page (updated April 15, 2026) points to a Publications Change Log for edits that alter the meaning or scope of an element. Pull the Functions and Structure edition that matches your survey year from lcme.org before you write a local due-date policy against "timely." This guide does not invent a day-count for UME grade posting.
AAMC (member org, not an accreditor). The Medical Student Performance Evaluation is a comprehensive, standard document of a medical student's academic performance and professional development. AAMC's 2016 Task Force recommendations continue to guide MSPE preparation nationally. The FAQs (updated March 15, 2022) say clerkship narratives should be edited at the clerkship level, not at the MSPE writer level, and that the MSPE may include any information available by October 1 of the year it is submitted, including M4 clerkship grades and evaluations. Those are letter-construction facts. They are not an LCME timing rule, and they are not a promise about Match outcomes.
Fellowship programs: pull the Fellowship Common Program Requirements from the same ACGME page. A direct fetch of a 2026-27 Functions and Structure file was not found; this page does not invent F&S element language. Whatever this page says, the authoritative version of every requirement is the current edition on acgme.org or lcme.org, not any article, including this one.
What the papers measured (and what they did not)
A literature search on evaluation completion and faculty response rates is recorded in this asset's grounding file. Four papers are used in this guide. They are single-program or multi-program studies, not accreditor rules.
- Access and timing. Tews et al. (DOI 10.5811/westjem.2016.5.29384): mobile, real-time completion versus paper, 98% versus 69% overall completion on an M4 emergency-medicine end-of-shift form.
- Reminders. Rusa et al. (DOI 10.1016/j.jclinane.2008.10.004): faculty-specific electronic reminders, 31.4% to 42.8% of possible daily evaluations submitted.
- Reciprocity as a local policy. Malone et al. (DOI 10.5811/westjem.2017.9.35320): a tit-for-tat rule, students had to complete an evaluation of the preceptor to view that preceptor's evaluation of the student, raised the mean evaluations completed per student from 3.60 to 8.19. The abstract does not claim narrative quality was preserved. Do not write that claim from the old brochure.
- Volume is not quality. Jackson et al. (DOI 10.1016/j.amsu.2017.03.001): no overall correlation between the number of faculty evaluations per resident and residents' perception of feedback quality. Chasing a higher count without an owner, a due date, and a use (CCC, grade, MSPE) is busywork.
Leaderboards, gold-star evaluator awards, and team challenges from the old brochure are not used here. None of the papers fetched for this run described those tactics as the intervention.
Where it goes wrong late in the block
- Issued to the service, not to a person. The form lands on a shared inbox. Cheap fix: name the evaluator before day one of the rotation.
- Due date is "when you can." ACGME already said completion of the assignment. Publish this guide's seven-day close window next to that sentence.
- Reminders without escalation. A weekly digest with no owner copied is wallpaper.
- CCC or grade meeting held on a live spreadsheet. Freeze the packet. Park late files.
- MSPE author rewriting clerkship comments. AAMC's FAQ puts narrative edits at the clerkship. If the clerkship file is empty, the MSPE writer cannot invent the rotation.
- Counting forms as if that were feedback. Jackson et al. found no correlation between quantity and perceived quality. The file still has to exist in time for the meeting. Existence is not a substitute for a useful comment, and a useful comment that arrives after freeze is a comment for the next cycle.
The checklist
Download the evaluation-completion checklist (Excel) or the plain CSV if you would rather import it into Google Sheets or your own tracker: every task above as a row, grouped by phase, with columns for the suggested owner, timing relative to rotation end or to the CCC / grade / MSPE freeze, status, and notes. Import it, put real names in the owner column at your next coordinators' meeting, and the next block becomes a plan instead of a folder named overdue evals.
The workbook is a handoff into a standing process, not the system of record. If evaluations already live in one place, the named owners and due dates belong there.
Where a platform fits
Named owners and due dates are a standing process: people first, then a written protocol, then a platform that keeps the list from going stale when a coordinator leaves.
The checklist above works in a shared tracker. Several of the failure points are records problems. Medtrics is one such platform: enrollment, evaluations, and outcomes live in one system of record with a governed KPI layer and exportable analytics. See GME evaluations for how assignment, reminder, and committee packet work sit together. The workbook is a way to walk that process in, not a second source of truth.
None of this replaces the operating model. The named owner, the due date relative to rotation end, and the freeze still do the work. A platform makes that boring structure durable when people leave.
Sources and status
This guide was verified against the following primary sources, each fetched or reconfirmed on September 1, 2026:
- ACGME Common Program Requirements (Residency) PDF, FAQs incorporated July 1, 2026 and effective July 1, 2026. Section 5 evaluation timing, including documentation at assignment end, three-month documentation on long blocks, CCC review of all resident evaluations at least semi-annually, and the program's duty to provide evaluation information to the CCC. acgme.org residency CPR PDF
- ACGME Common Program Requirements landing page: Residency Program Requirements and FAQs effective 7/1/2026. Fellowship, One-Year Fellowship, and Post-Doctoral editions are linked from the same page. acgme.org/programs-and-institutions/programs/common-program-requirements
- LCME Publications page: as of March 9, 2026, LCME publications are not located on one page. lcme.org/publications
- LCME Substantive Changes to Publications, page last updated April 15, 2026. lcme.org/substantive-changes-to-publications
- Hunt et al., Academic Medicine 2016, hosted on lcme.org: Chart 1 maps former standard ED-30 to current accreditation element 9.8 (fair and timely summative assessment), and ED-31 to element 9.7. Title mapping only; not F&S element body. lcme.org Hunt PDF
- AAMC MSPE page: the MSPE is a comprehensive, standard document of a medical student's academic performance and professional development. AAMC's 2016 Task Force recommendations continue to guide MSPE preparation nationally. aamc.org MSPE
- AAMC MSPE FAQs, last updated March 15, 2022: clerkship narratives should be edited at the clerkship level; the MSPE may include any information available by October 1 of the year it is submitted. aamc.org MSPE FAQs
Four fetched papers are cited by DOI where a rate or a method is used. Reminder cadence, the seven-day close window, and freeze dates are this guide's own operating model.
After publication, the current editions on acgme.org and lcme.org remain the only authoritative statement of any requirement.
LCME, ACGME, and AAMC are named descriptively. This article is an independent operational guide from Medtrics, not accreditor guidance, and no process described here promises any accreditation outcome. The work does that, or nothing does.