Background:

The National Ministry of Health and Social Development implements a National System of Accreditation of Health Team Residencies. The Argentine Society of Cardiology (SAC) participates as an evaluation entity of the medical residency programs in cardiology.

Objective:

The purpose of this study is to present the results of the evaluation process and accreditation of cardiology residencies.

Methods:

This was a documentary review of the reports submitted by the peer reviewers appointed by SAC and the opinions of the Ministry of Health in the Official Gazette between 2010 and 2017.

Results:

Thirty-seven reports prepared by peer reviewers were analyzed and strengths and weaknesses were identified. Outstanding strength: continuous supervision received by residents. Weakness: time spent on outpatient care. Twenty-eight Ministry of Health opinions were reviewed and the most frequent recommendations were analyzed: incorporation of transversal contents; regulation of number of on-call duties, their duration and the organization of the rest period after on-call shifts.

Conclusions:

Although both institutions seem initially to have different criteria when accrediting a health service training program, in reality, they have complementary views which coincide in the following aspects: importance of supervision; need to systematize the evaluation of residents’ performance; and need to increase the number of scientific works with resident participation. A high degree of coincidence was also obtained between SAC’s suggestion and the opinion of the Ministry of Health, in relation to the category and years of accreditation that each evaluated program deserved.

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