Dr. James A. Arrighi has been appointed chairman-elect for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s residency-review committee for internal medicine. Arrighi is the director of nuclear cardiology at Rhode Island Hospital. In addition, he serves as an associate professor of medicine and diagnostic imaging at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and program director of Brown’s fellowship program in cardiovascular disease.

PBN: Can you tell us more about the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education?

ARRIGHI: The ACGME is responsible for accrediting graduate medical-education training programs (such as internal medicine or surgery residencies, cardiology fellowships and all other specialties). Individuals are appointed to the ACGME review committees on the basis of their expertise and national recognition as an expert and leader in graduate medical education.

PBN: What will be your responsibilities as chairman of the residency-review committee for internal medicine?

ARRIGHI: As chairman, I will be responsible for overseeing the operation of the committee, which primarily involves making accreditation decisions for all residency and fellowship training programs in internal medicine and its specialties. The chairman also is involved in making policy decisions, often with chairs of the corresponding committees in other specialties. In the next several years, a major focus of activity will be in launching a new process for accreditation, focused on continuous quality improvement, patient safety, educational outcomes and fostering innovation.

PBN: What is your own educational background? Are you involved in any other professional organizations besides the ACGME?

ARRIGHI: I am originally from Pawtucket, and went to college and medical school at Brown [University]. I completed my residency at Washington University, followed by cardiology fellowships at the National Institutes of Health and at Yale [University]. Since finishing my training in cardiology in 1994, I have been involved in graduate medical education, initially at Yale, and, since 2004, at Brown and Lifespan. Based on my interest in leadership in this area, I became program director of the cardiology fellowship at Yale, and now am doing the same at Brown/Lifespan. •