WFME regularly receives enquiries from schools and students considering the option of acquiring accreditation from an agency with WFME Recognition Status that is based outside of their country.
The Recognition Criterion 2 requires that: “Where the agency operates in more than one country or region, its processes are endorsed and outcomes are subject to adoption by the governments of each of these jurisdictions. It should also be able to demonstrate that the standards and procedures for accreditation of medical schools are appropriate to those countries and regions and applied in a consistently robust manner.”
For an agency to operate in any country, WFME needs to assess its legal standing and recognition by the local authorities. During the assessment of an agency, WFME reviews this process for the accreditation activity in the original country (or countries) of operation and not for any other country.
If an agency aims to venture outside of the originally evaluated remit, WFME needs to verify that the agency is recognised by the appropriate authorities in the new intended country of operation, that the decision made by the agency have impact in the country, and also that the agency has considered the appropriateness of the policies, procedures and standards in the context of another country.
WFME asks the agency to provide contact information of the relevant authority for each country outside of the original country of operation and confirm with the authority that the agency is compliant with the eligibility criteria in the country.
Until this process is successfully completed, any accreditation activity outside of the original country of operation is not recognised by WFME.
