Volume 67 - Fall 1997	Download

An evaluation of Essentials 20-23 by Norton I. German, MD CLSPRC Member

Using the 1995 Essentials for accreditation recommendations, the CLSPRC cited programs for Essentials 20-23 during the recent Summer 1997 cycle for either non-compliance or marginal compliance. Why? What is required? Let's explore the issues.

Essential 20 - The program must have a continuing system for periodically and systematically reviewing the effectiveness of the program, including a formal self-study process and the Self-Study Report required by the accreditation review process.

Compliance with this Essential begins with a systematic written plan that addresses the how and when. Elements of the process alone are not sufficient. Periodically should be defined as an appropriate time interval, i. e. , semiannually, yearly. Evaluations and reviews every five years or seven years, just before the next accreditation cycle, wont suffice. Systematically addresses the component elements of the review such as students, faculty, graduates, employers of graduates and any advisory group. Ideally, all would be included. The Self-Study Report should be an ongoing effort with updated material constantly being added so that preparation of the report will not be a sudden, rushed, heavy burden to be completed within a very short time prior to the required deadline for submission.

Essential 21 - A review of the performance of graduates on external certifying examinations from the three preceding years shall be documented and considered in the program evaluation.

Yes, I know that almost 50 percent of the students must fall below the national certifying examinations mean score, and 50 percent of all physicians graduated in the bottom half of their class. However, a review of the students' performance must be conducted to seek ways to onstantly improve the program. If the program consistently has scores below the mean, a thorough analysis should occur and result in very specific curriculum changes that the study identifies as requiring attention. A trend of steadily declining scores also warrants evaluation.

Essential 22 - A review of graduation or program completion rates and placement rates shall be documented and included in the program evaluation.

This Essential was strongly endorsed by the United States Department of Education (USDE). The USDE was concerned about the number of unpaid federal loans attributed, in part to schools which admitted unqualified students who could not complete the course of study and then find employment to pay back well over a billion dollars of unpaid loans. If a program's attrition rate is high, then it must examine the causes of such attrition, such as open enrollment, inadequate prerequisites, and low admission grade point averages standards. Low placement rates must also be analyzed to determine whether the job market has been saturated, graduates of the specific program are not hired by employers because of perceived poor quality raduates, or whether graduates are matriculating into higher level educational programs.

Essential 23 - The results of program evaluations shall be documented and reflected in the curriculum and other elements of the program.

This is the key Essential that ties together Essentials 20, 21 and 22. After the data required in Essentials 20, 21 and 22 have been gathered and analyzed, the evaluations shall be documented. Documentation may be achieved in written summaries of the analyses in Essentials 20, 21 and 22 with minutes of various meetings of the faculty or advisory group wherein any appropriate changes are documented and "reflected in the curriculum and other elements of the program, " such as admission criteria, course selection and course content.

Many programs have been successfully complying with all the aforementioned Essentials and need no further preaching to the choir. For those that are new or in need of a review of these relatively new 1995 Essentials, please accept the suggestions so that we may continue to have as many successful accredited programs as possible.

NAACLS exists to help you with your programs' success. Do not hesitate to contact the NAACLS office with any questions or visit NAACLS' web site for a storehouse of information.

Dr. German is the HT Pathology Educator for the CLSPRC

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