Accreditation Process

Supervised clinical practice refers to a situation where a student consults with clients, performs an appropriate health assessment, prepares and provides treatment/management plans in a clinic open to members of the public, while under the supervision or direction of a qualified clinician, trainer, or practitioner employed or contracted by the educational institution.

Supervised clinical practice must be undertaken in the presence of a lecturer, trainer, or qualified supervisor, who must be physically present, and directly supervising at least part of each student consultation. Selection of a suitable clinical practice supervisor is to be determined by the teaching
institution.*

*It is of note that the above does not specifically apply to Hypnotherapy or other courses that do not need to meet the ATMS Education Standards. For providers of Hypnotherapy and courses that do need to meet the ATMS Education Standards, please refer to the relevant Education Standard for any
supervised clinical practice requirements.

Please see relevant education standards for Naturopathy, Nutrition, Herbal Medicine, and Homeopathy for Supervised Clinical Training online requirements.

Supervisor: Student Ratio

• The supervisor: student ratio must not exceed 1:8.

Supervisor Qualifications

• Relevant recognised natural medicine qualification equal to, or higher than the training program the
  student is enrolled in.
• A minimum of 3 years full time equivalent (FTE) clinical practice in the discipline the student is
  enrolled in.
• Current membership of a recognised professional association relevant to natural medicine.
• Required teaching qualification for VET sector courses is a current Cert IV TAE40116, or equivalent. Where this is not achieved, the training institution is to ensure that an assessor who holds a current Cert IV TAE40116, or equivalent undertakes the final clinical assessment of the student.

Requirements of Educational Institutions

Educational institutions are responsible for fully informing students and supervisors of their rights and responsibilities in relation to supervised clinical practice. They are responsible for the induction and training of all supervisors, including situations when supervision is outsourced to practitioners
in private clinical practices, and for providing feedback to supervisors. Students must be fully informed of all the requirements for clinical practice, including insurance cover and costs (determined by the teaching institution).

Health fund rebates do not apply for treatment provided by students in supervised clinical practice

ATMS is proud of the high educational standards it has established as a benchmark for its membership. ATMS accredited courses reflect the highest quality standards of natural medicine education in Australia. ATMS accreditation of a course represents an acknowledgement of meeting ATMS standards of education.

ATMS is the largest professional association for natural medicine in Australia. It represents the largest number of natural medicine practitioners and an extensive range of natural medicine modalities nationally. ATMS is a highly acknowledged natural medicine authority by government departments and agencies, health funds, consumer groups and media providers. ATMS is regularly consulted and invited to provide input into matters relating to the profession and education standards, regulation of the industry and evidence based natural medicine practice.

All ATMS Recognised Providers, including their accredited courses and campus details, will be listed on the ATMS website. This allows prospective students, as well as practitioners looking to upgrade/update their qualifications, to be directed to the education institution.

Free Student Membership is only eligible to students studying at an ATMS accredited course with an ATMS Recognised Provider.

Note that students undertaking a course for a post-graduate level modality may be required to demonstrate eligibility, if not compliance, with the pre-requisite undergraduate requirements.

Student members have access to concessions for ATMS conferences, seminars, workshops and webinars.

These provide excellent additional opportunities for students to extend their learning beyond the curriculum of the courses they are studying. Students have the opportunity to be a published author in the Journal, and are eligible to apply for awards and scholarships.

ATMS has negotiated a deal with EBSCO Publishing (a leading provider of electronic databases) whereby all members, including students, have access to ‘Alt Healthwatch’, a natural medicine database that includes access to over 1,600 full-text journals. Other resources include the EBSCO ‘Rehabilitation Reference Centre’ with hundreds of evidence-based Clinical Summaries, nearly 10,000 Exercise Images and several textbooks, all searchable by the use of a simple Google-like search function. This is invaluable assistance for students while studying and also for members in clinical practice.

ATMS provides Graduation Packs (limits will apply) to ATMS Recognised Providers of ATMS accredited courses. They will include a complimentary one-year membership award.

Note that students that have graduated from courses in nationally registered or post-graduate modalities will be required to demonstrate their national registration, or eligibility to be registered, or their compliance with the pre-requisite requirements, as appropriate to the modality.

All ATMS Recognised Providers are also eligible for ATMS recognition of any CPE activities delivered by the education institution. Accredited Members of ATMS are required to undertake a minimum of 20 points of CPE each financial year, and therefore these members are referred to ATMS Recognised Providers to undertake their CPE.

Additionally, ATMS runs a number of CPE activities every year, including seminars, webinars, conferences and workshops held throughout Australia. These are all organised and promoted by ATMS. The ATMS CPE Activity Calendar includes ATMS CPE activities hosted by ATMS Recognised Providers.

The benefit for both the accredited members and the ATMS Recognised Provider with this CPE model is significant. Not only will members have access to CPE activities that are more appropriate to the modalities that they are accredited in, but this also allows the ATMS Recognised Provider a new avenue for promoting their courses. ATMS will market the CPE activities via the Journal, WiseN-Well eNewsletter, Website and Social Media.

Note that ATMS Recognised Providers are restricted to the delivery of a total of 10 ATMS recognised CPE activities nationally during a calendar year.

ATMS provides industry validation in regards to government accreditation of courses. Suitably experienced ATMS representatives provide input and feedback to the ATMS Recognised Provider by course and curriculum review, and developments through their representation on the provider’s course advisory/accreditation committees. As a leading natural medicine association, ATMS has representation in forums relating to government accreditation of natural medicine courses.

Education Symposiums are provided from time to time by ATMS to promote discussion and debate about key issues relating to natural medicine practice and natural medicine education. ATMS Recognised Providers will receive complimentary invitations for a representative to attend and participate in these professional development events.

ATMS representatives will be available to visit ATMS Recognised Providers education institutions for presentations on the role of professional associations, regulation of the natural medicine industry, and for liaison with students. All ATMS Recognised Providers of ATMS accredited courses will receive complimentary copies of the quarterly Journal allowing the ATMS Recognised Provider and their students regular access to information about ATMS and the profession.

ATMS also runs other events, including Natural Medicine Week, and conferences to promote the natural medicine profession. ATMS Recognised Providers will receive complimentary invitations to attend and participate in these events.

The Journal of the Australian Traditional Medicine Society (JATMS) is a peer reviewed, long-standing and trusted practitioner publication that has the unique ability to reach the highest number of natural medicine practitioners nationally. It has a circulation of around 12,700 per edition and an estimated readership of approximately 55,000 per year.

We source the most trusted and progressive research in the area of natural medicine, and our Journal is widely known and respected in the profession. Our publication is not only read by our members but by key stakeholders in the natural medicine profession.

The JATMS is released quarterly, in March, June, September and December. Each publication focuses on specific modalities and themes to ensure that all of our members are represented, and that our advertisers have the opportunity to choose the editions that are most relevant for their products and services. ATMS Recognised Providers are welcome to advertise in the Journal. For further information, please refer to the ATMS Media Kit.