Abstract

The Australian Medical Council (AMC) is an independent company for quality assurance and quality improvement in medical education in Australia and New Zealand. Accreditation procedures for the 20 medical schools in these two countries are somewhat different for three different circumstances or stages of school development: existing medical schools, established courses undergoing major changes, and new schools. This paper will outline some issues involved in major changes to existing courses, and new medical school programs. Major changes have included change from a 6 year undergraduate course to a 5 year undergraduate course or 4 year graduate-entry course, introduction of a lateral graduate-entry stream, new domestic site of course delivery, offshore course delivery, joint program between two universities, and major change to curriculum. In the case of a major change assessment, accreditation of the new or revised course may be granted for a period up to two years after the full course has been implemented. In the assessment of proposals for introduction of new medical courses, six issues needing careful consideration have arisen: forward planning, academic staffing, adequate clinical experience, acceptable research program, adequacy of resources, postgraduate training program and employment.

Highlights

  • The Australian Medical Council is an independent company with responsibility under the law for quality assurance and quality improvement in medical education, at both undergraduate and postgraduate vocational levels, in Australia and New Zealand [1]

  • In the case of basic medical education, accreditation of medical school programs by the Australian Medical Council (AMC) leads to eligibility of graduates from those schools for registration as a medical practitioner in Australia and New

  • The overall goal of basic medical education is defined by the AMC as follows: “to develop junior doctors who possess attributes that will ensure that they are competent to practise safely and effectively as interns in Australia or New Zealand, and that they have an appropriate foundation for lifelong learning and for further training in any branch of medicine.”

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Summary

Introduction

The Australian Medical Council is an independent company with responsibility under the law for quality assurance and quality improvement in medical education, at both undergraduate and postgraduate vocational levels, in Australia and New Zealand [1]. This paper will outline some issues involved in major chan­ ges to existing courses, and new medical school programs.

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Conclusion

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