All full-time surveyors are required to be available to survey 12 months per year. Intermittent surveyors must be available to survey at least five days per month, for a minimum of 36 days per year. The education of surveyors is one of the Joint Commission's most important endeavors. The education program for surveyors is comprehensive and practical. The Joint Commission Department of Education Programs conducts its surveyor education by using Joint Commission professional staff and outside consultants.
Surveyors begin their education with a two to three week corporate classroom orientation training.
This corporate orientation and training provides surveyors with an overview of the Joint Commission and the surveyor's role in the accreditation process. It is designed to educate surveyors to interpret standards and to document survey findings. Detailed reference materials are supplemented by lecture and training sessions. Data gathering, interviewing techniques, and methods of dealing with multiple survey situations are also examined. During the preceptorship, new surveyors assume survey responsibilities gradually until they are able to conduct the entire survey.