International medical accreditation (International Acreditation (per WFME standards)
The World Federation for Medical Education is a global association created in 1972 that develops standards for medical education and promotes the accreditation of medical schools around the world. Its goal is to improve the quality of medical education worldwide, and is the organisation that officially and globally represents medical teachers and medical teaching institutions before the World Health Organization (WHO).
This accreditation also has implications for people who graduate from accredited medical schools. For instance, from 2024 onwards graduates wishing to practice medicine in the United States must have graduated from a centre accredited in compliance with these standards.
Who can be accredited by the WFME?
Faculties of Medicine in the Catalan Higher Education System offering such degree programmes.
Aim
The aim of accreditation set out in this guide is to ensure that the Medical study programmes meet the legal requirements set by the higher education authorities and that the level of training achieved by graduates is in line with the level accredited by the institution.
Application and assessment procedure
Bachelor's degrees in Medicine must go through the accreditation process within eight years from the date of implementation (or last accreditation).
The accreditation process is structured in two stages: external visit and accreditation.
- The external visit serves to check how the degree operates on site, which culminates in an external visit report.
- Accreditation involves the issue by the specific commission for Health Sciences of an assessment report on how the degree programme functions, and an accreditation report based on all the accrediting documentation available to AQU Catalunya, particularly the external visit report.
Applications can be submitted throughout the year to the Spanish Universities Council via the online application of the ministry responsible for universities. The university shall submit an application for each programme requesting accreditation.
The deadline for resolution is six months from the submission of the proposal, in accordance with Royal Decree 822/2021. The Ministry extends the term of resolution by up to three months in accordance with the provisions of Article 42.5.c) of Law 30/1992, of 26 November, on the Legal Regime of Public Administrations and Common Administrative Procedure.
The programme accreditation report is then officially referred to the corresponding national and autonomous authorities in order for the administrative process of programme accreditation to continue.
Programmes that successfully complete the process successfully according to the levels of "accreditation" and "accreditation with excellence" receive recognition from AQU Catalunya in the form of a certificate and the corresponding quality label.
Quality labels for programme accreditation may be either a:
- Favourable Quality label, which is acquired when the study programme or faculty successfully undergoes accreditation or certification, regardless of any qualification. Award of the label will be according to either "favourable" or "favourable, subject to conditions" as explained in the Guide to the accreditation of recognised Bachelor and Master’s degrees.
- Seal of excellence, which is acquired when a study programme successfully undergoes accreditation and, in addition, obtains the overall qualification of "accreditation with excellence", and has complied to a high level with the majority of the accreditation criteria and numerous good practices that exceed the required minimum.
Methodology
AQU Catalunya has adopted the structure and content of the Basic Medical Education standards for the year 2020 and has incorporated, in accordance with the Standards and Criteria for the Quality Assessment of University Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees, any mandatory aspects or those required by Catalan and Spanish legal regulations.
The accreditation process according to the WFME standards is described in the Guide to the accreditation of Medical study programmes according to the AQU Catalunya standards and the WFME global standards for quality improvement: basic Medical education.
Publication of results
The first Faculties of Medicine in Spain accredited according to the World Federation for Medical Education standards are:
2021
- The Faculty of Medicine of Universitat de Barcelona - Validity date of the accreditation: 17/01/2032
- The Faculty of Medicine of the Universitat de Girona - Validity date of the accreditation: 06/03/2030
- The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya - Validity date of the accreditation: 06/27/2030
Consult the accredited programmes:
Review reports portal (EUC Informes), see the assessment reports on degrees, centres and universities in the Catalan university system issued by AQU Catalunya.
EUC Estudis, consult all recognised degree programmes.