AMC Accreditation Update: December 2011

The Australian Medical Council has recently completed a number of accreditation assessments of training programs for medical specialists. In Australia, specialist training is managed by specialist medical colleges. To be granted a college fellowship, which leads to being an independent specialist, medical practitioners must successfully complete a college training program while they work as doctors-in-training in college-accredited posts in hospitals and health services.

The AMC has granted ongoing accreditation of the education and training programs and continuing professional development programs of the Australasian College of Dermatologists until 31 December 2013, subject to satisfactory progress reports. This accreditation decision covers training in the medical specialty of dermatology. The AMC has determined that the College and the program leading to fellowship of the College meet the accreditation standards.

The AMC accreditation report commends the College's achievements since its first accreditation in 2007. The report identifies many successes including the completion of a comprehensive curriculum, which guides selection into the training program, learning, and assessment. The dermatology training program's areas of strength include the flexible and part-time training options; the development of online-learning resources; trainee involvement on College committees and the clear statements of the roles of specialist dermatologists who supervise the doctors-in-training. The College's well-established continuing professional development program is also commended.

The report also identifies areas for improvement, including curriculum review and refinement; assessment policy; the need for formal processes for selection of supervisors and examiners; and the need to implement and publicise its new standards for accrediting dermatology training posts. The full accreditation decision, including the requirements for progress reports and the conditions on the accreditation, are provided in the Executive Summary of the accreditation report.

The AMC has granted ongoing accreditation to the College of Intensive Care Medicine's training programs in intensive care medicine and paediatric intensive care medicine, and its continuing professional development program until 31 December 2015, subject to satisfactory annual progress reports.

The AMC found that, overall, the education, training and continuing professional development programs of the College of Intensive Care Medicine substantially meet the accreditation standards.

The intensive care medicine training program was first assessed in 2002, when it was run by the Joint Faculty of Intensive Care of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists and the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. The Faculty became the separate College of Intensive Care Medicine in January 2010. The AMC congratulates the College on its successful and smooth transition to a stand-alone training organisation. This transition represents a very significant development in the evolution of intensive care medicine in Australia. The AMC accreditation report acknowledges the College has built on the sound training policies and structures of the Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine. The College's notable successes and strengths are its well-developed apprenticeship-based training program; committed and enthusiastic supervisors of training; the range of methods used to assess the performance of doctors-in-training, as well as the recent introduction of formal surveys of trainees and fellows. The plans for a new continuing professional development program to be implemented in 2012 are also commended. The report acknowledges that the intensive care medicine program and the paediatric intensive care medicine program are producing high- quality and technically-skilled graduates.

The AMC has also set a number of conditions on the College's accreditation, relating to the goals and objectives of the training; the development of a curriculum; evaluation; and accreditation of intensive care units for training purposes. The AMC will assess the College once the reviews have been finalised and new processes implemented. The full accreditation decision, including the requirements for progress reports and the conditions on the accreditation, are provided in the Executive Summary of the accreditation report. Once accredited by the AMC, specialist medical colleges are required to submit regular progress reports. In the last twelve months of their accreditation, colleges submit a comprehensive report for extension of accreditation. In this report, the college is asked to show that it continues to meet the accreditation standards by analysing its own performance, and to outline its plans leading up to the next AMC accreditation. On this basis, the AMC determines whether the college is satisfying the AMC requirements for accreditation, and if so, can extend the accreditation, which can be for the balance of the maximum ten years between accreditations, or a lesser period.

The AMC has extended the accreditation of the following three colleges on the basis of satisfactory comprehensive reports.

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists covers the specialty of ophthalmology. The November 2011 meeting of AMC Directors considered the report on the review of the College's comprehensive report for extension of accreditation. The AMC's finding is that, overall, the College's programs meet the accreditation standards. The AMC extended the accreditation of the ophthalmology training program and the continuing professional development program of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists by five years, subject to the submission of satisfactory progress reports, to take its accreditation to ten years in total, with re-accreditation due 31 December 2016.

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists covers the medical specialty of psychiatry. The November 2011 meeting of AMC Directors considered the report on the review of the College's comprehensive report for extension of accreditation. The AMC's finding is that, overall, the College's programs meet the accreditation standards. AMC Directors extended the accreditation of the psychiatry training program and the continuing professional development program of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists by four years, subject to the submission of satisfactory progress reports, to take its accreditation to ten years in total, with re-accreditation due 31 December 2015. The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons trains surgeons in nine specialties: Cardiothoracic Surgery, General Surgery, Neurosurgery, Orthopaedic Surgery, Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Paediatric Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Urology, and Vascular Surgery.

The November 2011 meeting of AMC Directors considered the report on the review of the College's comprehensive report for extension of accreditation. The AMC's finding is that, overall, the College's programs meet the accreditation standards. AMC Directors extended the accreditation of the Surgical Education and Training Program and of the continuing professional development program of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons to 31 December 2017, subject to the submission of satisfactory progress reports. The AMC presented the accreditation decisions and reports noted above to the Medical Board of Australia to enable the Board to make a decision on the approval of the programs of study for registration purposes. The Medical Board of Australia publishes its decisions about accredited programs of study on the Board's website following each meeting.