Approximately two months before the site visit, we will have a “mock” accreditation. This practice opportunity will be led by external reviewers and will replicate the process of the full site visit as outlined here.
 
All relevant documentation must be submitted before the team visits. However, the site team can request documentation until the last day of their visit, so we may be updating our responses or finding more supporting documentation throughout the visit.

What is required of faculty, staff and learners leading up to the visit?
 
Faculty: The Accreditation Oversight Committee (AOC) is comprised of faculty and staff with leadership roles that connect to undergraduate medical education. This committee will be tasked with collating information to complete the data collection instrument. They will work with the accreditation leadership to review the accreditation process in preparation for meetings with the site visit team.
 
Any faculty with an interest in accreditation can join the Accreditation Review Committee (ARC), which will review all the documentation and prepare the medical school self-study.
 
All faculty are expected to be familiar with pertinent policies and procedures of the medical school. The site visit team will meet with a representative sample of our faculty.
 
Staff: Staff in roles that connect to undergraduate medical education (Dean’s office, library, HSIMS, UGME, student affairs, admissions) will be asked to provide information to complete the data collection instrument. They will meet with the accreditation leadership to review the accreditation process and prepare for their meetings with the site visit team.
 
Learners: Undergraduate medical learners are asked to complete the Independent Student Analysis (ISA), which is a survey provided by CACMS. The school can support the learners in this work but the data analysis and interpretation must be completed independently by the learners. Learner representatives are members of the accreditation committees.
 
At the time of the site visit, students are expected to meet with and provide tours to the site visit team.
 
A representative sample of postgraduate learners is expected to meet with the site visit team.

What are the accreditation requirements that must be met?
 
The accreditation requirements are divided into 12 standards, which are further subdivided into 96 elements. A full list of these are found at the CACMS website. 
 
Standards consider the leadership, learning environment, school resources, curriculum, and student supports. Each standard is rated as being in compliance, compliance with need for monitoring, or noncompliance.
 
The elements are the smaller components that compose the standards. They are rated as satisfactory, satisfactory with monitoring, or unsatisfactory.
 
What are the policies and procedures that faculty, staff and learners must know?
 
A full list of policies and procedures is available and the accreditation team has identified areas that need an increase in awareness.
 
The site visit team will ALWAYS ask EVERYONE about student mistreatment and student exposure policies. 
 
Staff and faculty connected directly to the provision of undergraduate medical education will be expected to be aware of the policies and procedures relevant to their work and provide evidence that the policies and procedures are followed.
For example, the undergraduate curriculum leads should know procedures around changing the curricular content and be able to provide evidence of a time when the procedure was followed.
 
What were some of the issues identified during the internal accreditation review?
 
The full report is available on D2L.

Some areas of difficulty were:

1. The documentation and dissemination of policies and procedures
2. Curriculum management
3. Teaching of non-medical expert roles, especially in phase four
4. Academic and career advising for students

Two components: process and content.