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Professional accreditation of occupational therapy educational programs: A bright or embattled future?
Author(s) -
Cusick Anne,
Adamson Lynne
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
australian occupational therapy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.595
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1440-1630
pISSN - 0045-0766
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1630.2004.00411.x
Subject(s) - accreditation , audit , scope (computer science) , certification and accreditation , professional association , medical education , quality (philosophy) , professional development , occupational therapy , political science , engineering ethics , medicine , psychology , business , public relations , accounting , engineering , computer science , programming language , physical therapy , philosophy , epistemology
As Australia introduces a new system of individual accreditation through the program for individual accreditation of occupational therapists, there is a need to also consider the place and scope of specialised educational program accreditation in the maintenance of professional standards. The present article reviews issues relating to educational program accreditation including: the need for accreditation and its tradition in occupational therapy; types of accreditation and stakeholders involved; accreditation processes; and evidence of effectiveness. It suggests that professional association demands of programs and the accreditation processes used for audit and inspection must be relevant and reasonable in order to be considered credible and necessary by all stakeholders. Standards and professional accreditation processes that do not demonstrate that they are relevant and reasonable will face an embattled future. Those that do provide mechanisms for true quality improvement through relevant, well‐conceived processes should have a bright future in a world seeking benchmarks for quality in professional preparation programs.