For approving a bachelor’s degree program in osteopathy, regulator NVAO received the Meester Kackadoris award Saturday from the Association against Quackery. The NVAO (Dutch-Flemish Accreditation Organisation) monitors the quality of higher education in the Netherlands and Flanders.
Without approval from the NVAO, the private osteopathy training would not be allowed to award a recognised bachelor’s degree. But that approval has come.
A panel of two osteopaths, an educationalist and a medical student gave a positive recommendation and the NVAO has adopted it. Training at the private Thim University of Applied Sciences costs 9,900 euros per year. Graduates receive the title bachelor of science.
Ministry of Defense
NVAO president Arnold Jonk did not come to collect the award, but gave a written response to the association. The NVAO looks at education, but not at the “substantive merits” of programs, he explained.
The satirical award goes to people or agencies that promote quackery when they should know better. So quacks are not eligible. Other contenders this year were physician federation KNMG and the Ministry of Defense. (HOP, BB)
Comments are closed.