Approval Date: March 2013
Review Date: Under review
Review By: Education and Training Committee
Purpose
The purpose of this Regulation is to document the standards and administration for the review and maintenance of the Masters degree subjects as an integral part of the Medical Leadership and Management Curriculum Framework.
This Regulation should be read in conjunction with the Medical Leadership and Management Curriculum, with reference to Component 2 and Table 1 of Chapter 6, Curriculum Structure.
Definitions
“Competency” means an observable ability of a health professional, integrating multiple components such as knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes.
“Curriculum” means the Medical Leadership and Management Curriculum Framework.
“Fellowship Training Program” means the training program required for each individual Candidate to complete towards achieving competency in Medical Administration as defined under the Medical Leadership and Management Curriculum. The training program is made up of Annual Training Plans and may vary between Candidates depending on the level of assessed competency of that individual.
“Mapping” refers to the exercise that establishes between sets what associates each element of a set with an element in the same or another set.
“Masters” means the qualification offered and awarded by university at postgraduate study level.
“Masters subject” means a postgraduate university subject or equivalent, offered at a Masters degree level and able to be credited towards the award of a Masters degree.
“Medical Leadership and Management Curriculum” refers to the RACMA Curriculum Document and all its components published September 2011 as the training program’s formal and informal education components, learning outcomes and assessments towards entry to RACMA Fellowship.
“Recognition of Prior Learning” (RPL) assesses the individual’s non-formal and informal learning to determine the extent to which that individual has achieved the required learning outcomes or competency.
Standards
Every three years the Training Committee will review the university Masters degree requirements and specify the core subjects which are required to be satisfactorily completed as part of the Fellowship Training Program.
Following this review the Training Committee will make recommendations to the Education and Training Committee about which Australasian health services Masters degrees will be accepted for inclusion in the RACMA Fellowship Training Program. This list of Masters degrees will be published on the College website for Candidate information.
Only those Masters degrees which have been accredited by the University Academic Board and are clearly within the accreditation period will be assessed for recommendation to RACMA Candidates. In addition RACMA will look favourably upon those Masters degrees which have been delivered for sufficient time to have been subjected to review within the university. RACMA will also review the assessment requirements in the Masters degree subjects which it specifies as core subjects required to be completed by its Candidates.
The Training Committee will ensure that the Masters degrees that are recommended to Candidates align with the RACMA Medical Leadership and Management Curriculum and that these degrees continue to be appropriate over time. Each year the National Office will review the list of recommended Masters degrees to ensure the subject offerings continue to satisfy the College’s requirements ahead of the three year review.
Candidates are strongly advised to select their Masters degree from those communicated via the RACMA website.
The Training Committee will recommend the core subjects required to be completed by a RACMA Candidate in the selection and completion of their Masters degree requirement.
The core subject requirements are:
- Health Law and Ethics
- Health Economics
- Health Care Systems
- Financial Management in Health
- Epidemiology and Statistics
- Research Methodology
- Leadership
The Education and Training Committee will ensure that each Masters subject has adequate mapping tools to ensure that any Credit assessment can be performed with validity, reliability, flexibility and fairness. This will enable credit to be granted for equivalent studies undertaken outside the Fellowship Training Program.
The National Office will communicate these Masters degree requirements to Candidates via the RACMA website and any other methods determined by the National Office.
Review Procedure
In September of the third year, the National Office will undertake a review of its recommended Masters degrees and subject requirements.
The results of the review will be presented to the Training Committee. Any significant changes will be reported, discussed and recommendations made to the Education and Training Committee, e.g. cessation of the required RACMA standard new and appropriate Masters degrees that meet the RACMA requirements.
All changes to the Masters degree requirements will be uploaded to the RACMA website by the National Office for Candidates’ information.
The National Office will ensure that all details of Masters degree requirements, core RACMA recommended Masters subjects and university Masters degree offerings are filed in the administration shared computer drive for access as required.
Applications and assessment of RPL for Masters units must follow the Advanced Standing Policy and Regulation.
Related Documents
Medical Leadership and Management Curriculum, RACMA, September 2011
Policy – Advanced Standing in the RACMA Training Programs
Regulation – Application for Advanced Standing: RPL and Credit