In 2003, the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) promulgatedthe Basic Medical Education WFME Global Standards for Quality Improvement,which prompted the establishment of a global medical education accreditation system and ensured the quality of medical education in different countries and regions around the world. With the constant change and development of the world situation, the WFME executive committee was aware of the need to receive comments and suggestions from medical educators, institutions and community groups in line with the trends in medical education. Therefore, WFME revised the standard in 2012 and 2015, respectively. (click here for the WFME 2015 Standard: https://wfme.org/standards/bme/）
Recently, WFME decided to revise the standard to ensure its applicability to all cultures and contexts. At the invitation of WFME and the Western Pacific Association of Medical Education (WPAME), Working Committee for the Accreditation of Medical Education (WCAME) reviewed the first draft ofthe Basic Medical Education WFME Global Standards for Quality Improvement2020 editionand gave feedbacks based on the practical experience of accreditation of medical education in China.
WFME’s new standard will bring new ideas and directions to the global medical education, improve the Chinese medical education standard and guarantee the accreditation system in China is equivalent to the international essence. WCAME has always been keeping cooperation with WFME, learning from the experience of international counterparts, and sharing the practical experience of Chinese medical education with them. The participation of WCAME in the revision of the international standards for Medical Education shows the increasing influence of Chinese medical education across the world.
[ Background Information]
The World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) was founded in 1972 by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Medical Association (WMA). WFME plays an important role in setting the global standard of medical education and promoting the reform of medical education. The global standards for medical education developed and revised by WFME have been translated into many languages and become the template for developing or revising standards in many countries. At present, WFME consists of the Centre Office, the Executive Board, the International Centre for Medical Education of the University of Copenhagen-Lund, and six regional medical education federations.
