The training of professionals in the health sciences must respond to the highest standards of quality of training of national and international institutions, not as an academic necessity exclusively, but towards the ethical commitment of higher education institutions to guarantee professionals who understand the complexity of values that define human needs1 as well as the acquisition of integral competences to commit oneself to enhancing the human development of all people; understanding this, as the process of increasing the opportunities of the people as Amartya Sen2 refers.
In this sense, contributing from higher education institutions to the training of professionals who value and understand the local context of human development in connection with the macroeconomic expectations of societies that understand global, social, cultural, scientific, economic, and political dynamics3, are fundamental elements for vocational training with a global vision that adapts to the rapid advances in technology, science, and education of our present4.
In this way, from the academy, to base the knowledge that allows to give structure to the professional contentand the learning process of the curricula of health careers such as the Occupational Therapy (OT) career.
Experience of Accreditation Processes of Academic Careers in Health:
The Santa Paula University (USP), as a private institution in higher education, has understood these elements as a priority to generate high quality policies in professional training; that is why it has voluntarily presented academic programs of specialized careers in health to accreditation processes with national and international agencies, thus consolidating its commitment to the implementation of a culture and policies of continuous improvement in the academic quality and professional training of its undergraduate and postgraduate careers.
In Costa Rica, the granting of the status of accreditation to an academic career of higher education officially by the State is the responsibility of the National System of Accreditation of Higher Education (SINAES); whose mission is to promote the quality of Costa Rican higher education and consolidate in it a vigorous culture of quality and evaluation in Costa Rica. Costa Rican higher education institutions, both public and private5.
Thus, the Occupational Therapy Career program is presented by USP to SINAES to carry out the Accreditation process, achieving it in 2019, after carrying out the self-evaluation of the SINAES standard and receiving the visit of external peer evaluators.
For the School of Occupational Therapy, the experience of the accreditation process with SINAES was totally enriching since it allowed us6:
- Generate a self-assessment report on the improvement opportunities to be managed
- Know the perception of the context through feedback from employers, teachers, graduates, students and administrators
- Have an international peer return report on strengths and opportunities for improvement
- Create a Commitment to Improve the opportunities for improvement identified by external evaluators and by the National Accreditation Council of SINAES.
- Experience of International Accreditation of a Health Career
In addition to this accreditation at the national level, the School of Occupational Therapy in the search to have access to the best practices at a global level in the training of this discipline for the updating of the Curriculum and the Professional Academic Profile of Graduation, which would respond to the integral and changing requirements of a society for the formation of professional human resources7 and that follow innovation criterios and international premises where "the essential thing is the training of Occupational Therapists who can handle diversity"8 and who are qualified to face the great challenges of the socioeconomic scenario9 of our current and future reality; an accreditation process was voluntarily initiated with the World Federation of Occupational Therapy (WFOT), the highest representative worldwide of this profession, in order to have a professional graduation profile that emphasizes relations with the context and human diversity at a local and global level.
The WFOT is a non-governmental organization with official status at the United Nations, which since 1958 develops and shares the Minimum Standards for the Education of Occupational Therapists4, which provide a global unifying approach to the curriculum development of quality programs in vocational training, as well as a strong emphasis on the interpretation of the local context while emphasizing a broader perspective of international practice 10.
In this way, it is that, for the updating of the curriculum and profile of professional graduation of the degree in Occupational Therapy, the international criteria of the Minimum Standards for the Education of Occupational Therapists(MSEOT) of the WFOT are taken as a reference. The purpose of these norms is to promote human rights in global society by impacting the profession by establishing international standards similar to other international organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)4.
The WFOT MSEOTs refer to educational processes as well as content and context, which include the emotional climates of learning and work environments and geopolitical influences on higher education, health, and social policies, as well as the services derived from them. They are important because they allow curriculum designers to interpret curricular content areas to meet the needs of the society they serve, concentrating on the richness and magnitude of society in a global sense; emphasizing that this richness allows recognition of the different ways in which international evidence can guide professional practice4, thus decreasing; the gaps between best practices between top-tier countries and developing countries like ours.
The importance of an academic program complying with international standards for the professional training of a discipline, lies in being able to face the challenges of the XXI century.
Therefore, the trajectory of a professional career must go beyond the traditional areas, since students need to assume positions in research, administration and management in the health and social sector that allows them to face the complexity of emerging practice at local, regional and global levels11. That is why it is recommended to understand that academic programs of professional training need to update the goals, structure and content to address the professional and educational developments necessary for the advancement of the profession in the professional and international inter-disciplinary context, and that for this; the surveillance of an international entity such as the WFOT in case of Occupational Therapy, is part of the correct decisions that universities must map in their continuous improvement processes.
Global Citizenship and Advocacy in Higher Education for Future Professionals
The promotion of internationalization at Santa Paula University is developed through the Office of International Cooperation (OIC), from three angles of International Cooperation: teaching, research, and collaboration. The mission of the OIC is to promote and facilitate the integration and development of multicultural and international experiences, knowledge and skills in the entire student, faculty, and administrative population; with the vision of turning the internationalization of education into one of the transversal axes of the institution and that is reflected in the academic training, internal administration, and socio-institutional environment of the University.
Additionally, USP's Occupational Therapy Career Program has established within its specific objectives the generation of global knowledge as citizens of the world for students who are in training. We understand that incorporating international, intercultural and global dimensions into curriculum content is essential to prepare students to live and work in a complex and globalized world12. We believe as an academy that the generation of experiences of international exchange of knowledge transfers and experiences with other people and cultures, provide opportunities to travel a journey in self-discovery through experiences outside the comfort zone, which lead to transformations in knowledge, attitude,values and beliefs of future professionals.
In this sense, we have developed experiences of approach with other universities with which we have international agreements for the development of distance activities from the "Collaborative International Distance Learning" (COIL) approach, as well as experiences of student exchange and academic teaching mobility. This has allowed us to manage virtual and face-to-face experiences of academic exchange between universities, giving life and structure to the possibilities of knowledge transfer between teachers and students. These experiences have been developed with the Universidad de Los Andes de Chile, Universidad Central de Chile, Universidad del Valle de Colombia, Universidad Santander de Colombia, Universidad Nacional de Cali Colombia, Universidad Castilla de la Mancha Madrid Spain, Universitat U-Vic Barcelona, University of Central Arkansas and Howard University.
Conclusions of the International Accreditation Experience:
The accreditation process of USP's OT career took place in December 2020, which ended in August 2022, which concluded with the approval of our curriculum by the WFOT for a period of 7 years.
With WFOT’s accreditation of our OT career, we seek the development and promotion of a standard of excellence in the practice of occupational therapy, and for USP following compliance with these minimum standards means a hallmark of quality assurance of value-added education10, as it encompasses the international review, supervision and monitoring of the global commitment of the profession in congruence with the fundamental values and principles for the formation of global citizens with a high sense of social advocacy.
The OT School agrees with WFOT that education at the higher level in occupational therapy must be anticipatory and responsive to growing global health challenges. These views require a broader view of education, which not only focuses on technical, clinical, and professional skills, but also emphasizes leadership, adaptability and social competencies that are identified as essential in the twenty-first century.
As essential points that allowed us the international accreditation with WFOT we concluded that:
- The training of Occupational Therapists in their curriculum and graduation profile must be immersed and in connection with the macroeconomic expectations of societies that respond to global, social, scientific, economic, and political dynamics4.
- For the development of professionals in Occupational Therapy, technical, clinical and professional skills must be fostered, emphasizing leadership, adaptability, interpersonal skills such as communication, political knowledge, interpersonal relationships, affective sensitivity, awareness for change and for entrepreneurship in professional education, which are fundamental in a curricular plan according to the WFOT and essential for professionals in the twenty-first century13.
- The content of the Minimum Standards as well as the approval process of the educational program together with the WFOT's monitoring of developments provide a global unifying approach to the curriculum development of entry/entry level quality programs to occupational therapy4.
- The process of designing a curriculum should promote a strong emphasis on interpreting the local context, while emphasizing a broader perspective of international practice12.
- The scope of what is known and will be known from the work of occupational therapists providing services in multiple contexts and cultures requires them to educate the next generation of therapists and manage systems from local contexts to global contexts and be researchers creating and disseminating knowledge and leading with vision12.
We conclude by referring that the Occupational Therapy School is betting and preparing a new generation of Occupational Therapy Professionals, who have competencies for the agency to initiate change, decision-making skills, willingness to engage and innovation to address social and occupational injustice and with Internationally employable and committed to ethical action and social responsibility on a global Scale13.
Bibliography:
1. Valdelomar Marín E, Parra Montañez GA.Terapia Ocupacional en Costa Rica: historia, evolución y retos futuros en la formación profesional. Rev Ter. 2019;13(2): 52-67.
2. Sen, A. 1999. El desarrollo como libertad. México: Gaceta ecológica.
3. Crabtree, J.L., Royeen, C.B., & Mu, K. (2001). The Effects of Learning Through Discussion in a Course in Occupational Therapy: A Search for Deep Learning. Journal of Allied Health, 30(4), pp. 243-247
4. World Federation of Occupational Therapist (2016). WFOT Normas Mínimas Para La Educación De Terapeutas Ocupacionales Revisión 2016. Recuperado de https://www.wfot.org/checkout/987/17733
5. SINAES (2009). Manual del SINAES Manual de Acreditación Oficial de Carreras de Grado del Sistema Nacional de Acreditación de la Educación Superior.
6. Comision Autoevaluadora del SINAES (2018). Informe de Autoevaluación Bachillerato y Licenciatura en Terapia Ocupacional. Escuela de Terapia Ocupacional Universidad Santa Paula.
7. Yzunza, M. (2010). Perfil de egreso y formacion profesional. Una estrategia metodológica en el diseño curricular. México: Serie Curriculum y Siglo XXI.
8. Santos del Riego S. Actualidad polí-tica en la gestión de la Terapia Ocupacional Española. En: Moruno Miralles P, Talavera Valverde MA, compiladores. Terapia ocupa-cional: una perspectiva histórica. 90 años después de su TOG [Internet]. La Coruña: APGTO; 2007. 20- 38.
9. Bianchi PC, Serrata Malfitano AP. Formación en terapia ocupacional en América Latina: ¿avanzamos hacia la cuestión social?. World Fed Occup Ther Bull. 2017;73(1):15-23. doi: 1080/14473828.2017.129320
10. Armstrong, T. (2011). The Dehumanization of Learning in Today’s Educational Climate.
11. Brinkley, L. (2006). Defining the knowledge economy. The Wor Foundation, London. Retrieved from http://www.theworkfoundation.com/assets/docs/publications/65_defining%20knowledg e%20economy.pdf
12. World Federation of Occupational Therapists [2015]. Position Statement of InternationalProfessionalism. Available from the World Federation of Occupational Therapists
13. World Federation of Occupational Therapists [2016].Position Statement Ethics, Sustainability and Global Experiences Introductory. Available from the World Federation of Occupational Therapists
About the Author
Erick Valdelomar Marín
Santa Paula University of Costa Rica (USP). School of Occupational Therapy. San Jose, Costa Rica.