SEARCHRevising the Standards
Revising the CAAHEP Standards and Guidelines
for the Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Anesthesiologist Assistant
Task Force Members
Jermaine Leclerc, CAA, Chair
Jaime Daly, MD
Dave Dunipace, CAA
Ilaria Gadalia, DMSc
Kyle Goham, CAA
Daniel Pistone, CAA
Alex Steed, CAA
Jennifer Stever, CAA
Kris Tindol, CAA
Rob Wagner, CAA
Paulina Zal Branum
Current Status (Updated 10-3-2026)
The ARC-AA Board of Directors approved the second draft of the CAAHEP Standards and Guidelines at a special board meeting on August 18, 2026.
Since then, the CAAHEP Standards Committee approved the draft for public feedback.
The ARC-AA is seeking public comment for the second time; comments are due by Friday, November 6, 2026.
Next Step
The ARC-AA Board of Directors and the Standards Revision Task Force will consider the feedback and incorporate changes as appropriate. The resulting draft will be forwarded to the CAAHEP Standards Committee for review and discussion.
There will be a third and final call for comment conducted by CAAHEP at a later date.
The Process and Timeline
The current Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) Standards and Guidelines for the Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Anesthesiologist Assistant became effective in January 2017. Per CAAHEP policies, each Committee on Accreditation (CoA) under the CAAHEP umbrella reviews its profession’s current Standards and Guidelines at least once every ten (10) years.
To provide a framework for evaluation, CAAHEP develops a nationally recognized Standards and Guidelines template that addresses five (5) key areas: Sponsorship, Program Goals, Resources, Student and Graduate Evaluation Assessment, and Fair Practices. The CAAHEP Standards and Guidelines template is developed through a rigorous process that includes seeking input from the various Committees on Accreditation and public comment. Once finalized, all Committees use the same required template language and add additional language specific to their profession. Twenty-five (25) CoAs that work with thirty-two (32) healthcare professions in the accreditation process use the same template.
The purpose of the CAAHEP Standards and Guidelines for the Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Anesthesiologist Assistant is to maintain compliance with CAAHEP policy, including the Standards Template, and to maintain congruence between the educational preparation of students and the accepted state of practice for the discipline.
CAAHEP released the most recent template in January 2021. Changes in the CAAHEP template include provisions for non-U.S.-based programs, innovation, reducing redundancy of standards, and streamlining language.
The review process follows.
- Comments will be submitted via an electronic comment tool.
- Comments sent by U.S. Mail, email, and fax are NOT accepted.
- Comments may be incorporated into a revised draft, which will be reviewed by the ARC-AA Board.
- The revised draft will be sent to CAAHEP for review by their Standards Committee.
- Following CAAHEP approval, the draft will be sent to the ARC-AA sponsors (AAAA, AAAEP, ASA) for endorsement.
- A proposed implementation date will be determined.
The CAAHEP Standards continue to be broadly written and avoid being prescriptive.
Timeline
for Reviewing the CAAHEP Standards
Timeline subject to change.
