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4 Accreditation and Diversity in Health Professions
Pages 127-142

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From page 127...
... Accreditation standards adopted by the majority of health professions' standard-setting bodies should and do attempt to balance "prescriptive" standards that mandate institutional compliance in core areas with more general goals that take into account variations in institutional mission and educational objectives. In addition, most accreditation standards acknowledge the importance of preserving academic freedom, which is critical to curriculum innovation.
From page 128...
... Accrediting organizations must therefore meet procedures and criteria established by these groups as they establish standards for diversity. The following chapter reviews the accreditation standards adopted by the major accrediting bodies that oversee nursing, dental, professional psychology, and medical education and assesses the potential for these standards to stimulate more intensive diversity efforts on the part of health professions training programs.
From page 129...
... Of these, only the first standard ("mission and governance") specifically addresses diversity, in stating that nursing education programs must "demonstrate commitment to the cultural, racial, and ethnic diversity of the community in which the institution and the nursing education unit exist" (Grumet, 2003)
From page 130...
... ; · Evaluate the success of nursing programs in achieving their mission, goals, and outcomes; · Assess the extent to which nursing programs meet accreditation standards; · Inform the public of the purposes and values of accreditation; and · Foster continuing improvement in nursing education programs. The values upon which CCNE accreditation activities are premised include: · Trust, integrity, life-long learning, review and oversight by peers, innovation, and accountability; and · Inclusiveness in the implementation of CCNE's activities and an openness to the "diverse institutional and individual issues and opinions of the interested community" (CCNE, 2002)
From page 131...
... CDA's Accreditation Standards for Dental Education Programs have been developed to: · Protect the public welfare; · Guide institutions in developing their academic programs; · Provide a vehicle for site visit teams to make judgments as to the quality of the program; and · Provide students with reasonable assurance that the program is meeting its stated objectives. In addition, CDA's standards were designed to: · Improve the assessment of quality in dental education programs; · Streamline the accreditation process by including only standards critical to the evaluation of the quality of the educational program;
From page 132...
... According to Karen Hart, director of the CDA, all 46 doctoral-level dental programs have been found to be in compliance with Standard 2-2, with 13 programs receiving commendations regarding their efforts to recruit and retain a diverse student body. Similarly, all 46 programs have been found to be in compliance with Standard 2-17, with two receiving commendations for their efforts to ensure that dental graduates possess multicultural competencies (Hart, 2003)
From page 133...
... Department of Education as an accrediting agency for medical education programs, but not as an institutional accrediting agency. Therefore, LCME requires medical schools to attain institutional accreditation from a regional accrediting body if not already a component of a regionally accredited institution.
From page 134...
... , which accredits residency education programs, has established general competencies in graduate medical education, including standards with regard to patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, and systems-based practice. Of these general competencies, only the
From page 135...
... According to Susan Zlotlow, director of the APA Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation, the APA Committee on Accreditation debated whether to address student and faculty diversity standards as a single, separate domain or to infuse diversity issues throughout the guidelines. The committee elected to adopt both approaches -- diversity is addressed across several domains, as well as in a separate domain focused on cultural and individual differences and diversity (Zlotlow, 2003)
From page 136...
... , scientific and theoretical foundations for professional practice, diagnosis and assessment, and implementing intervention plans. "Issues of cultural and individual diversity that are relevant to all of the above" must be integrated into the curriculum plan (APA Committee on Accreditation, 2002, p.
From page 137...
... . APA's accreditation standards have contributed to an increased level of attention and effort among psychology education and training constituencies in addressing diversity concerns, according to Zlotlow.
From page 138...
... An accrediting body seeking national recognition by the secretary must meet the procedures and criteria established by the department for the recognition of accrediting agencies. These procedures and criteria include organizational and administrative requirements, operating policies and procedures, and required standards and their application.
From page 139...
... The standards and practices adopted by the APA are instructive and offer several approaches for accreditation standards to address diversity concerns: 1. Develop a plan to achieve diversity, consistent with the institutional mission, and demonstrate efforts to reach diversity goals.
From page 140...
... In particular, the CDA's requirement that dental schools develop admissions policies and procedures that attend to recruitment and admission of a diverse student population and its mandate that dental graduates must possess the skills and competencies to serve a racially and ethnically diverse patient population are consistent with the goal of encouraging student diversity and diversity-related curriculum. In addition, CDA's efforts to assess the impact of accreditation standards on dental school student diversity are an important to evaluate the effectiveness of program standards.
From page 141...
... Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE)
From page 142...
... 2003. Committee on Accreditation of the American Psychological Association: Efforts to Promote Diversity.


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