What is accreditation and who is an accreditor?
An accreditor is a local or international quasi-governmental body that is recognized to perform high-level, detailed academic reviews that determine if the educational institution and its programs meet their competency standards to deliver the curriculum and grant the designated degree.
The accreditation process is a self-study and outside review that establishes whether all curricular and clinical teaching components are supported by a budget that meets the accreditor’s standards. Quality measures are validated by academic performance metrics on standardized exams and graduation rates.
What is Recognition Status?
Recognition Status is awarded by the World Federation of Medical Education (WFME) to an accrediting agency working to an internationally accepted high standard and confers the understanding that the quality of accreditation of medical schools is to an appropriate and rigorous standard.
What do North American medical students need?
North American students who choose to study abroad must qualify for an Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) certificate. ECFMG requires that the international medical school is accredited by an agency recognized by WFME.
Starting in 2024, individuals applying for ECFMG certification must be a student or graduate of a medical school that is appropriately accredited. More specifically, the school must be accredited by an accrediting agency that is officially recognized by the WFME.
The WFME Recognition Programme is currently the only program accepted by ECFMG for the recognition of medical school accrediting agencies.
