As you may recall, in October 2012 the MD Program was informed that it received full accreditation for another eight-year term (until May 2020) from the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS) and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). We are very pleased to report that we are now in full compliance with all 128 accreditation standards, bringing the program’s 2012 accreditation to a successful conclusion. This is a very significant achievement for the medical school, and reflects the collective efforts of the many individuals and institutions involved in the MD Program, including students, administrative staff, teachers, the medical school leadership, and our hospital partners. We sincerely thank the entire Faculty of Medicine community for its tremendous ongoing support of the MD Program, especially those who participated directly in the accreditation process.
Included below is a brief summary of the MD Program’s 2012 accreditation process and findings.
In their October 2012 decision letter, the CACMS-LCME identified several notable strengths of our MD Program, consistent with those expressed in the accreditation survey team report:
strong institutional support for education demonstrated by effective leadership at all levels
a supportive culture for excellence in education evidenced by substantial financial investments
a strong academy structure providing an educational home base for smaller groups of students, supported by the leaders of our affiliated hospitals
effective use of “human, physical, financial and organizational resources to create a culture of healthy competition around excellence in education and research among its students, teachers and affiliated partners”
Although the initial results of the program’s May 2012 site visit were positive – of the 128 accreditation standards, 119 were judged by the CACMS-LCME to be fully in compliance – the program was required to provide a status report on actions taken and progress made with respect to three areas of noncompliance and six areas that were in compliance but required monitoring. The CACMS-LCME findings were used as an opportunity to further refine, enhance and strengthen the program. A very thorough and comprehensive follow-up status report was submitted to the accrediting bodies in July 2013.
Based on our July 2013 status report, the three standards initially identified as being in noncompliance were found by the CACMS-LCME to be in compliance with monitoring, while one of the six standards initially identified as being in compliance with monitoring was found to be in full compliance. A second follow-up status report regarding the eight accreditation standards identified as still requiring monitoring was submitted to the accrediting bodies in April 2015.
Thanks to the contributions of many education leaders and course directors, staff and students, the eight accreditation standards identified as still requiring monitoring were found to be in full compliance. As the MD Program is now in full compliance with all 128 accreditation standards, no further follow-up from the 2012 accreditation is required. Further details about the 2012 accreditation process and findings are available on ouraccreditation website.
The MD Program’s next full accreditation survey will take place in academic year 2019-2020.
Martin Schreiber Senior Academic Coordinator, CACMS-LCME Accreditation
Jay Rosenfield Vice Dean, MD Program
Trevor Young Dean, Faculty of Medicine Vice-Provost, Relations with Health Care Institutions
