Abstract
A leading New Zealand academic has been appointed to conduct an Australian Medical Council review of the education and training programs offered by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists.
He is Professor Ian Simpson, the Head of Clinical Sciences, School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland.
Professor Simpson is also the chair of the Australian Medical Council Accreditation Committee.
He planned to discuss the review with the College's Executive Officers and other key College representatives after assisting the council in selecting the other members of the accreditation team with advice from the College on the expertise required.
In the meantime, the College's AMC working party is preparing a final draft of supporting documentation for submission to the council in October.
The College expects to receive feedback from the review panel before the end of the year to enable it to submit its final documentation by 22 January next year.
The council will conduct its review of the College's training, assessment and continuing development programs in August 2005.
In reaching a decision, the council has a number of options:
Accreditation may be awarded for six years (with or without conditions) subject to satisfactory annual reports during the period of accreditation. An extension of up to four years (i.e. a total of 10 years) may be granted on the basis of a satisfactory report in the fifth year of accreditation. Conditional accreditation may be granted for shorter periods if significant deficiencies are identified. Accreditation may be refused.
Since the council developed the review process in 2000 and 2001, five colleges have been accredited — one for three years and the remainder forn six years.
A review of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians is underway.
Annual reporting is used by the council to monitor the accredited colleges during the accreditation period.
Training review head Professor Ian Simpson.
