FAIMER Research Scientist Marta van Zanten recently authored two papers on accreditation issues. This research advances the FAIMER goals of maintaining accurate, publicly-available data resources that promote an understanding of the world’s health professions education systems and helping to inform Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG®) policy.
The first paper, written in conjunction with partners at Johns Hopkins, is entitled Describing the evidence-base for accreditation in undergraduate medical education internationally: A scoping review. The authors evaluated over 1,000 abstracts and subsequently read over 200 full text articles for possible inclusion in this scoping review. Of the full text articles reviewed, 36 met the criteria of scholarship on the topic and 85 were classified as non-scholarship. This manuscript summarizes the findings of these articles and provides an analysis of some of the difficulties in conducting research in this domain. These results can be used to guide best practices in accreditation, recommend areas for future research, and inform preparations for ECFMG’s 2023 accreditation requirement.
Paper citation: Tackett, Sean MD, MPH; Zhang, Christiana MD; Nassery, Najlla MD, MPH; Caufield-Noll, Christine MLIS, AHIP; van Zanten, Marta PhD, Med, Academic Medicine: December 2019 – Volume 94 – Issue 12 – p 1995-2008.
More information can be found here: https://journals.lww.com/academicmedicine/Abstract/2019/12000/Describing_the_Evidence_Base_for_Accreditation_in.39.aspx
A copy of the article can be requested from mvanzanten@faimer.org.
The second paper, entitled Using DEQAR data to enhance the World Directory of Medical Schools, compares World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) Recognition Program results and related medical school accreditation data with European Quality Assurance Register (EQAR) accreditation data. The purpose of this study was to review accreditation data included in the Database of External Quality Assurance Results (DEQAR) to help inform planned enhancements to the World Directory of Medical Schools. The search of DEQAR revealed 109 non-expired evaluation or accreditation reports from 91 higher education institutions or programs located in 21 countries that provide undergraduate (basic) medical education. Three accrediting agencies are included in DEQAR and recognized by WFME. These results will help inform planned enhancements to the World Directory of Medical Schools, including addition of accreditation data at the school level beginning in 2020.
Dr. van Zanten recently presented this paper at the Database of External Quality Assurance Results (DEQAR) Conference and European Quality Assurance Register (EQAR) Members’ Dialogue, October 2019, in Madrid, Spain, and it is published on the EQAR website: https://cloud.eqar.eu/s/3GDReeJTrGQBH5e#pdfviewer.
