The Scope of Social Mission Content in Health Professions Education Accreditation Standards.

Publisher: Published for the Association of American Medical Colleges by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 8904605 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1938-808X (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 10402446 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Acad Med Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Philadelphia, PA : Published for the Association of American Medical Colleges by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Original Publication: [Philadelphia, Pa. : Hanley & Belfus, c1989-

Accreditation* ; Curriculum*; Canada ; Health Occupations ; Humans ; Schools, Medical

Purpose: Health professions education accreditation standards influence institutional practices and policies and ensure high-quality education that meets the needs of patients and society. Social mission is the contribution of a school in its mission, programs, and the performance of its graduates, faculty, and leadership to advancing health equity and addressing the health disparities of the society in which it exists. This study examined the scope of social mission content in major U.S. and Canadian health professions education accreditation standards.
Method: The authors analyzed publicly available accreditation standards documents from 9 accreditors across 5 disciplines-dental, medical, nursing, pharmacy, and physician assistant schools-with effective years from 2016 to 2020. They created a codebook from the previously published social mission metrics survey, which includes 18 social mission activity areas and 79 indicators within those areas. The authors then conducted detailed document reviews to identify the presence of the social mission areas and indicators within the accreditation standards.
Results: Across all 18 activity areas and 9 accreditors, the authors identified 93 instances of social mission. Curriculum was the most well-represented area with 34 instances. Interprofessional education in curriculum was the most prevalent indicator with 17 instances. The Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools included more social mission areas and indicators than the other accreditors.
Conclusions: There is substantial variability in the social mission content in accreditation standards across accreditors and disciplines. The authors found little representation of key aspects of social mission, including community collaborations, faculty training, and pipeline programs. These findings highlight areas of potential interdisciplinary collaboration to enhance the social mission content of health professions education.
(Copyright © 2021 by the Association of American Medical Colleges.)

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Date Created: 20211007 Date Completed: 20220415 Latest Revision: 20230717

20230718

10.1097/ACM.0000000000004437

34618736