U of A medical school gets high marks from accreditation authorities

EDMONTON, Nov. 16 /CNW/ - The accrediting bodies that oversee the quality of medical schools in Canada and the United States have given the University of Alberta med school a solid A.

The Committee on the Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS) and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) have voted to continue full accreditation of the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry's MD degree program. LCME, which is based in the United States, grants accreditation to both American and Canadian medical schools.

"This decision is a strong endorsement of the excellent quality of our MD program, and confirms we are one of the finest medical schools in Canada," said Dr. Philip Baker, dean of the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry.   

"I'm absolutely delighted that our MD program has achieved such a positive result," Baker added.  "This is down to much hard work from many individuals within the faculty and our partner organizations, particularly Alberta Health Services."

The two accreditation committees work in tandem to conduct regular, in-depth reviews of the Canadian schools. Their latest decision on the U of A medical school follows an intensive examination of the MD program which took place last spring. A "survey team" of senior medical school officials from other universities were appointed by CACMS and LCME to visit the faculty in May.

There are about 130 nationally accepted quality standards that medical schools in the U.S. and Canada must meet in order to achieve and maintain accreditation. These wide-ranging standards relate to the institutional setting, what is being taught and how well the curriculum is structured and managed, admissions policies, services for students, the learning environment, the faculty members, finances and the facilities.  

The accrediting bodies say the U of A medical school is in full compliance with all standards but one. It decided the school is "in partial compliance" with this standard, which relates to how well residents are prepared for teaching medical students. Furthermore, the accreditation committees noted that the school is well on its way to achieving full compliance with this standard. Residents "are intensively aware of the educational objectives ... (and) are prepared for their roles as teachers...." they concluded. The survey team reported: "The students interviewed during the survey visit were uniformly enthusiastic about the involvement of and quality of the resident teaching…."

All that remains to achieve full compliance with this standard is for the faculty to complete its central monitoring system of resident participation in teaching workshops.  

"With this strong validation by the accrediting committees, the faculty can continue to move forward by further building on its MD degree program with the latest in curriculum innovation," said Dr. Fraser Brenneis, the faculty's vice-dean of education.

The faculty would like to acknowledge the positive role Alberta Health Services played during the accreditation process and for working with the school to ensure that medical students have an optimal learning experience in clinical settings.

For further information:

Raquel Maurier, communications associate
780-492-5986 (office); 780-224-7751, [email protected]