Vol. 26 (2024): The Medical and Allied Health Institutional Journey to Becoming Socially Accountable and Policy Influence on Accreditation Systems

Dear Reader,

Social Accountability – an essential concept in medical and allied health education that directs medical schools to serve their societies and communities – is a movement to support global health training institutions to adapt and improve based upon the needs of people and society.

This movement is driven by the efforts of leaders in academic institutions who believe in their institutions’ ability to adapt and become more socially accountable, and to influence the adoption of Social Accountability Standards into their Accreditation Standards. 

We publish this edition with the hope and expectation that these articles will provide a roadmap of useful case studies for Medical and Allied Health Schools and Faculties across the globe to become more socially accountable, and for accreditation agencies to adopt social accountability standards in their accreditation standards.

We invite you to immerse yourself in these narratives, to reflect on the challenges and triumphs shared within these articles, and to join us in celebrating the transformative power of these leaders who are transforming their institutions, ecosystems, and countries.

With contributions from deans of medical schools and their teams across the globe, this issue of the Social Innovations Journal showcases the proceedings of the inaugural cohort of the Social Accountability Fellowship co-hosted by The Network: Towards Unity for Health, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine University and its Dr. Gilles Arcand Centre for Health Equity, alongside the University of Limerick.

The introductory article on “International and Critical Perspectives on Social Accountability from Medical Education to Public Policy” written by Maxwell Kennel provides an in-depth framing and context for this edition, and the contents appear below:

Institutional Social Accountability Journey Articles

1. “Addressing health inequities through social accountability: A compulsory pathway to universal health coverage: Case of The Faculty of Medicine Ibn El Jazzar of the University of Sousse, Tunisia”
2. “Using the Indicators for Social Accountability Tool (ISAT) in Health Professions Education to Develop a Social Accountability Action Plan for a Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry”
3. “Integrating School Health Curriculum in Allied Health Science Programs: A step towards Social Accountability.”
4. “Advancing Social Accountability in Medical Education: The ISAT Self-Assessment at the Universidad de La Sabana”

Policy Influence Articles 

1. “Integrating Social Accountability Standards into Medical School Accreditation in India: A Policy Perspective” 
2. “Advocating for the Dental Council of India to integrate social accountability standards into national accreditation standards for dental colleges”
3. “Advocating for Social Accountability in Accreditation and Community Engagement at the Faculdade Pernambucana de Saúde in Recife, Brazil.”
4. “Advocating for the Integration of Social Accountability Standards into Al Nasser University's Accreditation Process for International Recognition”
5. “Social accountability, a primary driver for impactful health professions education and universal health coverage: A Policy Brief”

The editors would like to acknowledge the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME), which partially funded the Social Accountability Fellowship, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), which partially funded the LIASE Project that supported the fellowship. We would also like to thank the International Social Accountability and Accreditation Steering Committee (ISAASC) for their support of our efforts.

Sincerely,

Maxwell Kennel                                              Nicholas Torres

Social Accountability Fellowship               Co-Founder/Publisher

Coordinator                                                     Social Innovations Journal