Accreditation requirements in allied health education: Strengths, weaknesses and missed opportunities

Abstract

This paper reviews the accreditation requirements for six Allied Health (AH) degree programs in Australia to understand the range of accreditation requirements and approaches, with a particular focus on requirements around clinical education in AH education. Strengths of current approaches and further requirements are identified. Of particular interest are those areas where accreditation could better support educational goals and processes, including the preparation of work ready graduates and the encouragement of the use of currently underutilized opportunities for preparing the AH workforce for future healthcare needs. The findings suggest that the accreditation criteria perform well for the development of students' conceptual and procedural knowledge. However, there are several opportunities for improvement where accreditation could better support preparation of graduates to meet current and future needs of healthcare. These opportunities include increased emphasis on biopsychosocial perspectives of health as healthcare models shift from hospital to community-based settings, increased emphasis on development of interprofessional skills, encouragement of diverse supervision models, explicitness about intentions and interpretations of accreditation requirements, and increased employer representation on accreditation panels. Constraints on universities' uses of new educational approaches imposed by or arising from non-explicit accreditation requirements are outlined. Arising from this analysis, a summary of considerations for AH accreditation bodies is provided.

Practice education: A snapshot from Australian university programmes

“…This is an example of wastage in relation to university education, practice education resources and direct costs to the students. Although it is a cycle (see Figure ) that needs to be addressed, no stakeholder (universities, government departments, employers, or unions) has the jurisdiction or mandate to pursue any type of control or regulation for the number of occupational therapy students enrolling into programmes (McAllister & Nagarajan, ).…”

Allied health pre-entry student clinical placement capacity: can it be sustained?

“…3 In addition, the program managers' awareness of the often unique accreditation, placement coordination and curriculum issues across several university programs for their profession was valued by all participant groups. 1 For example, there are eight universities offering occupational therapy programs in Queensland and six for speech pathology, each with varying clinical education placement structures and requirements (see Table 1).…”

“…Clinical placements provide students with the opportunity to develop the necessary skills and experience in the delivery of health care within a clinical setting. These placements are a core component of pre-entry allied health profession training programs and a requirement of relevant accreditation boards or councils 1 (see Table 1). Therefore, the demand for allied health clinical placements will continue to increase due to growth in university health programs and cohort numbers.…”

Impact of Disability Placements on Allied Health Students: Placement Educators’ Perspectives

“…Placements are a core component of all allied health degrees, and may range in length from one to many weeks, and may be undertaken full-or part-time (McAllister and Nagarajan 2015). They offer students the opportunity to work with diverse clients in diverse settings.…”