The Accreditation of Medical Program in Sixteen Medical Schools

In 2018, the Working Committee for the Accreditation of Medical Education (WCAME) organized assessors to conduct site visits of 16 medical schools, including Nanjing University (25^th-29^thMarch), Inner Mongolia Medical University (27^th-31^st May), Shihezi University (14-18 October), Three Gorges University (14^th-18^th October), Huzhou Univrsity (21-25 November), Weifang Medical Univrsity (21^st-25^th October), Xi'an Jiaotong University (October 28^th -November 1^st), Sichuan University (28^th October -1^st November), Harbin Medical University (4^th-8^th November), Zhengzhou University (4^th-8^th November), Xinxiang Medical University (11^th-15^th November), Hebei University of Engineering (11^th-15^th November), Zunyi Medical University (the original name: Zunyi Medical College) (12^th-16^th November), Jishou University (18^th -22^th November), Jinan University (18^th -22^th November), North Sichuan Medical College (18^th -22^th November) against Standards for Basic Medical Education. Among these accredited schools, Harbin Medical University is the first university that seeks the second-round accreditation.

According to the Guidelines for the Accreditation of Medical Education, the 16 universities submitted self-evaluation reports to make comprehensive and objective analysis about their medical education. The 15 universities that seek the first-round accreditation refer to 10 domains and 44 sub-domains in the standards of the 2008 version. The university that seeks the second-round accreditation refers to 10 domains and 40 sub-domains in the standards of the 2016 version. After carefully reading the self-evaluation reports, the accreditation team conducts the site visits. They had an extensive communication with teachers, students, administrative staff, affiliated medical institutions and related agencies. They analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of their medical education, and proposed suggestions about the weaknesses. Based on the information, assessors drafted preliminary reports and presented them to schools.

After site visits, the accreditation team will prepare the final accreditation reports within two months after the site visit. They should request comments of schools to guarantee objective facts and accurate data. After that, the final accreditation reports should be submitted to and reviewed by the Working Committee for the Accreditation of Medical Education.

Up to this year, the Working Committee has completed accreditation of the medical education programmes of 89 schools. Under the guidance of the Ministry of Education, the Working Committee will continue to improve the accreditation process and procedures and promoteaccreditation of medical education.