Curriculum Development and Review | RACMA | Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators

Approval Date: July 2010
Review Date: Under Review
Review By: Curriculum Steering Committee

Puropose

The Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators (RACMA) has established this policy in order to govern the development and review of its training curricula. This policy provides a transparent framework for the Curriculum Steering Committee (CSC) to assure the College and its stakeholders that the College curricula:

are aligned with the RACMA Mission and Strategic Plan and meet the needs of both the community and workplace;
incorporate a regular evaluation program to ensure the ongoing relevance of the curriculum to its stakeholders;
contribute to the professional knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours of RACMA Members;
support all Fellows and AFRACMA in the maintenance and development of medical management competencies; and
establish a benchmark for assessing and evaluating training programs in medical leadership and management, including those delivered by third parties.

Scope

This policy will be applied in the planning, development, implementation, and review of the following College curricula:

Fellowship Training Program – Standard Pathway
Fellowship Training Program – Accelerated Pathway
AFRACMA Training Program – Clinical Leaders Certificate/Diploma

Responsibilities and relationships

The Curriculum Steering Committee (CSC) will be responsible for development and revision of the College’s curricula.
The CSC is a subcommittee of the Education and Training Committee (ETC).
The CSC will liaise with the Training Committee, the Credentialling Committee, the CEP Committee and the Board of Censors as appropriate to undertake its responsibilities.

Background

The Fellowship Training Program has as its primary goal the development of competent medical administrators. Historically the College curricula have been developed iteratively and by the Board, Censor in Chief, Chairs of Boards of Studies and Fellows of the College. The documentation of this curricula and the conduct of the educational and training programs is referred throughout the College’s Annual Reports and in-house publications. The College articulated the core medical management competencies (based on CanMEDS) in 2005. It did this against a background of changes to the role of the medical manager, an evolving emphasis on particular roles and tasks and the broader move to competency-based training.

The AMC has recommended the College document its Fellowship Training curriculum. (Australian Medical Council accreditation report, November 2008). The Curriculum Steering Committee was appointed to oversee the documentation of the curriculum.

Definitions

Curriculum	A complete program of learning which includes the following components: objectives, content, teaching and learning strategies, resources, assessment and evaluation.
Syllabus	Is an outline and summary of topics to be covered in an academic course, text or lecture. It is descriptive (unlike the prescriptive or specific curriculum). It describes the content and expectations of a course, the grading policy, a list of assignments and due dates, and related information such as the required textbooks and other course materials, the instructor’s office hours, contact information, etc.
Evaluation	Is a systematic method for collecting, analyzing, and using information to answer basic questions about projects, policies and programs.
Faculty	Includes all Members of the College actively engaged in the teaching, assessment or evaluation of the specified training program. Such as preceptors, censors, executive coaches etc.
Stakeholders	Includes any individual or organisation that performs an active role within the specified training program.

Policy

6.1 Planning and development

Development of the College Curricula will be co-ordinated centrally using a consultative processes and external expertise as required.

College Fellows will provide the expertise to define context and content for the curriculum. External stakeholders, e.g. employers, government, universities, community, will provide additional input to ensure the broader context relating to future workforce requirements, technologies, policy and strategic directions etc are considered to be valid and place the curriculum appropriately in relation to demand and to ensure the College assumes appropriate accountability to Candidates.

The goals of the curricula will be clearly articulated to provide the framework for developing competencies and output objectives In turn these will guide the selection of content and the design and development of teaching strategies to construct and deliver trainee learning.

The Fellowship Training curriculum will be documented using the structure described in Section 5. The documentation will be sufficient to enable College faculty to create and customise syllabi for delivery in jurisdictions of Candidates. All syllabi will encompass the core requirements of the College curricula. Provision for local jurisdictional variation is accepted provided the standards set in the core curriculum are delivered.

The Training Committee will support College faculty in the delivery of the curriculum. It will advise on the appropriateness of workshop design, teaching methods and teaching resources and trainee progress. It will monitor the curriculum and its delivery.

Trained College faculty will deliver the curriculum and be involved in its evaluation.

6.2 Accreditation

Prior to its implementation, all curricula will be accredited by the Board on the recommendation of the College Education and Training Committee.

The maximum accreditation period for a curriculum will be five years.

6.3 Implementation

Once the curriculum has been accredited it can then be implemented. Delivery of a new curriculum can commence when resources have been allocated and approved for delivery. Such approval will normally be given by the Board on the recommendation of the Finance and Audit Committee.

A curriculum that is a revision of an existing one will require a minimum notice period of 12 months to enable appropriate treatment of pipeline Candidates. The Education and Training Committee will approve implementation arrangements for all curricula and will take advice from the Curriculum Steering Committee and the Training Committee.

On all occasions of curricula development it is important to consider the costs and process of implementation: identification and procurement of non human resources, the training of human resources to support the delivery, the development of curriculum administrative processes, the communication platforms of the curriculum, and the possible institution of a pilot program.

6.4 Evaluation and review

The Training Committee will coordinate the regular evaluation and revision of the training program curricula in order to accommodate new ideas and knowledge as well as to avoid rigidity. The changes should be informed by the evaluated needs of the Candidates, Faculty, workplace and the specialty.

The process of evaluation will involve Candidates, the College Faculty, workplace supervisors and external stakeholders and the College. The evaluation of the curriculum will be performed systematically throughout its delivery, looking at it from a global, modular and educational tool level, with the results incorporated into the review of the curriculum format, delivery, and support.

6.5 Standards

The CSC will develop a curriculum development process that is collaborative and consultative involving Fellows, Associate Fellows, Candidates, other specialist colleagues, academics and community members. This will ensure the production of a curriculum that reflects the rich complexity of the specialty and the evolving environment in which it is executed.

The Fellowship Training Program must be sensitive to the needs of its Candidates and their diverse cultural, social, and experiential backgrounds. Each Candidate undergoing the Fellowship Training Program may have a slightly different experience from another; however all must have acquired a fundamental suite of knowledge, skills and attitudes that they can apply to reflect the professional standards of the program and RACMA.

The Fellowship Training Program curriculum must address all institutional (RACMA) and national (Australian Medical Council, Australian Qualifications Framework, Medical Council of New Zealand) performance standards.

References

RACMA documentation: Constitution, Regulations, Examination Handbook, Core Competencies Framework, Fellowship Training Program Curriculum, Fellowship Training Program Manual, Australian Medical Council Re-Accreditation Submission February 2008, Medical Council of New Zealand Re-Accreditation Submission September 2009.

Accreditation Report: The Education and Training Programs of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators, Specialist Education Accreditation Committee Report to the Australian Medical Council, November 2008.

Australian Qualifications Framework: Implementation Handbook, Fourth edition, Australian Qualifications Framework Advisory Board, 2007.

Kern, D.E. et al., Curriculum Development for Medical Education: a 6 step approach. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998.

Policy on Curriculum Development and Review. Rhodes University, 1998.

Program planning, development, approval and review processes. Griffith University, 2008.

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