Aplicación de un sistema de gestión de la calidad NC-ISO 9001 a la dirección del posgrado académico / Application of a NC-ISO 9001 Quality Management System to the administration of the academic postgraduate studies

INTRODUCCIÓN: la implementación y certificación de un Sistema de Gestión de la Calidad NC-ISO 9001 requiere del cumplimiento de los principios y requisitos que esta norma establece. Las organizaciones que brindan servicios de posgrado académico como uno de sus procesos clave, necesitan entender y aplicar los requisitos de la norma de conjunto con los requisitos legales aplicables a este proceso en la República de Cuba. OBJETIVO: mostrar cómo se aplican los principios y requisitos de la norma NC-ISO 9001 en el posgrado académico, teniéndose como caso de estudio la gestión de un programa de maestría en el Centro Nacional de Cirugía de Mínimo Acceso. MÉTODOS: se emplearon como técnicas; la observación, análisis del contenido de documentos y trabajo en equipo. RESULTADO: se implementó de un sistema NC-ISO 9001 en el proceso de posgrado. Fue necesario conjugar los requisitos relativos al diseño/desarrollo, las prestación del servicio formativo, la evaluación del desempeño y la mejora de los programas con la legislación vigente en el sector; a partir de la aplicación del Reglamento de Posgrado de la República de Cuba y el Sistema de Evaluación y Acreditación de Maestrías; todo ello sobre la base de la observancia de los principios de gestión de la calidad.

INTRODUCTION: The implementation and certification of a NC-ISO 9001 quality management system require compliance with the principles and requirements established in this standard. Organizations that provide educational services to obtain academic degrees as one of its key processes need to understand and implement the requirements of the standard in conjunction with the legal requirements applicable to this process in the Republic of Cuba. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this paper is to show how the principles and requirements of the NC-ISO 9001 standard are applied in the management of academic postgraduate studies, having as a study case the master degree formation program in the National Centre for Minimal Access Surgery. METHODS: As research techniques participative observation, content analysis of documents and team work were employed. RESULTS: A NC-ISO 9001 system in the postgraduate formation process was implemented. It was to combine the requirements for the design/development, the provision of formation service, performance evaluation and improvement of programs with current legislation in the sector, taking the application of Postgraduate Studies Regulation of the Republic of Cuba and the Assessment and Accreditation System of Master Degree Studies as the starting point, all based on the observance of the principles of quality management.

Development of an accreditation system for dietary and nutrition related education resources / 한국영양학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to establish accreditation systems of reliable educational materials for nutrition and dietary life which could be used in schools, workplace, and health promotion. METHODS: The study was conducted from April 2011 to October 2011. Literature reviews, institutional visits, and telephone interviews were conducted. Expert meetings and advisory councils were held in order to receive feedback on development of the accreditation systems. A survey was conducted for the accreditation procedures on 143 professionals, including professors, researchers, health and medical experts, teachers, nutrition teachers, dietitians, and clinical nutritionists. RESULTS: The final procedure of the developed accreditation system was finalized as follows: 1) receiving application twice per year 2) complete desk review (written evaluation) by three reviewers within two months, 3) board review (all board members) and decision, and 4) no-tification of results. The accreditation system is set for printed materials, web-site, and materials for activities. The certificate and accreditation mark is issued to the final certified educational materials. Expiration date is established only for the web-site form. The accreditation length lasts for two years, and can be extended by renewal application. CONCLUSION: The dietary and nutrition related materials, which are certificated by this accreditation system, could impart reliable information and knowledge to both learners and educators, and help them in effective selection of educational materials. Therefore, this accreditation system might be expected to increase satisfaction for teaching and learning about nutrition and healthy dietary life.

Understanding of the new Korea Healthcare Accreditation System

The Korean Healthcare Accreditation System began to be applied to most Korean hospitals this year, yet it remains unfamiliar to us. There has been much criticism regarding the Hospital Evaluation Program that began in 2004 because of its formalities and its perceived ineffectiveness in improving the healthcare environment. Because of these issues, the new healthcare accreditation system was adopted to continuously improve the quality of the healthcare fields. Many countries, including the United States, are employing accreditation systems and have developed their systems with consideration for their own cultural backgrounds and medical environments. Unlike the evaluation program, which ranks hospitals, the new accreditation system tries to see the root of every behavior rather than focusing on formalities like the size of and facilities available at hospitals. The appraiser's ability to correctly judge is very important. For the hospitals, understanding the significance of accreditation, which follows quality improvement, is most important. Besides, the accreditation system is a volunteer system, which is unfamiliar to us (we are used to a passive evaluation system) and can cause confusion. It also has a risk of falling into disuse like the past evaluation system if we try to obtain quick results from the new system. Ample time is needed to make adjustments through trial and error, and for medical professionals to discover how to properly use the new accreditation system. It is important to consider its meaning and principles first.

Present Situation and Prospective Issues of Continuing Medical Education for Physicians / 医学教育

1) To improve the quality of medical care and to ensure patient safety, physicians have the professional duty and responsibility to constantly study the newest medical knowledge and technology.<BR>2) The terminology for “continuing education”for physicians differs in meaning from that generally used to refer to “life-long education.”<BR>3) Continuing medical education (CME) in Japan is independently carried out by medical associations and by numerous academic medical societies. Present CME activities in Japan are reviewed, and CME in the United States is explained.<BR>4) Continuing professional development is introduced as a new paradigm of CME for physicians, created to improve the health-care system in the United Kingdom.<BR>5) To further improve CME for physicians in Japan, prospective issues are discussed. Establishment of a third-party organization that discusses, manages, and operates the CME system for physicians, is strongly recommended.

A Study on the Content Validity and Factor Validity of Accreditation Standards for Medical Schools in Korea / 한국의학교육

The purpose of this study was to examine the content validity and factor validity of accreditation standards for medical schools. In order to analyze the validity of the standards of accreditation, a questionnaire, assessment survey on the current situation of medical education and standards of accreditation, were developed to gather information. And 1,492 students and faculty were sampled out of 41 medical schools, and the data collected from 662 students and faculty were used for the final analysis. The result of this research was as follows; First, the standard of medical school accreditation has content validity. All of the standards are significant in the range of 3.59~4.49, and the level of recognition of the importance of each standard differed depending on the position of the faculty, student, and their previous experience in the evaluation of education. Therefore, a new standards of accreditation that reflects these differences among groups should be developed. Second, the standard of medical school accreditation is composed of six hidden factors. Each factor has different level of importance and there is a correlation among each factors. Therefore, each factor's level of importance and the relationship between the factors should be considered when developing a new standards of accreditation.