Title: DOES DISTRIBUTED MEDICAL EDUCATION MEAN INEQUITABLE OPPORTUNITIES FOR LEARNING Thoughts from the Acc
1DOES DISTRIBUTED MEDICAL EDUCATIONMEAN
INEQUITABLE OPPORTUNITIES FOR LEARNING?Thoughts
from the Accreditation PerspectiveBarbara
Barzansky, PhDInterim LCME Co-Secretary
2GOAL FOR PRESENTATION
- Discuss the following questions (from a south
of the border perspective) - Is distributed learning inevitable?
- Is distributed learning inherently inequitable?
Do all differences constitute inequity? - What can accreditation do to mitigate inequity?
3DISTRIBUTED LEARNING IN THE US
- Distributed learning can include anything
from multiple clinical sites in the same region
to geographically-separate campuses located at a
distance from the main campus - In 2005-2006, the 125 LCME-accredited medical
schools used a total of 947 hospitals as
inpatient clerkship sites(the range per school
was 2-27) - 24 schools have formal branch campuses(and the
number is increasing)
4INEQUITYLACK OF JUSTICE, FAIRNESSWebsters
New World Dictionary
5THE ELEMENTS OF EQUITY(For Learners)
- Access
- To expertise- faculty- learning materials
- To support services
- To colleagues
- To a variety of patients
- To equitable evaluation
6THE ELEMENTS OF EQUITY(For Faculty)
- Access
- To institutional rewards(such as compensation,
promotion) - To opportunities for scholarship/collaboration
- To a fair and appropriate workload
7ACCESS IN A DISTRIBUTED SYSTEM
- Assumptions
- The potential for inequity always exists in
distributed learning - Some differences among sites do not represent
inequity - Inequity can be managed to assure that learners
and faculty can achieve their objectives
8THE ROLE OF ACCREDITATION(Undergraduate Medical
Education)
- LCME/CACMS accreditation standards directly
address issues related to equity in a distributed
learning system (at least for students). - EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM
- Requirement for common educational objectives and
definition of numbers/types of patients (ED-1,
ED-2) - Comparable educational experiences and equivalent
methods of evaluation (ED-8)
9ACCREDITATION (cont)
- CURRICULUM MANAGEMENT
- Central control and management of the curriculum
(ED-33) - Single chief academic officer with responsibility
for the educational program (ED-36, ED-39) - Functional integration of faculty across
sites(ED-41)
10ACCREDITATION (cont)
- STUDENT SUPPORT
- Single standard of promotion/graduationfor
students (ED-41) - Comparable rights and support services for
students (ED-44)
11DISTRIBUTED LEARNING IN GRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION
- Accreditation standards of the Royal College
of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the
College of Family Physicians of Canada imply, but
do not explicitly address, issues related to
equity across clinical sites.
12ENSURING EQUITY FOR LEARNERS IN THE MEDICAL
EDUCATION SYSTEM
- EQUITY IN AN ENVIRONMENT OF RESOURCE
CONSTRAINTSIssues for discussion - How to assure equity in access to expertise
- How to assure equity in access to support
services for learners - How to assure equity in access to fair evaluation
- How to assure equity in access to clinical
resources