The medical school’s Office of Continuing Education has earned reaccreditation.
The office recently received Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education for a four-year period from July 2022 to July 2026. This accreditation follows a rigorous 15-month application process that included a comprehensive self-study report of WMed’s continuing education program, developed in accordance with Joint Accreditation Criteria, the submission of performance-in-practice files of selected activities, and a Joint Accreditation (JA) surveyor interview. Joint Accreditation establishes the standards for education providers to deliver continuing education planned by the healthcare team for the healthcare team. WMed first earned accreditation in 2018 and is one of fewer than 150 organizations that hold this accreditation.
“WMed is honored to be recognized by Joint Accreditation as a jointly accredited provider,” said Nancy Bjorklund, EdD, MPA, associate dean for Global and Continuing Education. “We are proud to join this distinguished group of providers and remain committed to offering the highest quality of continuing education activities that will engage multidisciplinary healthcare teams and patients at the global, national, and local level.”
The office provides continuing education for physicians, nurses, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, social workers, psychologists, physician assistants, athletic trainers, and dieticians using a unified accreditation process and a set of accreditation standards. It also provides interprofessional continuing education (IPCE) for all learners. This distinction is granted by three global leaders in the field of accreditation, including the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).
“Receiving reaccreditation from Joint Accreditation for interprofessional continuing education demonstrates that WMed and its affiliates provides relevant, effective, practice-based education for the healthcare team that supports health care quality improvement,” Dr. Bjorklund said. “The goal of accreditation is to improve healthcare team collaboration and performance and deliver the highest quality care utilizing a set of high accreditation standards adopted by the ACCME, the ANCC, and ACPE.”
For the next accreditation cycle, WMed will be in a strong position to seek accreditation with commendation, Dr. Bjorklund said. Organizations are eligible to seek joint accreditation with commendation if they are currently jointly accredited. In seeking commendation, accredited organizations must demonstrate compliance from a menu of criteria that go beyond the 12 core Joint Accreditation criteria. These optional criteria seek to provide additional incentive as well as encouragement to providers to expand their reach and impact in the interprofessional continuing education environment.
“This goal of commendation during our next accreditation cycle will require WMed to embark on a rigorous application process that will require compliance in seven additional standards,” Dr. Bjorklund said. “In focusing on commendation, WMed will be pushed to not only continue to produce the highest quality education but to expand its educational programming to focus on healthcare inequities, climate change and its impact on healthcare, disparities in mental health treatment, and social determinants of health.”