About Accreditation

OMP Program accreditation

Osteopathic manual practice (OMP) education program accreditation is a multi-level process with the aim of evaluating and continuously improving educational effectiveness based on firstly self-evaluation by the relevant school offering the OMP program followed by verification and validation by the Council.
The US Council on Osteopathic Manual Practice (UCOMPE) undertakes the accreditation function by:

Developing Standards for the osteopathic manual practice education which sets out the accreditation process for review and evaluation. These Standards emphasize the use of outcome assessment measures and detail the Criteria for Accreditation which establishes the required standard education expected to be received by students who are studying to become osteopathic manual practitioners (also known internationally, outside the country as manual osteopaths, European style osteopaths or osteopaths).
Maintaining an Accreditation Board. The Accreditation Board is responsible for interpreting the Standards, implementing the process of accreditation and certifying the quality and integrity of American osteopathic manual practice education programs through the evaluation of their compliance with the accreditation criteria. The Accreditation Board also provides recommendations to the schools providing osteopathic manual practice education on issues of effectiveness and program quality.

The purpose of the accreditation process is to ensure that schools offering osteopathic manual practice education programs:

Do have clearly defined criteria consistent with educationally appropriate objectives;
Do maintain an environment under which the completion of these criteria can reasonably be expected;
Do complete these objectives substantially; and
Do continuously achieve these objectives in the future.

In order to enhance the effectiveness of OMP education programs, the Accreditation Board:

Improvement

Will encourage the schools to improve through continuous self study and review; and

Developing

Will provide counsel and assistance to established and developing OMP education programs.

Functions

The main functions of US Council on Osteopathic Manual Practice Education are:

Assess and Accredit

To assess and accredit all educational programs in osteopathic manual practice offered in the US;

Develop and Maintain

To develop and maintain nationally recognized accreditation standards and processes for application in the conduct of program assessments;

Monitor and Review

To monitor and review osteopathic manual practice education and the standards of practice in the States and make any recommendations to the relevant authorities;

Establish and Maintain Relationships

To establish and maintain relationships with international organizations having similar responsibilities for the assessment and accreditation of osteopathic manual practice education programs.