ISAT helps institutions become more Socially Accountable to the public and people they serve. It includes components addressing student recruitment, selection and support; faculty recruitment and development; what, how and where students learn; research activities; governance and stakeholder 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 stakeholders at an institution to reflect on where the institution is in each domain and where there is room for improvement. The ISAT verification process demonstrates an institution’s dedication to respond to people and society’s priority health needs today and in the future. This is a community of leaders, driving a global movement of people using social responsibility as a force for good. We provide these institutional profiles so that the public can make intelligent decisions.

SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:  We recognize and thank PAHO/WHO for the support of the development of the Social Accountability Platform and allowing the use of the Indicators for Social Accountability Tool 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 a greater contribution to improving health systems performance and people’s health status. This will be achieved, not only by tailoring educational programs to priority health problems, but by a stronger involvement in anticipating health and human resources needs of a nation 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 well as new sets of standards and accreditation mechanisms to promote and evaluate their capacity for a greater impact on health.

Global frameworks and policy guidance are embracing social accountability strategies to improve the quantity, quality and relevance of health workforce education 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 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 the existing social accountability tools the group developed the Indicators for Social Accountability Tool (ISAT). The purpose of its development is to promote education, research and service delivery programs that is aligned with priority needs by providing health workforce education institutions with a tool to regularly assess their progress towards greater social accountability.

The developers of ISAT, are aware that context varies widely and that some indicators are not measurable or relevant in certain countries or institutions. It 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.