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At the September Board of Directors meeting, the Board voted to make a significant change in the terminology used for program requirements. The term Essential has been used since the 1950s and 1960s when initial implementation of an accreditation process for CLS/MT programs occurred. Many other agencies accrediting allied health programs used the term early on but, in recent years, there has been discussion related to the interpretation of the word Essential. Most agencies now use the term Standard. An Essential is defined as a necessity; it is a fundamental and intrinsic characteristic. If this is accepted as defined, it may be argued that a program without full and total compliance with all Essentials cannot and should not be accredited. Alternatively, a standard is defined as a yardstick, a criterion, or a norm. It is suggested that this definition allows for a program without full and total compliance, and not quite meeting the norm, to be accredited, albeit with appropriate notification that improvement is needed. The Health Professions Career and Education Directory published by the American Medical Association lists information on 52 professions and the agencies that accredit them. In the 2001-2002 Edition, only NAACLS and one other agency continued to use the term Essentials in the accreditation process. As a result of the Board action and effective immediately, NAACLS will refer to standards as Standards, both for accreditation and for approval. It may take a while for NAACLS volunteers and programs to become accustomed to referring to Standards, but as we do so, NAACLS will begin the process of modifying all documentation related to the accreditation processes. With the cooperation of all of NAACLS stakeholders, we will move forward with the new terminology.
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