Dr Vidya Lawton knows accreditation from both sides: as an accreditation assessor for the Council, and as an educator who has led her university program through the process.
As a Panel Member and trainee Panel Chair with the Council, Vidya helps assess university physiotherapy programs against the Accreditation Standards. As Associate Professor and clinical education lead for the Doctor of Physiotherapy at Macquarie University, she has also led her university program through a major re-accreditation.
Vidya worked as a clinical physiotherapist for around 15 years before joining Macquarie University, where she became clinical education manager in 2018. Her PhD explored employability: the knowledge, skills and attributes that new graduates need to start work in a fast-changing health system.
We spoke with Vidya about her path into physiotherapy, what she looks for in a program, and what makes the Australian approach to accreditation unique and valuable.
What made you choose physiotherapy?
Vidya: I was in Year 10 and I spoke to a careers adviser at school. I really wanted to help people, and I think that’s what drew me to physio the most. I love meeting new people and hearing about their experiences, and the idea that I could make a difference to someone’s health really appealed to me.
I studied at the University of Sydney and then worked as a physio. Around the seven-year mark I wondered if I wanted to do something different, and I moved into medical device sales for a while. I was selling physio products, so I never went very far from the profession. After I had my children, I really missed patient care, so I went back to clinical work for another six years before joining Macquarie.
As a new graduate, was there a moment when you thought “nobody taught me this”?
Vidya: I think I had that thought almost once a week as a new grad. We can’t teach everything in a physio degree. A degree could be 10 years long and we still couldn’t give every student every skill they need. What physio programs do really well is teach the foundational skills and then the idea of inquiry: know your scope of practice, know where your gaps are, and know where to go to fill them.
When I was a new grad I didn’t understand that. I assumed I’d have all the skills I needed. Then I realised that every time I walked into a patient’s room, it was a condition I’d never heard of, or something new. Your degree is only the beginning of your journey as a physio. The day you think you know everything is probably the day to quit.
How does that perspective shape what you look for as an accreditation panel member?
Vidya: I want to see that a program gives students a whole view of healthcare and where they sit in it as a physio. It’s not only about discipline-specific skills. It’s about becoming a lifelong learner and a reflective practitioner, and those are skills you have to learn too.
My PhD showed me the same thing. Employers told me that foundation skills matter, and graduates have to be competent. But what set new graduates apart were things like building rapport with patients, curiosity, understanding their scope of practice and passion to keep learning.
What does the work of a panel member involve?
Vidya: It starts with reading. Education providers submit applications based on the Accreditation Standards, and I spend time reading how each program meets it. Then we discuss it as a panel. For major accreditations, we also go out and do a site visit.
I’ve been on the other side as well. I led the team at Macquarie through the written submission and site visit for a major accreditation last year, so I understand the stress and the amount of work involved. Nobody should take that lightly.
What has impressed me most is the creativity, innovation and passion that universities bring. Because physio programs are so highly regulated, you’d assume they would all come out of the same cookie cutter. I’ve been surprised at how different they are, each with its own educational philosophy.
I’ve also learned a lot from the other panel members. The Council brings together people with very different experience and expertise. I might be particularly passionate about clinical education, while another panel member is focused on a different part of the program. Together we bring our various perspectives to holistically and collectively evaluate all the domains and criteria required throughout the accreditation process.
Have you seen a program do something you wish you’d thought of first?
Vidya: Every time I read a submission I find something. I’m a pragmatic person, so for me it’s not only about a novel idea. It’s about how you roll it out, and whether it’s fair and equitable for every student in a cohort of 90 or 100.
There are programs that impressed me recently that focus on regional and rural community needs, and some that look at multidisciplinary teams. I know from the university side how hard it is to do well, so that students get what they need and it isn’t a tick box.
How do accreditation panels give feedback to a program?
Vidya: What struck me most when I joined is that the Council doesn’t only talk about being collaborative. They really do it, and it runs through everything. It’s the idea that a rising tide lifts all boats.
So when a panel comes together to talk about a submission, the feedback is collaborative and strengths-based. Whether you’re a panel member, an education provider or an academic, we’re all trying to do the same job. We want to be really proud of the graduates who enter our profession.
What would surprise an educator from another country about the Australian approach?
Vidya: Two things. The first is that we prepare our students to be first contact, independent practitioners, and that is how we practise in the community.
The second is that we aren’t there to police the curriculum. We don’t ask to see every lecture slide, and we don’t enforce a particular way of teaching. That leaves room for creativity, and for a program to meet the needs of its own community, whether it’s metropolitan or rural, while still holding it to a high standard. It’s very much an outcomes-based approach.
Where do you see the physiotherapy profession heading?
Vidya: I was lucky to be part of the project that reviewed the accreditation standards. The biggest area that needed greater emphasis was cultural safety. We made it a domain of its own, because everybody is at a different point in their journey and it was important to signpost that it matters. I’d like to think that by the next review it can be embedded across the other domains, because by then it’s simply standard practice.
Digital health and digital literacy will also be a huge part of what we do, including understanding our responsibilities with AI and knowing its limits. And we need to keep thinking about how the health professions work together to solve patients’ problems.
What would you tell your new graduate self?
Vidya: Take a beat. In my first year all I did was work, feel overwhelmed or sleep. You won’t learn everything you need to know in your first year. But if you stay inspired and curious, this profession will keep filling your cup.
It isn’t perfect, and there are frustrating things about being a physio and about the healthcare system. But if making a positive difference to people’s lives is what gets you up in the morning, you’ll figure the rest out along the way. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
The Council thanks Vidya for sharing her story. Our Accreditation Panel Assessors bring expertise from across education and clinical practice, and we’re grateful for the contribution they make to the quality of physiotherapy education.