HEALTH SERVICE ADMINISTRATION AND EVALUATION
EXTERNAL TRAINING MODULE 5
AIM OF COURSE
This External Training Module is designed to assist the Trainee to acquire knowledge and
skills for competency in Health Administration, Leadership and Quality Management.
Commitment to the module is a formative activity. Assessment of progress in these
professional areas will occur as special activities conducted during training and these topics
may be included in both the Fellowship Written Examination and the Fellowship Clinical
Examination.
METHODOLOGY
This formative assessment is conducted by correspondence or by attendance at an
appropriate workshop. All correspondence and enquiries should be directed to:
rehab@racp.edu.au
ASSUMED KNOWLEDGE
No prior knowledge is assumed for this subject. A reading list is provided for use with the
essay assignments. Candidates will find this list useful also for pre-reading for clinician
leadership workshops.
Examples of acceptable referencing systems can be found at
http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/tutorials/citing/
OUTCOMES:
At the conclusion of this module, trainees should be able to demonstrate knowledge and skill
acquisition in the following:
•
•
•
•
Planning: The trainee should have learned the basic principles of service design and
planning and have sufficient understanding to describe a simple service or program
plan implementation.
Quality Management: The trainee should understand current quality management
theory and practice and be able to assess the quality of rehabilitation programs and
outcomes.
Health Administration: The trainee will have acquired basic knowledge of resource
management of a rehabilitation service.
Leadership: Professional development as a Rehabilitation Physician includes skill
development in leadership and in management of an interdisciplinary team.
Domain 7 of the RACP Professional Qualities Curriculum lists the Leadership and
Management Learning Objectives for Physicians and the Rehabilitation Medicine Advanced
training Curriculum (2011) details the Administration and Leadership Learning Objectives to
satisfy the competencies required of a Consultant in Rehabilitation Medicine under Theme 1.3
on page 10 and 11. This external module has been designed to ensure trainees acquire the
required knowledge and develop the necessary skills in the areas of Administration and
Leadership, and Quality Management.
ASSESSMENT
Completion of the module will consist of:
1
1) WORKSHOP ATTENDANCE
Trainees may attend an “accredited” workshop on management or leadership for clinicians (of
at least two days).
•
Trainees are strongly advised to seek advice about appropriate workshops prior to
enrolling. (At this time the most appropriate courses would be considered those run by
the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators, but some run by the
Australasian College of Health Service Executives or by Universities with Departments
of Health Service Evaluation might also be acceptable.)
•
Providing evidence of attendance is deemed to be satisfactory completion of the
Module 5 requirements.
•
Trainees who have already attended a workshop on management or leadership for
clinicians, or completed a Diploma or Master degree in health service evaluation can
apply for recognition of prior learning (RPL) and if approved will be granted exemption
from Module 5.
OR
2) WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS
Trainees must satisfactorily complete TWO assignments to be selected from FOUR options.
•
The assignments have been designed to cover the course outline, and reference to
these components and the instruction guides should be considered in preparation and
finalisation of the assignments.
•
Each of the two assignments has an introduction and instructions on how to approach
developing your answer to that assignment. To successfully complete the module,
trainees will need to discuss their assignments with their current supervisor and
possibly other staff in the health service. This is considered an important part of the
learning for each part of the module.
•
Marking is completed by an assessor from an appointed panel and the module is not
complete until a satisfactory standard has been met for two assignments.
•
Each assignment is of equal value.
•
References are to be noted in the assignment using a university accepted system e.g.
Vancouver, Harvard, APA, etc.
See http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/quickrefs/19-styles.xml
•
A standardised marking system will be used to assess and mark the assignments.
Each assignment will be given a mark (maximum of 7) in line with the assessment
scales used elsewhere in the training program. A mark of 4 or better must be
achieved for each assignment.
2
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS
OPTION 1: AROC REPORT
You are the Director of Rehabilitation Medicine Services in your hospital and you have just
received your six monthly report from AROC for the period January - June. You have chosen
the following four graphs to present to your hospital’s Quality Management meeting.
Part One: The first part of your assignment is to prepare a report explaining these four
graphs in the following format.
Executive summary (200-250 words)
Summary of your interpretation (write this after you have written the rest)
Australasian Rehabilitation Outcomes Centre (200-250 words)
(200 words) What is it? How do you contribute data? With what are you
benchmarked? What data is provided? etc
Explanation of Graphs (500 words)
Explain what each graph means and the possible reasons for variations.
Recommendations (200 words)
Indicate what changes you may be making to the management of the flow of your
patients through your rehabilitation ward.
Your Director of Medical Services seeks a meeting with you two days after the Quality
Management meeting in early August and tells you that the Hospital Executive has been told
to urgently reduce spending. Your usual five week closure over the New Year period has been
extended. Your ward will close for five months from September 1 this year until January 31
next year.
Part Two: The second part of your assignment is to outline in 1000-1500 words what you will
do to ensure that your Rehabilitation Ward is re-opened in 5 months and the patients receive
a high quality rehabilitation service in the meantime.
3
4
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OPTION 2: MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET ADMINISTRATION
Introduction
This assignment is intended to develop an understanding of the application of financial
reporting in the context of the organisation, or structure, of the workplace. This is not a simple
accounting exercise, but rather an exercise in management accounting (which attempts to
bring financial information into the decision making of managers). Part of the assignment is in
the form of a case study and you are encouraged to discuss the information given and your
interpretation of it with your supervisor. You are also encouraged to discover the
organisational structure of your own workplace as well as the financial reporting lines, and to
reflect on how well your local systems promote effective, cost sensitive patient care.
The answers to this assignment are based on the contents of two Management Accounting
texts (“Berry” and “Young” - see suggested references), but any management accounting
textbook should be sufficient. Other possible titles are suggested in the final section of this
assignment
THE ASSIGNMENT
Part One
(Suggested Length: Up to two paragraphs per item)
In this section you are required to give a definition and briefly describe a number of
terms. The concepts of “cost” and “expense” are used interchangeably in some texts
and it also acceptable in this section to regard the two terms as having the same
accounting significance. In answering this question, try to focus on the relevance of the
terms to managing budgets within a health care setting. Each definition will require no
more than two paragraphs.
Define and briefly describe the following accounting terms:
1. Accounting Period
2. Fixed Cost
3. Variable Cost
4. Direct Cost
5. Overhead Cost (Indirect Cost)
6. Cost Centre
Part Two
(Suggested Length: Up to one paragraph per item explaining approach used)
In this section you are required to read and understand a budget report. Appendix 1 is
a report from a typical hospital based rehabilitation service. The question assumes
information that is further discussed in the next part of the assignment. The provided
organisational charts (appendices 2 and 3) relate to the service for which this budget
report was prepared.
The routine budget report (appendix 1) has been provided to the budget holder (Nursing Unit
Manager) of the rehabilitation service and cost centre. The report was printed in May and
th
details expenditure for the first ten months of the financial year (which ends on June 30 .
1. Based on expenditure for the first ten months, what is your estimate of the total
expenditure for the rehabilitation service for the full accounting period? Explain how
you calculated this.
2. Based on the pattern of expenditure in the year to date reported, what do estimate the
total budget variance will be in both actual dollars and percentage of budgeted
expenditure for the full accounting period? Explain how you calculated this.
3. The expenditure line for Agency and Casual Nurses has both positive and negative
entries. The variance line for this expense is both negative (unfavourable) and
positive (favourable). Give a possible explanation for this (other than entry error).
4. What proportion (as a percentage) of total expenditure is the cost of salaries and
associated expenses? Is this typical for Australian hospitals?
Part Three
(Suggested Length: 1000 words)
In this section you are required to examine the relationship between organisational
structure and financial control of the organisation.
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Management accounting is that branch of accounting that attempts to provide managers with
the financial information needed to make well informed decisions on the organisation’s
performance and to allow the monitoring of decision makers within the organisation. It uses
the concept of “Responsibility Centres” to design and structure information collection, budget
development and financial reporting.
A responsibility centre can be defined as:
“An organisational unit headed by a manager charged with achieving certain
agreed upon results. Usually the unit comprises a group of individuals who work
together to accomplish one or more of the organisation’s objectives. The unit’s
manager has overall responsibility for its performance. …[The] goal is to design
responsibility centres in such a way that individuals are responsible for those
activities over which they exercise a reasonable amount of control”
(From “Management Accounting in Health Care Organizations” David Young)
Assume for the purposes of this question appendix 2 is the organisational chart of the hospital
in which you work. You are a rehabilitation physician working in a general rehabilitation ward
supporting a general outer urban hospital. The ward has 26 beds with an average occupancy
of 88%. There is also an outpatient rehabilitation service offered. You are supported by one
rehabilitation registrar and one junior medical officer. Nursing and allied health staff are also
allocated to the rehabilitation service. Appendix 3 gives the managerial reporting
arrangements for the staff working in the rehabilitation service. The rehabilitation ward and
associated staff are classified as a cost centre within the hospital accounting system. The
Nursing Unit Manager is the person nominated as accountable for the budget of the
rehabilitation cost centre.
1. Discuss whether the rehabilitation service in this hospital should be treated for
accounting purposes as a responsibility centre. To answer this question well you will
need to consider:
• the service goals hospital management is likely to expect the rehabilitation
service to achieve, and
• the organisation structure of the rehabilitation service, and
• the impact of structure on cost control and service delivery.
2. Identify the components of the budget report over which the Nursing Unit Manager
has limited control and explain why this is so. Identify which manager should be
made responsible for any budget components that you believe do not rightly belong
with the Nursing Unit Manager, and explain why.
3. Finally, briefly discuss the impact the current reporting lines are likely to have on
treating team cohesion, and whether this has any relevance to or impact on the quality
of care given. (This will more easily be answered if you consider the role of
leadership in the team and the links between leadership and organisational structure.)
Part Four
(Suggested Length: 1000 words)
In this section, you will need to have an understanding of the level to which costs are
effectively “fixed” or “variable” in the short term (refer to part one). You will also need to
have some understanding of the links between control over costs and control over the
staff that incur those costs (part three).
The Nursing Unit Manager has been advised by the Business Unit Manger that the
rehabilitation cost centre is expected to exceed budget in the current financial year with
current spending patterns suggesting an over-run of possibly more than $200,000. Because
of this anticipated over-run, the Nursing Unit Manager has been told she is required to reduce
costs and to attempt to finish the financial year within allocated budget. At the same time, the
Nursing Unit Manager was advised that extra revenue generation would not be accepted as a
response to the problem of budget over-run.
You have been asked by the Nursing Unit Manager for advice and have agreed to assist her.
What suggestions would you make to the Nursing Unit Manager?
To answer this question successfully you should calculate the actual dollar reductions needed
to achieve budget, and identify where these savings could be made.
In order to form an opinion on the feasibility of each of the identified options, you will need to:
•
identify the problem areas within the budget,
•
the options for altering costs within the current budget cycle, and
•
the likely impact on staff and service delivery.
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Suggested References:
Atkinson, A. (2007). Management Accounting. Pearson / Prentice Hall.
Berry, L. (2006). Management Accounting Demystified ; A Self Teaching Guide. McGraw Hill.
Brooks, A., Oliver, J., & Vesty, G. (2008). Contemporary Management Accounting. Wiley.
Finkler, S., & Ward, D. (2006). Accounting Fundamentals for Health Care Management. Jones
and Bartlett.
Hankins, R., & Baker, J. (2004). Management Accounting for Health Care
Organisations : Tools and Techniques for Descision Support. Jones and Bartlett.
Jones, M. (2007). Management Accounting. Wiley.
Smith, J. (Ed.). (2007). Handbook of Management Accounting. Oxford.
Young, D. (2008). Management Accounting in Health Care Organisations (Second ed.).
Jossey-Bass.
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OPTION 3: QUALITY & SAFETY
Introduction
Safety and Quality in Healthcare has increased in importance in the Australian Healthcare
system, particularly following major reviews at King Edward Memorial Hospital (WA), Royal
Melbourne (VIC) and Camden/ Campbelltown (NSW). However, there is a limited
understanding of how the concepts of quality can be applied in the clinical setting.
In this assignment, candidates are expected to demonstrate their understanding of the
practical application of the underlying concepts of quality management. The assignment
begins with 3 statements from the quality management literature that will need to be taken into
account in answering the second question. Candidates may wish to look at the Institute of
Management (IoM) reports to which the first reference alludes - see
http://www.acmq.org/education/iomsummary.pdf for a summary.
THE ASSIGNMENT
A. “The IoM Roundtable on Quality of Care categorized threats to quality in 3 broad familiesoveruse (receiving treatments of no value), underuse (failing to receive needed treatment)
and misuse (errors and defects in treatment. A focus on safety addresses only the third
1
‘family’, that is, a subset of the whole domain of quality of care” .
B.
Managers need to beware of excessive focus on “the System”, such that the function of
the System diverts attention from real improvement while creating a “Shield of Honour”
2
which might be used to deflect criticism of performance .
C.
Measures can be structural (eg. staff numbers, credentialing), process-based (infection
rates, falls, standards compliance), or outcome-based (morbidity/mortality, patient
satisfaction, change in condition post treatment); however,
•
Adequate inputs do not ensure good outcomes (merely indicate that capacity is
present)
•
Assessment of process alone doesn’t take variations into account, and agreement on
guidelines is difficult to achieve
•
Compliance and outcomes may be poor despite satisfactory processes
•
Outcomes are not determined solely by professional performance- they also involve
3
patient factors (compliance, age, co-morbidities, acuity)
1. Write a short paragraph (100-200 words) demonstrating your understanding of each of the
following
a. Quality as it pertains to healthcare
b. Clinical Governance
c.
Risk management
d. Clinical Practice Improvement Methodology
2. In establishing a new Rehab unit at your hospital, and based on your reading of the
references, describe the features of the quality programme you will set up. Your answer
should address the issues noted in the introductory points, and include a discussion of the
dimensions of quality, selection of appropriate measures (including ACHS Clinical
Indicators for Rehabilitation Medicine), strategies for monitoring performance (including
AROC benchmarking and ACHS accreditation), and how you would implement the
programme.
(2000 words)
9
Essential Reading
• Enhancing Patient Care- A practical guide to improving quality and safety in hospitals.
Wolff A, Taylor S. MJA Books, 2009
• Simmons F, Stevermuer T. The AROC Annual Report: the state of Rehabilitation in
Australia 2006. Aust Health Rev 2008, 32 (1), p 85-110
Other references and suggested reading:
1. Leape LL, Berwick DM. Five years after To Err is Human; what have we learned?.
JAMA 2005, 293 (19), p2384-2390
2. Berger Y. Why hasn’t it changed on the shop floor? In Mayhew C, Peterson CL (Eds).
Occupational Health and Safety in Australia: Industry, Public Sector and Small
Business. St Leonards, NSW; Allen and Unwin, 1999
3. McLaughlin C, Kaluzny AD (Eds). Continuous Quality Improvement in Healthcare. 3
Edition. Aspen Publications, 2006
rd
4. Scott IA, Ward M. Public Reporting of hospital outcomes based on administrative
data: risks and opportunities. MJA 2006, 184, p571-575
5. Scobie S, Thomson R, McNeil JJ, Phillips PA. Measurement of the safety and quality
of healthcare. MJA 2006, 184 (10); S51-S55
6. Nelson EC, Splaine ME, Batalden PB, Plume SK. Building measurement and data
collection into medical practice. Ann Int Med 1998, 128, p460-466
7. McDonell A, Wilson R, Goodacre S. Evaluating and implementing new services. BMJ
2006, 332, p109-112
8. Ovretveit J. Evaluating health interventions. Open University Press, 1998
9. Plsek PE, Greenhalgh T. The challenge of complexity in healthcare. BMJ 2001, 323,
p625-628
10. Simmons F, Stevermuer T. The AROC Annual Report: the state of Rehabilitation in
Australia 2006. Aust Health Rev 2008, 32 (1), p 85-110
11. AROC and IHI websites: http://chsd.uow.edu.au/aroc/ ; http://www.ihi.org/ihi
12. The journals, Australian Health Review, and Quality and Safety in Health Care
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OPTION 4: SERVICE PLANNING
Introduction
This assignment is designed to introduce you to the challenges of planning health services, to
teach you a little about the wider system in which you plan to work and to test your report
writing skills. Planning in Health takes place at many levels: strategic and policy planning at
the population level, service planning at the program level and capital planning at the facility
level. (Your reading material explains the differences).
This assignment concerns program planning since this is the level at which you will be most
likely to be involved as the medical expert, when you are a Rehabilitation Physician. It is set
out to guide you through the steps involved in planning and report writing and you should
customize your report for the title you have chosen. Feel free to change the names of your
headings in your report, but do not leave out major sections.
Although you are unlikely to be asked to develop a state plan for rehabilitation services, as a
new Fellow, you are likely to be involved in hospital or regional program-specific issues. It is
suggested, however, that you take time to read some state and regional plans for
Rehabilitation Services (eg Queensland, NSW, Tasmania, Hunter), to appreciate the place of
Rehabilitation Medicine in the wider Health System.
The suggested reading material, and existing program plans your supervisor may be able to
provide, will help you to familiarise yourself with the elements of programs and program
evaluation techniques. Spend some time talking with your supervisor about the logistics of
data availability in your current working situation, and take the time to discuss your progress
regularly with her/him. You cannot write this essay in a weekend. Writing a plan for a new
program usually takes at least a few months, you may find that you will need this amount of
time to put your submission together.
THE ASSIGNMENT
The Board of your hospital or regional health service has agreed to consider a plan for a
new/enhanced program within your Rehabilitation Service. You have been invited by the CEO
to Chair the Working Party to develop the plan and justify its costs. Your assignment is to
prepare the Clinical Service Plan component suitable for inclusion in the submission to
the Board. Your plan needs to be practical enough for a manager to cost, or an architect to
design if it involves a facility.
Choose from the following areas of Rehabilitation - Amputee, Chronic Pain, Spasticity
Management or Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation - and relate the plan to the situation in which
you are working e.g. paediatric, occupational health, country setting.
Use the following headings as a guide to the preparation of your report. The suggested
number of words should also be used as a guide. This assignment takes the form of a report.
It is not an essay. Ask someone to comment on your formatting and your formal English
expression before you submit it.
Heading
This is a report, not an essay.
Executive summary
An executive summary, preferably on one page, outlines succinctly to the Board, what exists
now, what you want to do, how long you think it will take to achieve your process goals and
how you will evaluate the clinical program you wish to implement.
It will be written by you at the end of this exercise and put into the beginning of your
assignment. It may contain a short list of ‘Recommendations’ or perhaps a descriptive
timeline, depending on the title of your submission.
Background
Describe the structure into which you are planning to introduce/enhance your chosen
program, and the circumstances leading to its initiation. Outline the purpose of the plan. Has
the need been identified as part of a larger strategic plan? Are there political issues to be
considered? Did you set up an advisory committee? Who were your stakeholders? Is this
clinical service plan to be used to outline what is needed in a new building/renovation?
200-250 words
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Needs analysis
Describe the current level of injury, incidence of disorder, frequency of relevant operations,
presentation of disease……. in the population under consideration and justify the numbers
who may benefit from the rehabilitation service you are planning. Are you using casemix data?
Population survey data? Estimates by comparison with another hospital? Likely ‘penetrance’
expected? This is a report about what will probably be an outpatient program. It is not a
strategic plan about bed numbers.
Describe the amount of service you feel you should be providing eg a dedicated clinic per
week, four episodes of a group program per year etc. Are you extrapolating from the data you
have found? Are you using established standards/ratios to estimate the need?
300-400 words
Gap analysis
What is the level of rehabilitation involvement in the program currently being provided? Who is
providing it? Are there gaps? – in the amount of the service, in the quality of the service? Is
there a critical mass? Are the numbers too small? Should you be putting this proposal forward
as a component of a larger service? Do staff need special training, or qualifications?
100-150 words
Model of care
What is the model of the service you wish to provide? Inpatient? Outpatient? Both?
Multidisciplinary Clinic with follow-up by single practitioners? 6-12 week group outpatient
program? Practitioners in the model?
Outline the goals of the model. Describe the components of the model (assessment,
intervention, follow-up) and their relationship to the goals. Outline the admission criteria, and
exclusion criteria. What staffing will you need? What skills are needed? Look at the AFRM
Standards for Rehabilitation Services for recommended staffing levels.
400 words
Proposal
Take into consideration all you have already written and discuss if necessary. Propose your
strategy/mission/vision and describe your model. Outline your key activities/goals/targets for
the overall program, including addressing the gaps. These may be activity targets, staffing
targets, education targets etc Outline any major costs in general terms – new staff, new
equipment, training costs, database development etc Do you have a timeline for
implementation? Will you be staging the process?
300-500 words
Performance and outcome measures
Outline your framework for evaluating the quality of your new Rehabilitation Service. What
activity data will you collate to demonstrate efficiency? What clinical outcome measures will
you collate to demonstrate effectiveness and efficacy? Are there safety issues to be
considered in this new proposal – how will you be monitoring this? How will your ‘customers’
needs be met?
300 words
Recommendations
Synthesise your Clinical Service Plan and make recommendations for your overall submission
to your Board, preferably on one page. Then use these recommendations to go back to the
beginning and put an Executive Summary under your title, and before your ‘Background’
250 - 500 words
Reference:
Eagar, K., Garrett, P., Lin, V. (Eds) 2001: Health planning: Australian perspectives. Allen &
Unwin Crows Nest
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Suggestions for reading - examples of clinical service plans:
http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/cr%2004%20rec.pdf
http://nrha.ruralhealth.org.au/conferences/docs/PAPERS/5_rehab.pdf
http://www.sickkids.on.ca/Anaesthesia/Chronic%20Pain%20Program/Chronic%20Pain%20Pr
ogram.html
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/178_09_050503/gou10286_fm.html
http://www.rhef.com.au/programs/resources/?program_id=111
http://www.healthnetworks.health.wa.gov.au/modelsofcare/docs/ASR_Model_of_Care.pdf
http://www.hnehealth.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/36532/HNE_Health_Aged_Care
__and__Rehabilitation_Services_Plan.pdf
http://www.health.qld.gov.au/publications/qh_plans/QS_rehab_plan_final.pdf
http://www.ircst.health.nsw.gov.au/initiatives/rural_rehabilitation_clinician_network_support_pr
oject
http://www.nhwt.gov.au/documents/Publications/1997/The%20rehabilitation%20medicine%20
workforce%20in%20Australia.pdf
http://www.health.wa.gov.au/publications/documents/sacp0308.pdf
http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1026&context=chsd
http://www.sesahs.nsw.gov.au/csppint/Publications/Aged%20care/agedcare.pdf
http://www.sesahs.nsw.gov.au/csppint/Publications/Stroke/Stroke%20Strategy.pdf
http://www.enable.health.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/68091/Accreditation_Guideli
nes_with_index_10_9_07.pdf
http://www.health.vic.gov.au/paediatric-ortho/final.pdf
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ACADEMIC HONESTY AND PLAGIARISM - PROCEDURES
Procedure number:
EDU-Assessment-1-PR
Policy this procedure is linked
to (if appropriate):
Academic Honesty and Plagiarism
Contact Officer:
Senior Executive Officer, Assessment
Approval Details:
College Education Committee – August 2008
Amended April 2010
Effective as of date:
January 2009
Date of Next Review:
January 2010
Procedure Status:
Revised Procedure
Related Policies:
Independent Review of Training
Appeals
1. Purpose and scope:
1.1
College policy requires that all trainees (Division, Faculty and Chapter) are aware of
their responsibilities in relation to academic honesty and plagiarism, and that all cases
of identified plagiarism are dealt with consistently, openly and fairly using an appropriate
investigatory and disciplinary process. This document provides a detailed outline of the
steps involved for both Trainees and assessors in the event of an identified case of
plagiarism or collusion (intentional and unintentional). It should be read in conjunction
with the Policy for Academic Honesty and Plagiarism.
2. Definitions:
2.1
Academic Honesty: To submit work which is entirely your own and correctly references
others’ thoughts and work.
2.2
Plagiarism: The presentation of another person’s thoughts or work as if they were your
own.
3. The Procedure:
First Offence
3.1
Step 1: The Fellow assessing the assignment contacts the relevant Education
Committee via the Education Deanery to alert the College to a suspicion of plagiarism in
relation to work submitted by a College trainee (Division, Faculty, or Chapter).
3.2
Step 2: The Fellow is asked to provide a confidential account of the reasoning behind
their suspicion of plagiarism.
3.3
Step 3: The Education Deanery reviews the trainee’s academic record to ensure that
there have been no previous cautions on academic honesty or findings of plagiarism. If
there is a previous record the case is dealt with as a second offence (refer item 3.15).
3.4
Step 4: The trainee is sent a letter outlining the alleged offence and an invitation to
attend a meeting with the Fellow assessing the assignment in question and another
senior Fellow nominated by the relevant Education Committee. Details of the proposed
date, time and place of the meeting are provided along with copies of the Policy for
Academic Honesty and Plagiarism, and the assignment/item in question.
3.5
Step 5: If the trainee elects to have a support person accompany them to the meeting
they should contact the support person to ascertain their availability and willingness to
14
3.6
3.7
3.8
3.9
3.10
3.11
3.12
attend. The investigation is not a legal process and as such neither party has legal
representation.
Step 6: The trainee may submit documentation in support of their case prior to the
meeting for review by the Fellows involved in the meeting.
Step 7: The circumstances, nature and effects of the problem are discussed at the
meeting and these are documented by the Fellows involved during the meeting. The
trainee has an opportunity to present their case.
Step 8: At the conclusion of the meeting the Fellows will make one of two possible
determinations:
Option 1: The finding of plagiarism is upheld and a recommendation is made to
record the offence of plagiarism on the trainee’s academic record, also that the
trainee be required to complete an additional 12 months (or full time equivalent)
of accredited training including formative assessments and resubmit the
assignment in question. In cases where the trainee is enrolled in the six month
Clinical Diploma in Palliative Medicine, the trainee will be required to resubmit
the assignment with appropriate referencing. The trainee will further be required
to complete an additional assignment which should be submitted within three
months.
Option 2: The finding of plagiarism is not upheld and is found to be an honest
mistake. A recommendation is made that the trainee be cautioned and
counselled on academic honesty and that the caution for plagiarism be noted on
the trainee’s academic record. The trainee is required to resubmit the
assignment with appropriate referencing and acknowledgement.
Step 9: The Fellow assessing the assignment submits a written recommendation to the
Education Deanery within one week of the meeting.
Step 10: The recommendation is reviewed, approved and handed down by the relevant
Education Committee or delegated representative(s) of that Committee.
Step 11: The trainee is notified of the outcome of the meeting in writing within two
weeks of meeting.
Step 12: The reconsideration and review process and the College appeals process
(refer Policy for Appeals) is available to the trainee should they remain dissatisfied with
the outcome of the review of the situation.
Second Offence
3.13
Step 1: The Fellow assessing the assignment contacts the relevant Education
Committee via the Education Deanery to alert the College to a suspicion of plagiarism in
relation to work submitted by a College trainee (Division, Faculty, or Chapter).
3.14
Step 2: The Fellow is asked to provide a confidential account of the reasoning behind
their suspicion of plagiarism.
3.15
Step 3: The Education Deanery reviews the trainee’s academic record and discovers
there has been a previous caution on academic honesty or a finding of plagiarism.
3.16
Step 4: The trainee is sent a letter outlining the alleged offence and an invitation to
attend a formal Independent Review of Training with two senior Fellows of the College
(Division, Faculty, or Chapter). Details of the proposed date, time and place of the
meeting are provided along with copies of the Policy of Academic Honesty and
Plagiarism, and the assignment in question.
3.17
Step 5: If the trainee elects to have a support person accompany them to the meeting
they should contact the support person to ascertain their availability and willingness to
attend. As the process is not a legal process the support person should not be legal
representation.
3.18
Step 6: The trainee may submit documentation in support of their case prior to the
meeting for review by the Fellows involved in the meeting.
3.19
Step 7: The circumstances, nature and effects of the problem are discussed at the
meeting and these are documented by the Fellows involved during the meeting. The
trainee has an opportunity to present their case.
3.20
Step 8: At the conclusion of the meeting the Fellows will make one of two possible
determinations:
Option 1: The finding of plagiarism is upheld and a recommendation is made
that the trainee be asked to show cause as to why his or her name should
remain on the register of accredited trainees.
Option 2: The finding of plagiarism is not upheld and is found to be an honest
mistake. A recommendation is made that the trainee be cautioned and
counselled on academic honesty and that the caution for plagiarism be noted on
the trainee’s academic record. The trainee is required to resubmit the
assignment with appropriate referencing and acknowledgement.
15
3.21
3.22
3.23
3.24
4
4.1
Step 9: The Fellow assessing the assignment submits a written recommendation to the
relevant Education Committee within two weeks of the meeting.
Step 10: The recommendation is reviewed/approved/handed down by the relevant
Education Committee or delegated representative(s) of that Committee.
Step 11: The trainee is notified of the outcome of the meeting in writing within two
weeks of meeting. If the trainee has been asked to show cause as to why his or her
name should remain on the register of accredited trainees the trainee will have two
weeks to submit their case in writing for further investigation.
Step 12: The reconsideration and review process and the College appeals process
(refer Policy for Appeals) is available to the trainee should they remain dissatisfied with
the outcome of the review of the situation.
Review:
This procedures document will be reviewed annually by the Assessment Expert
Advisory Group.
Version
1
2
Date
Author
14/08/08
29/4/10
Rebecca Udemans
Briony Bounds
Approved by
CEC
Dean
Sections Modified
Policy 3.3.2
Procedures 3.8
Details of
Amendments
Add details specific to
the Clinical Diploma in
Palliative Medicine
16
Appendix 1:
Sample assignment cover sheet including trainee declaration
Assignment Cover Sheet
Section 1: Administrative Details
Trainee’s Full Name ______________________________________________________
Trainee’s Identification Number
____________________________________________________
Assignment/Project Title
_________________________________________________________
Assessor’s/Supervisor’s Name __________________________________________
Date of Submission _______________________________________________________
NB. This form must be attached to all submitted written work with all sections completed. An
incomplete form may result in the delayed return of your assignment or of your marks. Keep a
copy of your assignment before submitting it for assessment.
Section 2: Compulsory Student Declaration Details
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the act of representing as one’s own work the original work of another, without
appropriate acknowledgement of the author or source.
Collusion
Collusion is the presentation by a student of an assignment as his or her own which is in fact
the result in whole or in part of unauthorised collaboration with another person or persons.
Collusion involves the cooperation of two or more students in plagiarism or other forms of
academic misconduct.
Both collusion and plagiarism can occur in group work.
Student declaration
Please tick to indicate that you understand the following statements.
I declare that:
□ This assignment is my own original work, except where I have appropriately cited the
original source.
□ This assignment has not previously been submitted for assessment in this or any other
context.
□ I have read and understood the College’s Policy in respect of Academic Honesty and
Plagiarism.
For the purposes of assessment, I give the assessor of this assignment the permission to:
□ Reproduce this assignment for marking purposes; and
□ Take steps to authenticate the assignment, including communicating a copy of this
assignment to a checking service (which may retain a copy of the assignment on its database
for future plagiarism checking).
Student signature _____________________________________ Date_________________
NB. This cover sheet could be adapted to suit existing cover sheets such as the Palliative
Medicine Chapter Trainee Project Cover Sheet.
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Appendix 2:
Tips on Preventing Plagiarism
PREVENTING PLAGIARISM
Learning how to reference correctly and acknowledge all sources is a crucial part of academic
and scholarly work. It is not merely an add-on but an integral part of the assignment preparation
process. The more proficient a trainee becomes in referencing, he or she will develop a more
critical mind and be able to evaluate more rigorously their sources.
All trainees will need to consider the following to avoid unintentional plagiarism:
•
master correct referencing practices (most Universities have a range of resources on
good referencing techniques — for example, The University of Melbourne and Monash
University have developed Acknowledgement, an online resource to educate both staff
and students on academic honesty and plagiarism issues —
http://calt.monash.edu.au/staff-teaching/plagiarism/acknowledgement/about/index.html)
•
attribute appropriately all cited materials (including written text, diagrams and images)
where citations occur
•
avoid taking short cuts when preparing assignments
•
manage time efficiently and effectively when preparing assignments
•
write out more than one draft of an assignment
•
take the time to check carefully all quoted material used in assignments and ensure
quotes/references are fully and correctly referenced.
18