Abstract
BackgroundAccreditation systems in medical education aim to assure various stakeholders that graduates are ready to further their training or begin practice. The purpose of this paper is to explore the current state of medical education accreditation around the world and describe the incidence and variability of these accreditation agencies worldwide. This paper explores trends in agency age, organization, and scope according to both World Bank region and income group.MethodsTo find information on accreditation agencies, we searched multiple online accreditation and quality assurance databases as well as the University of Michigan Online Library and the Google search engine. All included agencies were recorded on a spreadsheet along with date of formation or first accreditation activity, name changes, scope, level of government independence, accessibility and type of accreditation standards, and status of WFME recognition. Comparisons by country region and income classification were made based on the World Bank’s lists for fiscal year 2021.ResultsAs of August 2020, there were 3,323 operating medical schools located in 186 countries or territories listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools. Ninety-two (49%) of these countries currently have access to undergraduate accreditation that uses medical-specific standards. Sixty-four percent (n = 38) of high-income countries have medical-specific accreditation available to their medical schools, compared to only 20% (n = 6) of low-income countries. The majority of World Bank regions experienced the greatest increase in medical education accreditation agency establishment since the year 2000.ConclusionsMost smaller countries in Europe, South America, and the Pacific only have access to general undergraduate accreditation, and many countries in Africa have no accreditation available. In countries where medical education accreditation exists, the scope and organization of the agencies varies considerably. Regional cooperation and international agencies seem to be a growing trend. The data described in our study can serve as an important resource for further investigations on the effectiveness of accreditation activities worldwide. Our research also highlights regions and countries that may need focused accreditation development support.
Highlights
Accreditation systems in medical education aim to assure various stakeholders that graduates are ready to further their training or begin practice
Search strategy To find information on accreditation agencies in each country and to identify trends in organization and scope, in August 2020 we searched Directory of Organizations that Recognize/Accredit medical schools (DORA) [9], the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) [13], a worldwide association of organizations that are active in quality assurance in higher education, and the Database of External Quality Assurance Results (DEQAR) [14], a database of reports and decisions on higher education institutions and programs from agencies registered in the European Quality Assurance Register (EQAR)
These data show us that the use of medical education accreditation and standards, increasing, is not universal
Summary
Accreditation systems in medical education aim to assure various stakeholders that graduates are ready to further their training or begin practice. The medical education curriculums, experiences offered, available resources, length of study, etc., vary widely depending on regional, political and other contextual factors. This variability in educational models, combined with the rapid increases in the number of medical schools worldwide [1] and increasing international mobility for education and employment [2] necessitate oversight of quality assurance, such as formal accreditation systems, to ensure medical educational institutions. Accreditation systems in medical education aim to assure various stakeholders, including students, educators in postgraduate educational programs, employers, and patients, that graduates are ready to further their training or begin practice. While there should be significant consequences for educational institutions that do not meet the standards, an important aim of the accreditation process should be encouraging ongoing institutional improvement and fostering the dissemination of best practices, both regionally and globally
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