At the meeting in Seoul in April the WFME Executive Council revised the Policies and Procedures for the WFME Recognition of Accreditation Programme. The most significant changes are:

Preliminary application

Before commencing the full process, agencies will be asked to fill in the preliminary application form, which will allow WFME to assess the agency’s eligibility and level of preparedness for the process.

Policy on deferment

When the report on an accrediting agency has made it clear that the agency would not achieve Recognition status if the report were to go forward to the Recognition Committee, the agency can decide to defer the process and take time to prepare for a second assessment. In the case of a second visit, the team will focus on primarily on the areas that were identified as problematic. If the agency does not apply for a second evaluation within two years, it needs to re-apply for the full process again.

Policy on monitoring

Monitoring of recognised agencies by WFME was formerly by a written report every two years.  In the light of experience, it is proposed that monitoring be by an annual written report.  The report must include a list of all medical schools accredited during the year under review.  The date of submission of the report will be in March each year. In case any matter in the report is of concern it will be assessed by some or all of the WFME team that made the evaluation of the agency.

New Recognition Committee

Currently, the Recognition Committee consists of the regional presidents, who sit on the WFME Executive Council. To enhance transparency, WFME has decided to establish a new Committee that will be independent of the organisation and will not take part in any other WFME tasks.

Appeals policy

Given the establishment of the new Recognition Committee, in case of an appeal, the Executive Council of WFME now become the Appeals Committee.

Agencies that plan to apply or are already in the early stages of the process are strongly advised to review the new document.