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What is Accreditation?

Accreditation is a process that takes place every eight years at medical schools across Canada, allowing them to confer medical degrees. Watch the video to find out more about accreditation and how you can make your voice heard.

This video was created by the UofT MedCred team and adapted for publishing on the CFMS website by Mark Bennet and Nilasha Thayalan.

Transcript

Accreditation happens every 8 years at medical schools across the country. All schools must meet the standards to confer MD degrees. It’s how we know our MD program meets or exceeds the standards set out by the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools.

Accreditation is also an opportunity to reflect on and enhance our program and learning environment. Think of it like checking the foundation of a building to make sure the structure is strong and taking care of any cracks that need to be filled.

The Independent Student Analysis or ISA is an important tool in this process. It gives students a powerful voice to help evaluators understand the learner’s perspective. By understanding our strengths and potential gaps, we can help staff and faculty understand what frameworks to build upon and what may need repair.

Staff and faculty also have their own accreditation tools. The Data Collection Instrument and Medical School Self-Study also evaluate the MD program against the standards.

We all play an important role in ensuring the MD program continues to stand tall, so make your voice count.

The Toolkit is updated yearly to remain aligned with the documents released by the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical School (CACMS). For your ISA, please use the Toolkit version associated with your school's accreditation year, not the most recent version of the Toolkit. You can determine your school's accreditation year here. Below you can also find a link to previously completed ISAs.

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Over the 2016-2017 academic year, the Ontario Medical Student Association (OMSA) and the Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS) have worked together to create a toolkit for students wishing to develop student led clinics at their schools.

Led by Kaylynn Purdy (NOSM) & Noam Berlin (Toronto), the toolkit introduces evidence for the utility of student run clinics in terms of effectiveness of learning and patient care. Thirteen authors from across the country provide information on how to leverage funds, perform a needs assessment, and deal with wary administrations.

For more information on the guide or to contribute to future iterations please contact education@cfms.org or education@omsa.ca.

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