In 2016, WFME published the first edition of WFME Global Standards for Quality Improvement: Master’s Degrees in Medical and Health Professions Education. Between 2000 and 2015, the number of Master’s degrees in medical education grew from seven to more than 100, but without any consistent measure of quality as there is through accreditation of basic medical education. This number of Master’s degrees continues to expand. A small group of concerned academics therefore defined standards for the design, quality assurance and management of these programmes. These standards are intended to:
- guide programme directors in their work of course design and management
- offer prospective and current students a framework for judging the quality and qualities of the Master’s course they are contemplating or experiencing
- offer a framework for institutions and regulators in judging that provision
- offer a framework for local quality assurance and programme evaluation, and for external regulators and accreditors.
The nine areas covered by these standards are mission and outcomes, educational process,assessment of student learning, students, staffing, educational resources, settings and scholarship, monitoring and evaluation, governance and administration, and programme renewal.
The standards should be of interest to anyone involved in the design, presentation, selection or funding of Master’s degrees in medical and health professions education.
