AMC Expression of Interest

Accreditation Team Membership

The Australian Medical Council (AMC) is a national standards body for medical education and training. It assesses medical school courses and programs for training medical specialists, and accredits those programs which meet AMC accreditation standards.

Medical training programs are assessed against standards set by the AMC. The standards define the knowledge, skills and professional attributes expected on graduation, and in broad terms how the education and training should be provided.

From 2007, AMC accreditation standards for medical schools have an explicit focus on Indigenous health. This is an outcome of the development of the Indigenous Health Curriculum Framework by Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand. The revised AMC standards address Indigenous health as a curriculum topic; students’ experience in providing health care to Indigenous people; and the processes, settings and resources that will lead to successful medical education in this area. For example, admission, recruitment and support of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander or New Zealand Maori students and staff are addressed in the new standards.

AMC teams conduct the assessments. The AMC maintains a database of the names of experienced team members. It adds new assessors to the database through nominations from stakeholder bodies such as medical schools. The AMC wishes to increase the numbers of assessors able to assess medical schools’ performance against the new Indigenous health standards.

How the accreditation process works

AMC receives applications for accreditation (or re-accreditation) from medical schools/specialist medical colleges in Australia and New Zealand. In preparation for the accreditation the AMC sets up an expert team. After it receives the accreditation submission, and 4 to 6 months before the scheduled site visits, the team meets to review the submission and plan the assessment. It meets the senior staff of the organisation being assessed at this stage.

The accreditation assessment is an intensive process undertaken by the team over a period of 1 -2 weeks. The team visits teaching sites (hospitals/the university campus), meets groups and individuals who contribute to teaching, reviews the information received, and prepares and presents its draft findings. Medical courses are assessed against explicit AMC accreditation standards.

Within five weeks of the visit, the team prepares a draft report that is forwarded to the school for comment. All team members contribute to the writing of the report. Following receipt of comments, the team prepares the final report for the AMC accreditation committee. The report is finalised within 12 months of the team’s appointment.

How AMC teams work

Teams report to an AMC accreditation committee that sets the accreditation policy and manages the accreditation process. Teams work within established AMC policy and process.

Teams generally have 6 to 8 members. The members have a range of backgrounds. In selecting a team, the AMC needs to balance the expertise required for the assessment with considerations such as geographic location, experience, gender and age. The AMC decides on the membership of the team after the college/medical school has had an opportunity to comment on the proposed team.

The Team Chair is always someone experienced in the AMC accreditation process. At least half of the members of any team will be new to the process. The Team Chair and the AMC staff guide the team as they complete a series of standard steps that make up the assessment process.

The AMC provides a detailed Accreditation Team Handbook for new team members, training for team chairs and occasionally organizes national training workshops.

Expectations

The AMC expects all members of accreditation teams:

  • To support professional accreditation, and to be willing to contribute to the growth and development of the process;
  • To become familiar with the AMC process and the accreditation standards;
  • To support innovation and evolution in medical education and practice;
  • To be willing to share information to encourage improvements in the program being accredited.

The commitment

Being on an AMC team requires a commitment:

1. Of about twelve months. There are three peak periods: at about five months before the
accreditation visits, during the accreditation visits themselves, and while the team drafts its accreditation report

2. To participate in meetings, teleconferences and site visits including:

  • A one-day preliminary team meeting
  • 2 weeks of meetings and site visits for accreditation of specialist colleges, or
  • 1 week of meetings and site visits for accreditation of medical schools

The weeks of meetings and site visits include full working days, usually with interviews and meetings from 8.30am to 4.30pm, followed by a comprehensive team meeting to debrief.

3. To undertake extensive reading, of the accreditation submission and supplementary material.

4. To test the validity of an applicant’s claims about its training program by questioning and analyzing the documentation and by reference to AMC accreditation standards. Each member takes responsibility for one or more major topic (e.g. selection, assessment, evaluation, clinical teaching).

5. To contribute to the writing of the team’s assessment report, particularly on the topics you have responsibility for. The report addresses the accreditation standards and it comments on strengths and on areas for improvement. The team starts work on the report in the week of the review, and generally has a first draft completed within five weeks of the review.

6. To work in a team.

Expressing interest

The AMC normally receives nominations through one of its stakeholder bodies (such as the medical schools, specialist medical colleges, medical registration boards). The AMC may seek advice from the Indigenous Health Project Steering Committee on potential assessors who have indicated specific expertise in Indigenous health.

So that it is well informed about potential team members, the AMC requests a short (two page) curriculum vitae for each suggested assessor providing the following information:

  • Name
  • Qualifications
  • Current position
  • Indigenous health curriculum/student support/admissions etc experience
  • Main specialty
  • Current and recent membership of college/medical school committees
  • Interests and experience relevant to accreditation of a medical course/training program
  • Current teaching areas (postgraduate and undergraduate)
  • Current research interests (up to five key words or phrases)

When the AMC received an endorsed nomination, it lists the person in its assessors’ database.

The person is then considered when the AMC sets up teams each year. The AMC plans the teams in September-October for the next year, and reviews any changes required in March-April. If the AMC is considering you for membership of a team, it will check your availability and interest before nominating you. It will ask you to complete a range of forms so that it can check for conflict of interest, arrangement payments and make travel and other arrangements for you.

Administration

The AMC provides secretariat support to accreditation teams.

The AMC pays sessional fees, $AUS 266 per half day, to team members. It pays fees for meetings and activities such as site visits that are part of the agreed accreditation program.

The AMC meets the cost of travel, accommodation, meals and approved incidental expenditure.

The AMC organises travel and accommodation for team members.

More information

The AMC accreditation process is described on its website: www.amc.org.au/

Further information may be obtained from the staff of the AMC Secretariat:

Theanne Walters
Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Phone 02 6270 9706

Trevor Lockyer
Manager, Medical School Accreditation
Phone 02 6270 9705

Email: specaccred@amc.org.au