Welcome to our August 2021 issue!
Healthcare and education haven't been easy fields to navigate this year! We hope you have a chance to rest, relax, and reconnect with friends or family this summer.
The CMTCA team has been busy over the last few months. Read on for:
Congrats to programs recently accredited and programs granted preliminary accreditation
Information about becoming a CMTCA surveyor
An invitation to visit our newly refreshed website.
Q&A: Standard 7, Quality Improvement via PDSA Cycles…and Chimichurri!
Congrats to ...
The CMTCA board and staff extend sincere congratulations to the following programs that achieved Accreditation this Spring following virtual site visits:
Accredited
Ontario College of Health & Technology (Hamilton, ON)
Full Time Massage Therapy Program
Accelerated Massage Therapy Program
West Coast College of Massage Therapy (New Westminster & Victoria, BC)
Competency-Based Mastery Level Registered Massage Therapy Program, New Westminster & Victoria Campuses
Granted Preliminary Accreditation
MH Vicars School of Massage Therapy – Massage Therapy Program (Calgary and Edmonton, AB)
We salute your hard work and your commitment to continuous quality improvement. We know this achievement will help you provide the best learning environment for your students and contribute to their becoming competent, safe and effective professional massage therapists.
"I have nothing but good things to say about our experience in preparing for Preliminary Accreditation. I felt that there was a genuineness in the CMTCA's willingness to help us prepare and to show the best of what we had to offer. "
- Preliminary Accreditation Granted program in Ontario
News!
CMTCA Website Refresh: Helping CMTCA Stakeholders find the information they need
CMTCA has grown since the planning committee first began work in 2013, and the audience for CMTCA's website has evolved as well. It was time for a website refresh, to improve the content and user experience.
We would like to welcome you to visit, and we hope you enjoy our new user-oriented design
CMTCA is Recruiting Accreditation Surveyors
Have you been looking for an opportunity to give back to the massage therapy profession, or to increase your knowledge of the accreditation standards and process?
We are currently recruiting accreditation surveyors who will be our eyes and ears in the field during accreditation reviews. If your demonstrated skills and experience would suit this role, we invite you to apply to be considered for our upcoming surveyor training.
The process to become a CMTCA surveyor is rigorous but also supportive, and assures that our surveyors are skilled and capable ambassadors who can meet the challenge. We invite you to join us!
Selected surveyor candidates will be invited to attend a five-day orientation and training to be held in British Columbia in late fall 2021. The cost of attendance will be covered by CMTCA.
To learn more, visit cmtca.ca\Our Accreditation Process, or contact us at info@cmtca.ca.
Q&A: Questions from our Education Programs
What do we need to do to ensure that we are meeting the criteria in Standard 7 regarding Quality Improvement?
Standard 7 asks education programs to use data to make evidence-informed improvements to their program. Data can be collected from many sources including feedback from faculty, students, clients and stakeholders. The data collected is analyzed to find areas where improvements are needed.
One effective, yet simple tool to help your program with quality improvement initiatives is the Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) cycle. The PDSA cycle can guide your program to make changes or introduce a new process, based on data you collect. Using the PDSA method will remind you to introduce and, perhaps most importantly, test changes on a small scale before fully implementing the changes.
The PDSA method allows you to introduce small changes to measure the impact of quality improvement initiatives with minimal disruption to programs and services. Implementing changes can bring about unanticipated results, so using the PDSA method is a safe, effective and risk-free way to make improvements. The diagram below outlines how to implement a PDSA cycle:
My quest for the Perfect Chimichurri
A real-life “fun” example of the PDSA-cycle, from CMTCA Accreditation Specialist Scott Andrew
Perhaps you've heard the term PDSA before now, and it brings on feelings of dread...Keep reading for an example of how a PDSA-cycle can be both simple and effective...even in your kitchen!
Chimichurri is an uncooked sauce that traditionally uses a mix of parsley, vinegar, and spices to enhance the flavour of grilled meats. Having enjoyed Chimichurri sauce on a number of occasions, I wanted to determine which recipe would be most enjoyed by my family and friends. There were many variations and opinions about ingredients! So, like most people interested in quality improvement, I employed a PDSA cycle...
Plan. I selected two recipes from online sources and two recipes from friends with Argentinian connections. The plan was to make each sauce and have family and friends try them out on a variety of meals: grilled steak, hamburger, grilled veggie quesadillas, and scrambled eggs over the course of a few months. After each meal, two simple questions were asked:
Did the Chimichurri sauce make your meal more enjoyable?
What would be something you would recommend when serving this next time to improve it?
Do. Several meals were enjoyed by eight participants tasting two different styles of sauce over an eight-week period.
Study. The responses to question 1 ranged from “not enough kick”, “it was a good addition” to “that made everything taste awesome!” The answers to question 2 usually had more to do with the food pairing than it did with the taste of the Chimichurri itself. Two important issues came to the forefront:
It was important that the Chimichurri not steal the “flavour show” and
Traditional Chimichurri was not as versatile as the central American recipes that contained cilantro.
All eight participants enjoyed the sauces that were presented to them and rated all of them high enough to eat again. From their ratings, I was able to narrow it down to two recipes. It was noted that cilantro was a critical ingredient when serving chimichurri with grilled veggies or eggs, however the traditional Argentinian parsley recipe was rated best when the sauce was enjoyed with grilled meats.
Act. Further PDSAs were conducted, and it was determined that sauces served fresh received the best ratings.
And of course… now that your stomach is growling for Chimichurri, here are some PDSA-tested recipes to try!
Chimichurri with Cilantro
Argentinian Chimichurri
This summer, why not find a food or drink you like and give the PDSA-cycle a try!
References:
Health Quality Improvement Partnership, (2015). A guide to quality improvement methods.
Langley GJ, et al. The Improvement Guide: A Practical Approach to Enhancing Organization Performance, 2nd ed. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass; 2009
McKean S, Ross JJ, Dresseler DD, Brotman DJ, Ginsberg JS: Principles and Practice of Hospital Medicine: www.accessmedicine.com
Your turn. What’s new with you?
Do you have an innovative idea for Massage Therapy education during these trying times? Do you have a question that you would like CMTCA to address?
Send us your comments or questions and we will (with your permission) share your ideas and our answers in future issues. Or follow us and share your thoughts on Twitter.