Analysis of Academic Medical Center Graduate Medical Education Websites for Policies Regarding Restrictive Covenants in Non-ACGME Fellowships.

Background: The topic of restrictive covenants in fellowships that are not approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has not been studied.

Objective: To investigate the presence of institutional polices at academic medical centers regarding restrictive covenants in non-ACGME fellowships.

Methods: The graduate medical education (GME) office website of 132 academic medical centers was evaluated and searched for the following as of June 1, 2017: presence of any ACGME residency or fellowship, presence of any non-ACGME fellowship, presence of GME policies and procedures, presence of a restrictive covenant policy, and if that policy applies to non-ACGME fellowships.

Results: A total of 96 academic medical centers had non-ACGME fellowships. Of these, 56 prohibit restrictive covenants in non-ACGME fellowships because of either their GME policy or state law. Seven academic medical centers have a GME policy that allows restrictive covenants in non-ACGME fellowships. Two academic medical centers clearly state that fellows in a certain subspecialty fellowship will be required to sign a restrictive covenant.

Conclusions: GME policies at academic medical centers that allow restrictive covenants in non-ACGME fellowships are very uncommon. The practice of having fellows sign a restrictive covenant in a non-ACGME fellowship is in conflict with an American Medical Association ethics statement, ACGME institutional requirement IV.L, and the rules of the San Francisco Match.