Contributing to this Guide
The Guidance Matrix is a living document that the AMC will regularly update. Stakeholders’ suggestions, particularly around additional examples and resources are encouraged. Get in touch to provide feedback and identify examples and resources by filling in the feedback form or contacting standardsreview@amc.org.au.
Using the Guide
Explanation
The Guidance Matrix includes ‘Explanation’ of standards to provide further, plain language context on the standards. This includes explaining language in the standards and providing high-level frameworks for what the AMC expects when accrediting schools against the standards. Note that not all standards have a corresponding Explanation, only the (parts of) standards that the AMC has determined may require further clarity.
Evidence
The Guidance Matrix further includes an indicative list of ‘Evidence’ that the AMC would generally seek to demonstrate a school’s achievement of or progress against a standard. Evidence supports descriptive text contained in a submission.
There are two types of evidence listed:
Documentary evidence – These are existing documents or descriptions of practice written for the submission, to be included in the body of a submission or in an appendix. Not all types of evidence listed will be required or even relevant to all schools, and there will usually be other types of evidence that schools provide during an accreditation activity that are not included in the list. Documentary evidence should always be contextualised, both in that the narrative text in the submission should describe the relevance of the evidence and in that the evidence should contain key details, for example date and authorship where relevant. More evidence is required for initial accreditation, reaccreditation or extension of accreditation submissions than for monitoring submissions.
Interview and observational evidence – These are types of discussions with stakeholders and observations of facilities or activities that an AMC accreditation team would conduct during an accreditation or follow-up visit. These lists are more indicative than the list of documentary evidence, as the topics discussed, and stakeholders invited for discussion, will vary more widely depending on the challenges and strengths of the school being accredited. More comprehensive discussions and observations to cover all standards are required for an accreditation visit. For visits conducted for a material change submission or for an accreditation follow-up, discussions and observations will typically be focused on a specific set of standards.
Emerging, Current and Good Practice Examples
The Guidance Matrix also contains ‘Emerging, Current and Good Practice Examples’ that meet or is on the way to meeting standards. In this context, Emerging and Current Practice means showing promise with regards to plans, evidence and work progressed and primarily relates to new-standard-aligned examples. Good practice examples may relate to any of the standards, and demonstrate effective, real-world application. All are shared to demonstrate what’s possible and highlight insights into the barriers and enabling factors that can hinder, and/or help realise, effective practice.
These Examples have been provided by medical schools. The AMC recognises that schools will have different and innovative ways of achieving the standards appropriate to their local context and strengths, and that these ways will evolve with time.
A question for medical schools to ask themselves might be, “Would this example work in our case, or what might we do differently based on our unique circumstance?” ie. using the examples as a reflective practice tool to encourage the thought process. Examples are included as a platform for collaboration and innovation, particularly where schools have shared challenges.
Other Resources
Finally, the Guidance Matrix includes ‘Resources’ that provide expert academic or policy views relevant to the standards. Except where these are AMC documents, the AMC does not necessarily endorse views contained in the resources.
Important Note
Words or phrases in the Guidance Matrix that have an asterisk* after them are defined in the glossary contained within the Standards. Stakeholders should refer to the glossary definition for further explanation.
