Program Goals

1. To offer a curriculum of rigorous, current post-entry-to-practice basic science, clinical science and therapeutic management learning experiences as they relate to the musculoskeletal/arthritis care fields.
2. To facilitate the participant’s learning of best practices through extensive clinical experience in the musculoskeletal/arthritis care fields.
3. To develop and prepare select healthcare practitioners (Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Nurses, and Chiropractors) to be competent, independent clinicians who engage in extended practice roles in selected areas of musculoskeletal/arthritis care fields.
4. To develop and prepare healthcare practitioners to triage patients with osteoarthritis, inflammatory arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions.
5. To promote a novel model of arthritis/musculoskeletal management and care that optimizes scarce healthcare resources by utilizing highly trained health professionals to promote and implement interprofessional patient-centred collaborative care.

System Level Goals

1. Address emergent system-level health care needs related to musculoskeletal and arthritis care in family health teams, emergency departments, community health centres, to offload other personnel such as family doctors who are in short supply.
2. To improve access to musculoskeletal/arthritis care, as a result of the participant’s expanded ability to identify, assess and manage (treatment and referral) selected disorders associated with these conditions.
3. To develop and prepare the ACPAC program trained practitioners to become leaders in interprofessional patient-centred education and care in the management of arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions.
4. To continue to monitor and evaluate these roles in the context of health services delivery as new models of arthritis/musculoskeletal care develop.

Learning Objectives

After active engagement in the ACPAC Program you will be better able to:

1. Integrate the basic and clinical science underlying arthritis/musculoskeletal disorders.
2. Identify and assess patients with musculoskeletal disorders to formulate a differential diagnosis.
3. Differentiate inflammatory from degenerative arthritic disorders.
4. Evaluate and interpret plain musculoskeletal radiographs.
5. Apply acquired knowledge and skills to triage patients with musculoskeletal disorders across diverse clinical settings.
6. Effective communication and collaboration within the health care system.