Conflicts of Interest

The Agency for Public Health Education Accreditation (APHEA) affirms its commitment to an accreditation process that is characterized by fairness and impartiality. APHEA therefore has a duty to avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest.

The potential for a conflict of interest arises when one's duty to make decisions in the public's interest is compromised by competing interests of a professional, personal or private nature.

APHEA does not seek to exclude from participation all individuals who have or who have ever had any relationship of any nature with an institution subject to accreditation, only those that would potentially bias a decision in one way or another. To this end, the following safeguards are observed: a) an institution has the right to challenge the involvement of a proposed site visitor based on a perceived conflict of interest and b) the APHEA Board of Accreditation must approve all proposed site visitors for a given programme.

The obligation of the individual with a conflict of interest which in any way may bias their role as a site visitor for a given accreditation or reviewer for a Curriculum Validation:

• disclosure of the relationship(s) which constitute(s) or may be perceived as constituting a conflict,
• refusal to accept assignment

Before any site visit team can be finalised a conflict of interest process must ensue. All members have a duty to ensure that they have signed, scanned and returned the Conflict of Interest forms to the APHEA secretariat.

© APHEA 2020