OsEAN

OsEAN Membership Application Process

OsEAN accepts memberships from educational structures who provide education and training in the osteopathic field. Individuals, however, cannot become members of OsEAN.

An audit is mandatory for all types of membership except the affiliate membership. In order to become a member of OsEAN the applying school needs to comply with the standard of the “EN 16686 – Osteopathic Healthcare Provision” and the OsEAN standard, which is an addition to the EN 16686. To provide an objective assessment of the applicant OsEAN found an external partner for quality assurance. The Austrian Standards Institute (hereinafter referred to as ASI) coordinated the development of the standard EN 16686 and was therefore found to be the best-suited partner for this task. Institution complying with this standard can become full members of OsEAN. However, there is also a membership category for institutions in an early stage of development, which do not comply with those criteria yet, but are aspiring to do so in the future.
If you are interested in becoming a member of OsEAN, you can download the application forms from the "Application Documents" menu on the right or simply contact the OsEAN Office or the OsEAN Membership Committee.

Please note that OsEAN’s working language is English, therefore we kindly ask you to provide all of the required documents in English. Thank you!

Step 1

Organisations interested in applying for a membership of OsEAN are encouraged to contact the OsEAN Office via email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . The office team will also assist the applicant in case of questions or problems.

Step 2

The application for membership should include the following:

  1. The Form I – “OsEAN member profile for Full Time School” completed, or the Form II – “OsEAN member profile for Part Time School” completed; (in English)
  2. The Form III – “Form III - OsEAN member profile Curriculum version 1.2 (Audit RM)” completed; (in English)
  3. Organigram of the school board; (in English)
  4. Short CV of heads of department (in English), plus list of lecturers and their educational background; (in English)
  5. Plan of the school and its premises;
  6. A proof of the business status (private or public school, company, society etc.);
  7. A proof of Quality Certification if available;
  8. A proof of any accreditation (Ministry, University, Hospital etc.) when applicable.

All of the data above will later be required for the audit and can therefore be regarded as useful preparation.
The above mentioned forms as well as the Austrian Standad Institut (ASI) certification scheme are available as download at the sidebar on the right or here.
The completed forms need to be sent to the OsEAN office (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), which will check for completeness and forward the application to the OsEAN Membership Committee. The Committee will review all applications before inviting the applicant to take Step 3.

Step 3

  1. The applying school contacts This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. at the Austrian Standards Institute (ASI)
  2. The ASI sends the contract and the audit checklist.
  3. The applicant signs contract and coordinates the audit dates with the ASI.
  4. The audit is performed by the ASI.
  5. The certification/audit result is given by the ASI.

Please note, the positive outcome of the audit is not a guarantee that a school's application for membership will be accepted.

Step 4

The ASI informs OsEAN about the results of the audit. Schools that are certified can become full members of OsEAN, schools which failed the audit can become associate members.

Step 5

OsEAN accepts the membership with a formal vote of its members.
OsEAN Bylaws: Article 5. Admission of New Members: "The General Meeting shall decide by simple majority of the representatives of the ordinary members on the admission of members. The admission may be refused without giving reason."

Costs

For the OsEAN part of the application process no costs occur.
However, the initial audit by the Austrian Standards Institute for a typical school with one site costs (in 2023) € 5.500,- +VAT and travel expenses. Recertification costs € 3.000,- +VAT and travel expenses extra. No responsibility can be taken for this information. Prices are set by the ASI and OsEAN has no control over it or over the audit process.

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