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

Authors

  • Lindy McAllister University of Sydney, Australia
  • Srivalli Nagarajan University of Sydney, Australia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21153/jtlge2015vol6no1art570

Keywords:

allied health, accreditation, curriculum, pedagogy, active learning clinical placements, work readiness, health graduates

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.

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Author Biographies

  • Lindy McAllister, University of Sydney, Australia

    Associate Dean, Work Integrated Learning, Faculty of Health Sciences, Univeristy of Sydney.

  • Srivalli Nagarajan, University of Sydney, Australia

    Postdoctoral Research Associate, Work Integrated Learning, Faculty of Health Sciences, Univeristy of Sydney.

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Published

2015-02-23

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JOURNAL PAPERS

How to Cite

Accreditation requirements in allied health education: Strengths, weaknesses and missed opportunities. (2015). Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability, 6(1), 2-23. https://doi.org/10.21153/jtlge2015vol6no1art570