The Indicators for Social Accountability Tool (ISAT) – now in its 2.0 version – helps institutions to become more Socially Accountable to the public, the community, and the people who they serve. It addresses student recruitment, selection and support; faculty recruitment and development; what, how and where students learn; research activities; governance and community engagement; school outcomes; and societal impact. Each core component is divided in four developmental phases and includes milestones, standards and indicators. The process engages all of the key players at an institution in order to reflect on where the institution is in each domain and where there is room for improvement on their journey toward social accountability. The ISAT verification process demonstrates an institution’s dedication to responding to people and society’s priority health needs today and in the future. The ISAT process brings institutions and their representatives into a community of leaders who are, driving a global movement of people using social responsibility as a force for good. Their institutional profiles are publicly available here.

We want to make special acknowledgment and show our gratitude and thanks to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) for their support of the development of the Social Accountability Platform and allowing the use of the Indicators for Social Accountability Tool in advance of the official publication that was originally developed by representatives from  AMEE’s ASPIRE, Training for Health Equity Network: THEnet, the Beyond Flexner Alliance (now Social Mission Alliance), Universidad del Litoral – Foro Argentino de Facultades y Escuelas de Medicinas Públicas and Comisión Nacional de Evaluación y Acreditación Universitaria, CONEAU in Argentina, Fundação Universidade Aberta do DF, FUNAB and Universidade Federal de Roraima in Brazil, University of the West Indies, Jamaica, and the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada in 2017.

The main challenge in the 21st century for the education of health professions resides in the responsibility of educational institutions for improving health systems performance and people’s health status. This will be achieved not only by tailoring educational programs to priority health problems, but also by anticipating the health and human resources needs of nations and in ensuring that graduates are employed where they are most needed delivering the most pressing services. A new paradigm of excellence for academic institutions is needed, as are accompanying standards and accreditation mechanisms to promote and evaluate their capacity for a greater impact on health.

Global frameworks and policy developments are embracing social accountability strategies to improve the quantity, quality, and relevance of health workforce education, all in order to ensure that countries have well-trained interprofessional teams ready and willing to work with and in communities to address their health needs, wherever they live. Applying social accountability principles provides a mechanism for institutions to increase equity in education, conduct research relevant to population health needs, and improve access and quality of health care delivery services – an essential goal for socially accountable institutions. Social accountability mechanisms not only foster continuous efforts to increase equity, but they also bolster the relevance, cost-effectiveness, and most importantly the quality of education, with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of health service delivery for all.

In an effort to increase the social accountability of the health workforce education in the Americas, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO-WHO) brought together leading experts in the field of evaluating social accountability to agree on core indicators for assessing social accountability of medical schools in the Americas. Building on existing social accountability tools, the group developed the Indicators for Social Accountability Tool (ISAT). Its purpose is to promote education, research, and service delivery programs that are aligned with priority needs by providing health workforce education institutions with a tool to regularly assess their progress towards greater social accountability. The 2.0 version of the ISAT furthers these efforts by updating the tool in light of recent developments in the field, and the focused feedback from those institutional representatives who have used it and those who are undertaking the process for the first time.

The developers of the ISAT are aware that context varies widely and that some indicators are not measurable or relevant in certain countries or institutions. In response to the contextual nature of social accountability across the globe, the ISAT also includes a list of additional resources to help those interested in joining the global movement to transform health workforce education towards better meeting the needs of the individuals and communities their institutions serve.