Undergraduate Medical Education Accreditation

Undergraduate Medical Education Accreditation

We are now preparing for the next full accreditation review in October and December 2024, and are engaging the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) community to ensure continued success in this important quality improvement process.

Overview

Learn more

Committees

Learn more

In the past

Learn more

FAQs

Learn more

An introduction to Accreditation

The Undergraduate Medical Education program of the CSM has maintained continuous accreditation from the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS) since the first students were admitted in 1970. 

We invite CSM community members to share your comments by emailing the appropriate committee chair or by speaking to one of the committee members. We want broad input from faculty, staff, students and anyone who has a stake in the success of our medical school. Comments will be considered and addressed by the appropriate committee chairs.

You can also email the accreditation lead Dr. Marcy Mintz, MD, at mjmintz@ucalgary.ca or the accreditation coordinator Gretchen Greer at greerg@ucalgary.ca and we will direct your comment/inquiry to the appropriate person.

Spotlight on Accreditation

Spotlight on Accreditation

How are students supported to make career decisions?

Coming Soon!

The Accreditation process

CACMS is the accrediting body for Canadian medical education programs, and was founded by the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC). CACMS and its counterpart in the US, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), have accredited Canadian medical programs jointly since 1979. A memorandum of understanding that established this relationship concluded in September 2021, and joint accreditation will cease on June 30, 2025. As the CSM medical education program will undergo the next accreditation review in 2024, the joint CACMS/LCME process will still be in effect. Visit CACMS for further information about the future of the accreditation process.

Accreditation is used to demonstrate that our undergraduate medical program meets accepted standards for educational quality. It is a continuous quality improvement process, but also involves over two years of preparation and document completion by various committees of the following self-study documents which address the 12 CACMS Standards comprised of 94 Elements:


Data Collection Instrument (DCI)

Forms that collect data relating to the requirements necessary to demonstrate compliance for each Element within each Standard.

Learn more

Medical School Self-Study (MSS)

A self-evaluation of the medical school based on information provided by the DCI and Independent Student Analysis (ISA).

Learn more

Independent Student Analysis (ISA)

Students produce the ISA report which is based on the ISA questionnaire (administered by the AFMC with the same questions for all schools) results. The written report describes the analysis and results of student responses, and the data and analyses are used to inform some sections of the DCI and MSS.

Learn more

The CSM has a rich history of success with UME accreditation, including our last external review in 2016. For the new accreditation review, I am proud to have 58 faculty members and 52 students involved in our accreditation committees. Having that broad level of commitment to the process is going to be instrumental to our success.

Dr. Todd Anderson, MD

Dean, Cumming School of Medicine

Aims and Action Plan

The accreditation process for the CSM is now underway.

Dr. Marcy Mintz, MD, is leading our two-year preparation process and chairing the Accreditation Steering Committee. The committee will be regularly providing updates and frequently requesting and inviting feedback — an ongoing two-way information exchange. Here is an overview of the accreditation process and what you can expect in the coming months:


Accreditation process aims

  • To certify that the MD program meets prescribed standards
  • To promote institutional self-evaluation and improvement

Our action plan

  • An Accreditation Steering Committee has been struck to conduct a thorough review of our policies, procedures and ways of fulfilling our educational mandate.
  • Three key processes will include the preparation of the Data Collection Instrument (DCI), the completion of the Medical School Self Study (MSS) as well as the student-generated Independent Student Analysis (ISA). There will be a two-day Pre-Accreditation Site Review in January 2024 to further prepare the school for the Oct/Dec 2024 external Accreditation review.
  • The Accreditation Steering Committee and its sub-committees want to ensure a complete and transparent review. With that in mind, an Accreditation section of our website has been launched. The site will house regularly published progress reports, timelines and next steps in the process. Equally important, however, is the opportunity the site will provide for regular input from faculty, staff and students on our progress, on our strengths and weaknesses, and on our opportunities for improvement. Other means of data-gathering and soliciting feedback may include surveys, focus groups and newsletters.

CACMS Accreditation Review

The Guide for the Conduct of CACMS Accreditation Visits describes the preparation and execution of the two-stage visit process.

The external review team prepares a report based on the site visit which is reviewed by the CACMS at a regularly scheduled meeting at which a decision is made regarding accreditation status.


Virtual Review, Oct. 21-23, 2024

Documents are submitted to the CACMS three months prior to the external review which will occur virtually on Oct. 21-23, 2024.  All Elements and Standards will be reviewed at this time.

On-site Review, Dec. 2-3, 2024

The in-person review on Dec. 2-3, 2024 will focus on Elements/Standards which require additional review and information.  

Accreditation News


Pre-Accreditation Review – January 2024

The Pre-Accreditation review is scheduled for January 24 and 25, 2024. We will be welcoming Dr. Rolfson (U of A) and Dr. McKague ( U of S) for the review.

UME Accreditation Calendar

UME accreditation calendar

Contacts

Dr. Marcy Mintz
UME Accreditation director
mjmintz@ucalgary.ca

Gretchen Greer
UME Accreditation coordinator
greerg@ucalgary.ca