a review of four basic medical education accreditation systems

in today's world, quality improvement of basic medical education is a must for training physicians who are able to meet the growing health needs of our society. one way for quality assurance in higher education including medical education is to develop a system of accreditation which has been in medical education authorities' constant focus recently. this article is a review of national accreditation system of lcme, amc, amfem and international accreditation system of wfme. in these systems an autonomous body conducts accreditation. the questionnaires, developed based on established standards, are sent to the institute requesting accreditation. the institute completes its database to fill the questionnaire and reports the results of self study and data analysis to the accreditation body. a team of experts from the accreditation body visits the institute educational facilities and clinical training centers and reports their assessment results to accreditation body. the accreditation body makes final decision on accreditation.