Revised Accreditation Standards Research Articles

Exploring First Nations’ and Cultural Safety Content of Pharmacy Curricula With Academics in Australia

ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore academics’ views on Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Health and Cultural Safety content in pharmacy school curricula to inform recommendations for future curricula. MethodsAll 18 Australian pharmacy schools were contacted, and interviews were conducted with consenting heads of school and/or their delegate(s). The interviews covered what the school was doing with respect to the First Nations theme in the revised accreditation standards and further ideas for improvement. Audio recordings of interviews were transcribed verbatim via an online transcription service. Transcripts were thematically analyzed and coded according to the framework approach and mapped to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Curriculum Framework. Coding was facilitated using NVivo software. ResultsAll 18 schools consented to participate and a total of 22 interviews were conducted. The pharmacy accreditation standards were well known to most educators, however, the dissemination of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Curriculum Framework, introduced in 2014, appeared to be poor. Many interviewees (n = 14) expressed that the current content regarding Aboriginal health and cultural safety/competence was lacking and cited barriers that have led to a lack of development such as a lack of First Nations staff and expertize. ConclusionWhile cultural safety/competency was taught in all Australian pharmacy schools, it is apparent that pharmacy schools are at various stages in their development of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health curriculum design and implementation. Future resources should be developed and made available.

Development of workplace‐based assessment tools to support postgraduate training of provisionally registered pharmacists in Australia

AbstractThe Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) is the national accreditation authority for pharmacy education and training in Australia. In 2020, APC published revised Accreditation Standards and a new Performance Outcomes Framework (POF). The POF details expected performance for pharmacy students at the point of graduation and for pharmacy graduates on completion of postgraduate training. The APC and the pharmacist regulator, the Pharmacy Board of Australia collaborated on a project to develop workplace‐based assessment (WBA) tools for use in assessing performance of pharmacy graduates in the postgraduate training period. The objectives of the project were to; identify and develop an initial suite of WBA tools; develop accompanying guidance and supporting documentation; seek feedback from stakeholders; and pilot the WBA tools in community and hospital settings. The WBA tools were developed through consultative process overseen by a group of education experts (a Technical Working Group) and a governance group. The latter comprising members from the Pharmacy Board and APC. The Technical Working Group agreed on the tools to develop based on an available Intern Year Assessment Blueprint and the tools were then drafted by a consultant. APC held consultative forums and a pilot study to gather feedback from intern pharmacists and preceptors. The project resulted in development of a suite of three types of WBA tools; Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs), Case Based Discussions (CbD), and In Training Assessment (ITA) activities covering six areas of focus. All types of tools that were initially agreed upon were made available for use. The WBA tools address 15 performance outcomes in the POF. Future direction will involve further evaluation of the tools in diverse practice settings and expansion of the current suite of tools to cover additional performance outcomes.

Core Competency Gaps Among Governmental Public Health Employees With and Without a Formal Public Health Degree.

To examine the role of a formal public health degree as it relates to core competency needs among governmental public health employees. This cross-sectional study utilizes the 2017 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS). Bivariate relationships were analyzed by conducting χ tests of respondents' supervisory level and reported skill gaps. Multivariate logistic regressions of reported skill gaps were performed holding gender, age, race/ethnicity, highest degree attained, current employer, role type, tenure in current agency, and public health certificate attainment constant. Nationally representative sample of government public health employees. A total of 30 276 governmental public health employees. Self-reported competency skills gaps. Among nonsupervisors, those with a public health degree had significantly lower odds of reporting a competency gap for 8 of the 21 skills assessed. Among supervisors/managers, those who had a formal public health degree had significantly lower odds of reporting a competency gap in 3 of the 22 skills assessed. Having a degree in public health was not significantly related to an executive's likelihood of reporting a skill gap across any of the 22 skills assessed. Regardless of supervisory level, having a public health degree was not associated with a reduced likelihood of reporting skill gaps in effective communication, budgeting and financial management, or change management competency domains. Possessing a formal public health degree appears to have greater value for skills required at the nonsupervisor and supervisor/manager levels than for skills needed at the executive level. Future work should focus on longitudinal evaluations of skill gaps reported among the public health workforce as changes in public health curricula may shift over time in response to newly revised accreditation standards. In addition, public health education should increase emphasis on communication, budgeting, systems thinking, and other management skills among their graduates.

A Progressive, Collaborative Process to Improve a Curriculum and Define an Assessment Program

To revise the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy's professional program outcomes and create an assessment map using results from previous peer review and mapping of all professional courses and curricular streams of knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs). After consolidating 15 original program outcomes into 11 more precise outcome statements, defining KSAs for each, and getting faculty approval of them, the committee detailed measurable program expectations upon graduation for each outcome and created an assessment map identifying where KSAs were taught, how they were to be assessed, and the expected ability level (novice, competent, proficient) for each across the curriculum. The committee's work identified deficits, inconsistencies, and disproportionalities in professional program assessment. It recommended assessments to capture student achievement of each outcome, identified performance levels and criteria to measure outcomes progressively in each professional year, and outlined a process to provide students periodic reports on their progress in achieving each outcome. This work establishes a firm foundation for ongoing efforts to measure effectiveness of the professional program, especially in light of Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education's (ACPE) revised accreditation standards.

ADEA/AAL Institute for Allied Health Educators: Program Evaluation

Revised accreditation standards for dental and dental hygiene education programs have increased emphasis on faculty development that can improve teaching and learning, foster curricular change including use of teaching and learning technologies, and enhance retention and satisfaction of faculty. The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) and Academy for Academic Leadership (AAL) established the Institute for Allied Health Educators (IAHE) in 2007 to address faculty development needs for allied dental and allied health educators. In 2009, it was transitioned to an online program, which resulted in increased enrollment and diversity of participants. After seven years, a comprehensive program evaluation was warranted. The authors developed an online questionnaire based on Kirkpatrick's four-level model of training evaluation; for this study, levels one (satisfaction), two (knowledge and skill acquisition), and three (behavior change) were examined. Of the 400 program participants invited to take part in the study, a 38% response rate was achieved, with the majority indicating full-time faculty status. Nearly all (95-97%) of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed the program contributed to their teaching effectiveness, and 88-96% agreed or strongly agreed it enhanced their knowledge of educational concepts and strategies. In addition, 83% agreed or strongly agreed the program helped them develop new skills and confidence with technology, with 69% agreeing or strongly agreeing that it helped them incorporate technology into their own educational setting. Nearly 90% were highly positive or positive in their overall assessment of the program; 95% indicated they would recommend it to a colleague; and 80% agreed or strongly agreed they had discussed what they learned with faculty colleagues at their home institutions who had not attended the program. Positive findings from this evaluation provide evidence that the IAHE has been able to meet its goals.

Current Literature Summary

Evidence-based practice collectively involves research evidence, clinician expertise, and patient preference while making health care decisions. Due to health care reform legislation, there is grea...

Setting standards for simulation in anesthesia: the role of safety criteria in accreditation standards

In this article, we describe a critical event which occurred in a simulation centre, and we also review possible safety issues for participants and staff involved in medical simulation training. The authors report an incident with the potential of harming trainees and staff which occurred during a full-scale simulation. The episode raised the question of training safety in simulation centres. In this instance, the computer program controlling the mannequin enabled a continuous and non-regulated outflow of carbon dioxide which led to an intense reaction in the soda lime canister. The absorbent canister became too hot to be touched (a temperature probe, later placed in the centre of the front canister, measured 53°C). All activities involving the mannequin and anesthesia machine were stopped immediately. Simulation in healthcare is a valuable educational tool to train for a variety of clinical encounters in a safe environment without harming a patient. Due to technological progress and the use of authentic equipment recreating near real environments, simulation training has become exceedingly realistic. The Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) has published revised accreditation standards for simulation centres which incorporate training safety sub-criteria to address and manage. By highlighting recommendations of other high-risk industries on this issue, SSH proposes a possible approach to enhance safety in medical simulation.

University of Virginia School of Medicine

University of Virginia School of Medicine

Garnering Widespread Involvement in Preparing for Accreditation Under ACPE Standards 2007

On February 17, 2006, the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) announced the release of the revised Accreditation Standards and Guidelines for the Professional Program in Pharmacy Leading to the Doctor of Pharmacy Degree that became effective on July 1, 2007.[1][1] Although there are

The Institutional Context of Multicultural Education: What Is Your Institutional Curriculum?

Recently revised accreditation standards require medical schools and residency training programs to integrate multicultural training into their curricula. Most multicultural training models concern the educational outcomes of individual trainees who have received digestible "units" of multicultural education or "cultural competence" training designed for trainees' individual consumption. Few have taken a critical perspective on how an individual trainee must learn, change his or her behavior, and sustain that behavioral change within a specific institutional context. The authors discuss the educational impact of one's institutional learning environment--the institution's ethos, teachers, modeling, policies, and processes--on the multicultural education of physician trainees. A usable conceptual model is offered with which educators can identify those dimensions of one's "institutional curriculum" that may enhance or obstruct trainees' optimal learning and behavior change regarding issues of multiculturalism in medicine. Comparisons are drawn to the recent medical literature concerning professionalism education and the hidden curriculum. Distinctions are drawn between overlapping areas of planned, received, intended, and unintended learning and values, as communicated from faculty, attendings, and residents to students. Ways of maximizing ideal learning and minimizing unintended consequences are discussed. The goal is for medical educators to be able to ask, What is the institutional curriculum of my training program regarding issues of race, difference, etc? What elements of that institutional curriculum can be recaptured and reclaimed as consistent with and supportive of tenets of excellent patient care for all?

Psychometric Analysis of a Scale Assessing Self-Efficacy for Cultural Competence in Patient Counseling

The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education adopted revised accreditation standards and guidelines for the PharmD degree program in January 2006. The revised standards mandate the inclusion of cultural competence in pharmacy curricula. Assessment tools to evaluate the impact of training are needed. To examine the psychometric properties of a 12 item scale designed to estimate the impact of cultural competence training on pharmacy students' self-efficacy in providing culturally appropriate patient care. A 12 item scale to assess the impact of an elective course on pharmacy students' (N = 175; 173 analyzable) perceived self-efficacy in providing culturally competent patient care was used before and after students completed the training. Principal components analysis was conducted to examine the underlying structure of the scale, and the Cronbach alpha statistic was computed as an estimate of internal consistency. Pre-versus posttraining responses for each item and for the total scale scores were compared as an indicator of concurrent validity. The principal components analysis yielded a one-component solution, "self-efficacy for cultural competence," which included all 12 contributing items and accounted for 46% of the total variance. Item communalities ranged from 0.25 to 0.58. Component loadings ranged from 0.50 to 0.76. Overall, the scale exhibited a Cronbach alpha estimate of internal consistency of 0.89. Posttraining scores were significantly higher than pretraining scores for both the total scale scores (posttest and pretest mean +/- SD score = 47.96 +/- 5.15 and 34.21 +/- 6.19, respectively; p < 0.001) and for each item (p values < 0.001). These comparisons provide evidence of concurrent validity. Our results suggest that our 12 item scale exhibits acceptable psychometric properties and is a useful tool for estimating the impact of cultural competence training on pharmacy students' perceived self-efficacy for providing culturally competent care and services.

The joint commission on accreditation of healthcare organizations revises standards for 2004

RECENTLY, THE JOINT Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) unveiled substantially revised accreditation standards for 2004.1 The standards, effective January 1, 2004, are for hospitals, home care organizations, ambulatory care clinics, behavioral health care organizations, laboratories, and long-term care organizations. The standards for assisted living, critical access hospitals, health care networks, and office-based surgery will be revised in 2005.2 The newly revised standards for 2004 are available on the JCAHO Web site (http:\\www.jcaho.org) and allow individuals and organizations to access the standards and become familiar with them prior to the publication of the official accreditation manual in the fall.1,2 A “crosswalk” is also available to help users compare the old standards with the new. The new standards are the result of nearly 2 years of work to substantially consolidate JCAHO requirements to decrease the paperwork and documentation burden of the accreditation process.1 Although the focus of the standards is on processes critical to achieving safe, quality care, the requirements for 2004 are essentially the same.2

Reconfiguring the Business School: A Normative Approach

Abstract This article discusses how business schools can be more entrepreneurial. We believe that the revised accreditation standards of the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) reflect a marketplace for business school products and resources that has become much more competitive. Therefore, we argue that institutions that continually assess the value they create and develop the mechanisms and mentality to accommodate continuous change will have the best chances for long-term survival and growth. The observations and recommendations of this article are based on our own and other authors' experiences with the fundamental problems facing business schools in the process of program and curricular change.

MAKING MULTICULTURALISM RELEVANT FOR MAJORITY CULTURE GRADUATE STUDENTS*

The revised accreditation standards for marriage and family therapy programs (Manual on Accreditation, 1988) require that the curriculum reflect an emphasis on “issues of gender and ethnicity as they relate to marital and family therapy” (p. 13). Training approaches that are described in the professional literature tend to emphasize an understanding of ethnic minorities while deemphasizing the trainee's own ethnic and cultural roots. As such, training lacks dynamic integrity for the white, middle‐class trainee. This paper describes a rationale for addressing the ethnic and cultural background of all family therapy trainees and provides training activities to accomplish this end.

Library School Admissions and the Liberal Arts

MIRIAM DUDLEY has referred to a recent academic year as year of the undergraduate/' l The context of her remark implies a reawakening of interest in various aspects of undergraduate education. This trend, coupled with the recent revision of library school accreditation standards and the continuing process of accreditation itself, contributes to a climate which seems to suggest the need for a fresh and hard look at the makeup of undergraduate studies taken by incoming library school students. It has long been an axiom of librarians and library educators that the undergraduate (or preprofessional) curriculum should focus on what is known as a general or liberal arts education. Nearly a century ago Melvil Dewey urged that the professional program in library service be taken only after a student had completed his general education.2 Both the C. C. Williamson report in 19233 and the revised accreditation standards adopted by the American Library Association in 1972 4 placed a similar emphasis on the nature of preprofessional education. Dewey's pronouncement remains largely unchallenged today. In their background article on the revised accreditation standards, F. William Summers and Russell Bidlack reported hearing a number of suggestions for revision from members of the profession, yet none of the reported suggestions dealt with the content of preprofessional curricula.5 The purpose of this paper is not to challenge the assumption that a liberal arts education is the best preparation for library school but simply to offer additional evidence on which effective admissions-