GLOBAL STANDARDS FOR QUALITY

IMPROVEMENT OF MEDICAL EDUCATION

STATUS OF THE WFME PROGRAMME INITIATED IN 1997

WFME OFFICE
UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN
2011
Contents
Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 3
Plan of Programme.................................................................................................................... 3
World Conference in Medical Education ................................................................................. 5
Validation in Pilot Studies ........................................................................................................ 6
Definitions of European Specifications ................................................................................... 8
Publications .............................................................................................................................. 9
Presentations at National and International Meetings and Conferences ..................................12
Translations ..............................................................................................................................26
Establishment of WFME Advisor Function .............................................................................27
Promotion and Use of the WFME Standards at the Global, Regional, National and
Institutional Level......................................................................................................................28
Use as Instruction Material and Programme Foundation..........................................................48
Impact on Other Health Professions Education and Higher Education in General...................48
Approval by International Organisations .................................................................................50
Partnership with WHO..............................................................................................................51
Documentation in World Register ............................................................................................53

Annex 1: Promotion and Use of WFME Global Standards in Basic Medical Education

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Introduction
The improved health of all peoples is the main goal of medical education. This is also the overall
mission of the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME). In keeping with its constitution,
as the international body representing all medical teachers and medical teaching institutions,
WFME undertakes to promote the highest scientific and ethical standards in medical education,
initiating new learning methods, new instructional tools, and innovative management of medical
education.

In accordance with this mandate, WFME at its Executive Council (EXCO) meeting in September
1997 and in its 1998 position paper: International standards in medical education: assessment and
accreditation of medical schools’ educational programmes, published in the journal Medical
Education, launched the programme on International Standards in Medical Education. The purpose
was to provide a mechanism for quality improvement in medical education, in a global context, to
be applied by institutions responsible for medical education, and in programmes throughout the
continuum of medical education. As the programme developed, it became more appropriate to use
the designation of WFME Global Standards Programme.

That the WFME Standards would have the status as an accreditation instrument was considered
from the outset. WFME has taken the position that only nationally appointed agencies can be
directly responsible for accreditation procedures. However, WFME could have a role in assisting in
an accreditation process were one to be introduced. Globally adopted standards can function as a
template for the agencies designated to implement recognition/accreditation. It would also be
appropriate for WFME to develop guidelines and procedures for the use of its standards for
accreditation purposes.

WFME suggested already in its position paper of 1998 that a World Register of Medical Schools be
developed, aiming to constitute a roster of information about quality assurance of programmes in
medical educational institutions, and indicating specifically that institutions included have attained
globally accepted and approved standards for medical education programmes.

The three sets of Global Standards are in different stages of implementation. A schematic
presentation of the implementation of the WFME Standards in Basic Medical Education can be
found in Annex 1.

Plan of Programme
In developing the Standards, WFME appointed three International Task Forces, each constituted by
a Working Party meeting on a retreat basis, and by a broader Panel of Experts, the latter
communicating mainly electronically. Members of the Task Forces were selected on basis of their
expertise and with geographical coverage an important consideration. The drafts of the Standards
documents have been discussed on many occasions and in numerous settings around the world, and
the many responsive commentaries received have been collated and incorporated.

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The Global Standards Programme can be divided into three phases.

Phase I: Developing Global Standards

 Task Force on Definition of Standards in Basic Medical Education (BME) set up summer
1999. First meeting of Working Party in Copenhagen, October 1999. Second meeting in
Barcelona, March 2001. Final Document adopted by EXCO June 2001, and again at meeting
in Irbid, September 2002.
 Task Force on Definition of Standards in Postgraduate Medical Education (PME) set up
summer 2001. Meeting of Working Party in Copenhagen, September 2001. Final Document
adopted by EXCO at meeting in Irbid, September 2002.
 Task Force on Definition of Standards in Continuing Professional Development (CPD) of
Medical Doctors set up late 2001. Meeting of Working Party in Oslo, January 2002. Draft
Document adopted in principle by EXCO at meeting in Irbid, September 2002. Meeting of
International Advisory Panel in Copenhagen, October 2002. Final Document adopted by
EXCO, January 2003.
 All three Task Forces have been working interactively through electronic communications.
 Publication of the WFME Trilogy of Global Standards for Quality Improvement of Medical
Education, 2003.

Phase II: Validation and Evaluation

 World Conference in Copenhagen March 2003.

 Pilot Study I, BME. Started 2002 including 11 medical schools. Results presented at the
2003 World Conference. Final Report “Quality Improvement in Basic Medical Education –
Evaluation of the Implementation in Pilot Sites of the World Federation for Medical
Education’s International Standards”, University of Copenhagen 2004.
 Pilot Study II, BME. Started 2002 including 26 medical schools. Preliminary results
presented at the 2003 World Conference. Last school included in December 2004. Internal
report 2007.
 Pilot Studies in PME and CPD. Started 2003/2004. Report January 2006.

Phase III: Implementation

 Information: Publications; Presentations at Meetings; Instruction Material.

 Translations.
 Establishment of WFME Advisor Function.
 Use of the WFME Standards in Institutional Self-evaluation and Peer Review.
 Incorporation in National Standards and Accreditation Systems.
 Approval by International Organisations.
 Partnership with WHO.
 Guidelines for Accreditation Systems.
 Project on Promotion of Accreditation.
 Documentation in World Register.

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World Conference in Medical Education
“Global Standards for Medical Education - For Better Health Care,” Copenhagen 15-19 March,
2003, arranged in cooperation with WHO, UNESCO, WMA, the University of Copenhagen,
Denmark and Lund University, Sweden.

Six Preconference Symposia at Lund University:

1. Globalisation of Medicine
2. Restructuring the Health Care Sector and Medical Education
3. Scientific Developments and Medical Schools
4. New Ways of Teaching and Learning in Medicine
5. Assessment and Standards in Medical Education
6. Medical Education Crossing National Boundaries

Main themes of the World Conference:

1. The Interface of Health Care and Medical Education

2. The Concept of Global Standards
3. Implementation of Standards in Medical Education

Postconference Seminar, 20 March 2003 – Compiling and Disseminating the Results of the
Conference: Implementation and Anticipated Outcomes

Programme, abstracts and presentations can be found on the WFME website: www.wfme.org

Reports from the Conference:

1. Minutes from the Postconference Seminar of the WFME, World Conference 2003, convened at
the Panum Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, Copenhagen, Thursday, March 20, 2003.

2. Articles in connection with the Conference:

 J.P. de V. van Niekerk. Commentary “WFME Global Standards Receive Ringing

Endorsement”. Medical Education, 2003, 37, 585-586.
 J.P. de V. van Niekerk, Leif Christensen, Hans Karle, Stefan Lindgren and Jørgen Nystrup.
Report: WFME Global Standards in Medical Education: Status and Perspectives following
the 2003 WFME World Conference. Medical Education, 2003;37:1050-1054.
 Hans Karle and Jørgen Nystrup. Editorial “Are Global Standards for Medical Education of
Interest in Europe?”. Medizinische Ausbildung, 2003, 20, 55-56.
 Tina Schweickert, ”Die World Conference und ihre Studierenden“, Medizinische
Ausbildung, 2003, 20, 98-99.

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  Jørgen Nystrup and Hans Karle. Commentary. “In Search of Global Standards in Medical
Education: Status after the WFME 2003 World Conference”. The ANZAME Journal “Focus
on Health Professional Education: A Multi-Disciplinary Journal” Vol. 5, No. 1, June 2003.
 David Prideaux. Editorial “Globalisation and Health Professional Education”. The
ANZAME Journal “Focus on Health Professional Education: A Multi-Disciplinary Journal”
Vol. 5, No. 1, June 2003.
 Christophe Segouin, Jørgen Nystrup, Leif Christensen et Hans Karle. Faut-il prescrire des
standards internationaux en éducation médicale? Compte-rendu de la conference mondiale
organisée par la World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) à Copenhague (15-19
Mars 2003) “Global standards in medical education for better health care”.Pedagogie
Médicale, 2004, 5, 1-3.
 Jordan J. Cohen. Academic medicine’s latest imperative: achieving better health care
through global medical education standards. Medical Education, 2003, 37, 950-951.
 J.P. de V. van Niekerk. “WFME Global Standards Receive Ringing Endorsement”, The
Network – Towards Unity For Health Newsletter, Vol. 22, No. 02, December 2003.

Validation in Pilot Studies

BME:

After adoption by the Executive Council of the document “Quality Improvement in Basic Medical
Education – WFME International Guidelines” and following recommendations from the 2nd
Working Party meeting in Barcelona, March 2001, plans were developed to conduct Pilot Studies in
a number of medical schools around the world.

Project plans were developed by Professor Janet Grant and Dr. Nancy Gary and a WFME Steering
Group was set up. Invitations were sent to app. 20 medical schools, and the following schools were
included in Pilot Study I: Universidad Centro Occidental Lisandro Alvarado, UCLA, Venezuela;
Escuela de Medicina de la Universidad de la Sabana, Colombia; Universidad Nacional Autónoma
de México, UNAM, Mexico; University of Malawi, Malawi; University of the Free State, South
Africa; Arabian Gulf University, Bahrain; Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Iran; Fiji School
of Medicine, Fiji Islands; University of Lleida - Faculty of Medicine, Spain; Kazakh National
Medical University, Kazakhstan; Lunds Universitet, Sweden; University of Turin, Italy.

A second set of studies (Pilot Study II), conducted by the WFME office, started August 2002
comprising the following 11 medical schools: Jordan University of Science and Technology, School
of Medicine, Irbid, Jordan, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, Department of Pathology, Sikkim
Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences, Sikkim, India, Dept. of Surgery, College of Medicine,
Chichiri, Malawi, School of Medical Sciences, University Sains Malaysia, Faculty of Medicine,
University of Ankara, Turkey, Clinical Division, Moi University, College of Health Sciences, Nandi
Road, Eldoret, Kenya, Peking University, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, P.R.
China, Harbin Medical University, P.R. China 150086, Xiang Ya School of Medicine, Central South
University, P.R. China, Tongji Medical College, Wuhan, P.R. China.

New schools were included in Pilot Study II following the World Conference in 2003: Tehran
University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Iran, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical
Sciences and Health Services, Iran, Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences and Health Services,
Iran, Shiraz Medical University, Iran, Erciyes University Medical Faculty, Kayseri, Turkey, Nishtar

6
Medical College, Pakistan, the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago, and Father
Muller Medical College, India. Furthermore, three Russian medical schools were included: IM
Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy, the IP Pavlov St. Petersburg State Medical University and
Volgograd State Medical University. Finally, the Kyrgyz State Medical Academy and Taiwan
National University Medical School were included.

Data from Pilot Study I and II were presented at the World Conference in Copenhagen 2003.

The results of the first Pilot Study on BME Standards were published as follows:

Grant, J. Marshall and N. Gary. Implementation of WFME Global Standards in Basic Medical
Education. Evaluation in Pilot Studies. WFME Office: University of Copenhagen, Denmark, 2004.

Janet Grant, Joanne Marshall and Nancy E. Gary. Pilot Evaluation of the World Federation for
Medical Education’s Global Standards for Basic Medical Education. Medical Education, 2005, 39,
245-46.

The results were confirmed in the report from the second Pilot Study.

Main conclusions from the Pilot Studies were:

 That the Standards are realistic and adequately divided between basic and quality
development levels

 That there is a need for local specification and supplements, and

 That use in institutional self-evaluation is a positive event with lasting constructive

consequences

PME and CPD:

In 2003/2004 Pilot Studies on validation of PME and CPD Standards were started. Invitation to
participate was presented on the WFME website. The following institutions and organisations were
invited to be included in the studies:

PME: Hull Royal Infirmary, UK, *School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of
the Free State, South Africa, Marmara University, School of Medicine, Dept. of Medical Education,
Istanbul-Turkiye, *Institute of Immunobiology and Human Genetics Institutes, Faculty of
Medicine, Republic of Macedonia, Puerto Rico Medical School Caguas, Puerto Rico, Sao Paulo
University School of Medicine, Brazil, *Cairo University, Egypt, *Father Muller Medical College,
Mangalore, India, *Faculty of Medicine Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, *The
Second Tashkent State Medical Institute, Uzbekistan, *Secretariat of Iranian Council for Graduate
Medical Education (ICGME), Iran, Indiana University School of Medicine, USA, University of
Torino, Torino, Italy, Australian Medical Council, Australia, IPULS AB, Stockholm, Sweden,
American Board of Internal Medicine, Philadelphia, USA, School of Medicine, Department of
General and Digestive Surgery, Hospital Clinico Universitario, Santiago de Compostela, Spain,
Institution for Postgraduate Medical Education and Training, Ireland, *Kashan University of
Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, *Department of Community Medicine MG Institute of Medical

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Sciences, Wardha, India, *National Medical Council, India, *Postgraduate Faculty Karaganda State
Medical Academy, Kazakhstan.

CPD: Hull Royal Infirmary, UK, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the
Free State, South Africa, Marmara University, School of Medicine, Dept. of Medical Education,
Istanbul-Turkiye, *Institute of Immunobiology and Human Genetics, Institutes, Faculty of
Medicine, Republic of Macedonia, Puerto Rico Medical School, Caguas, Puerto Rico, Sao Paulo
University School of Medicine, Brazil, *Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Iran, *Akdeniz
Üniversitesi, Kampüs-Antalya, Turkey, *Den Norske Legeforeningen, Oslo, Norge, South African
Medical Association (SAMA), Pretoria, South Africa, School of Medicine, Dept. of General and
Digestive Surgery Hospital Clinico, Universitario, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, *Kashan
University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical
Education (ACCME), USA, International Healthcare Education, Development, Postgraduate
Institute for Medicine, Jobson Education Group, USA.

The institutions/organisations marked with a star (*) completed the pilot studies.

The results of the Pilot Study on PME and CPD Standards were published as follows:

Janet Grant, Joanne Marshall, Georgia Gale Grant and Ryan Molloy. Implementation of the WFME
Global Standards for Postgraduate Medical Education and for Continuing Professional
Development. Open University Centre for Education in Medicine, UK, January, 2006, WFME
Website: www.wfme.org.

Main conclusions from the pilot studies of the WFME standards for postgraduate medical education
and CPD were that self-evaluation in these areas presents greater challenges than in relation to
medical school provision of basic medical education. This may well be a reflection of the more
fluid institutional basis for training at these levels. Likewise, it may reflect the lack of funding for
the studies, which many sites experienced.

Given these challenges, it has been more difficult to evaluate the attainment of the standards at these
levels. There is no evidence that the sites considered the standards to be inappropriate but there is
indication that even some basic standards are, as yet, unattainable. This certainly reflects the stage
of development of medical education at these levels. Medical education development to date has
focused more intensively on basic training.

The findings of this study suggest that the time has come to move the focus of development to PME
and CPD.

Definition of European Specifications

MEDINE, the Thematic Network on Medical Education in Europe, funded by the EU Commission,
was formed in 2004. Together with the Association of Medical Schools in Europe (AMSE), WFME
is responsible for the conduction of a Task Force on Quality Assurance of Medical Education. In
February 2007, the Task Force finalised its work on European Specifications to the WFME Global
Standards covering all three phases of medical education. The result was published with support
from WHO/EURO as: Quality Assurance Task Force of MEDINE. The Thematic Network on
Medical Education in Europe. WFME Global Standards for Quality Improvement in Medical

8
Education. European Specifications. Copenhagen, 2007. WHO/EURO also published a Russian
translation of the document.

The European Specifications in BME were in 2009 translated into Turkish and are now used as
basis for the new accreditation system for medical schools in Turkey.

Publications

 WFME Executive Council. International standards in medical education: assessment and

accreditation of medical schools’ educational programmes. A WFME position paper,
Medical Education, 1998, 32, 549-558.
 WFME Task Force on Defining International Standards in Basic Medical Education, Report
of the Working Party, Copenhagen, 14-16 October 1999. Medical Education, 2000, 34, 665-
675.
 Commentary by Jordan Cohen, ”Defining international standards in basic medical
education: the World Federation for Medical Education has initiated a timely discussion,
Medical Education, 2000, 34, 600-601.
 Working Party Report, ”WFME Task Force on Defining International Standards in Basic
Medical Education”; the WFME electronic Newsletter, August 2000.
 WFME Task Force para la definición de Estándares Internacionales para la Educación
Médica de Pregrado, Educacion Medica, 2000, 3, No. 4, 158-169.
 Editorial, Medical Education, 2000, 34, 884-5.
 Correspondence in Medical Education, with Dr. Jayawickramarajah with respect to the
definition of international standards in basic medical education. Medical Education, 2001,
35, 515.
 Quality Improvement in Basic Medical Education, WFME International Guidelines, WFME
Website: www.wfme.org, June 2001.
 Global Standards in Medical Education – an Instrument in Quality Improvement, Medical
Education 2002, 36, No. 7, 604-605.
 WFME International Guidelines. Quality Improvement in Basic Medical Education. The
Indian Journal of Medical Education, volume XL, 3-49, 2002.
 Global Standards in Medical Education For Better Health Care. Commentary. Medical
Education. 2002, 36, 1116.
 “Standards of Medical Education in the Era of Globalisation” to be published in the Sultan
Qaboos University Journal for Scientific Research: Medical Sciences in connection with the
The Third GCC Conference on Medical Education, Oman, December 2002.
 A Review of Four Basic Medical Education Accreditation Systems by Fatemeh Shahla
Nazaran, Bahram Einollahi, Amir Maziar Niaei, Fakhrosadat Hosseini, Mohammad Nouri
Avarzamani and Ramin Homayouni Zand. Journal of Medical Education (WHO
Collaborating Centre and Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Science and Health
Services), 2002, Vol. 1., No. 4, 177-183.
 A Review of Defining Standards Process in Basic Medical Education Accreditation in
Mexico and WFME by F. Hosseini, B. Einollahi, R. Homayouni Zand, F. S. Nazaran, A. M.
Niaei and M. N. Avarzamani. Journal of Medical Education (WHO Collaborating Centre
and Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Science and Health Services), 2002, Vol. 1.,
No. 3, 147-149.

9
 WFME Global Standards for CPD Emerge in Recently Released Document by Dr. Dennis
Wentz, American Medical Association (AMA). Article. INTERCOM (Official Newsletter of
the Society of Medical College Directors of Continuing Medical Education), Volume 16,
Number 1, February 2003.
 Basic Medical Education. WFME Global Standards for Quality Improvement. WFME
Office, Copenhagen, March 2003 and WFME Website www.wfme.org.
 Educació Mèdica Bàsica, Estándards globals de la WFME per a la millora de la qualitat.
Officina de WFME. Universitat de Copenhaguen. Dinamarca, 2003.
 Postgraduate Medical Education. WFME Global Standards for Quality Improvement.
WFME Office, Copenhagen, March 2003 and WFME Website www.wfme.org.
 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) of Medical Doctors. WFME Global Standards
for Quality Improvement. WFME Office, Copenhagen, March 2003 and WFME Website
www.wfme.org.
 Accreditación Internacional. Visión de la WFME. Dr. Hans Karle. Educación Médica,
Volumen 6, Suplemento 1, 22-24, Enero – Marzo 2003.
 J.P. de V. van Niekerk. Commentary “WFME Global Standards Receive Ringing
Endorsement”. Medical Education, 2003, 37, 585-586.
 Richard Hays. Letter to the Editor: International Accreditation of Medical Schools. Medical
Education, 2003, 37, 662.
 Hans Karle and Jørgen Nystrup. Editorial “Are Global Standards for Medical Education of
Interest in Europe?”. Medizinische Ausbildung, 2003, 20, 55-56.
 Tina Schweickert, ”Die World Conference und ihre Studierenden“, Medizinische
Ausbildung, 2003, 20, 98-99.
 P.M. Lilley and R.M. Harden. Editorial. “Standards and Medical Education. Medical
Teacher, 2003, 25, 349-351.
 Fabry G., Kiessling C., Schubert S. and Scheffner D. Report “Ärztliche Ausbildung –
Chance für echte Reformen nutzen. On-line publication by Deutsche Ärtzteblatt, 8
December, 2003.
 Jørgen Nystrup and Hans Karle. Commentary. “In Search of Global Standards in Medical
Education: Status after the WFME 2003 World Conference”. The ANZAME Journal “Focus
on Health Professional Education: A Multi-Disciplinary Journal” Vol. 5, No. 1, June 2003.
 David Prideaux. Editorial “Globalisation and Health Professional Education”. The ANZAME
Journal “Focus on Health Professional Education: A Multi-Disciplinary Journal” Vol. 5,
No. 1, June 2003.
 Christophe Segouin, Jørgen Nystrup, Leif Christensen et Hans Karle. Faut-il prescrire des
standards internationaux en éducation médicale? Compte-rendu de la conference mondiale
organisée par la World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) à Copenhague (15-19
Mars 2003) “Global standards in medical education for better health care”. Pedagogie
Médicale, 2004, 5, 1-3.
 J.P. de V. van Niekerk, Leif Christensen, Hans Karle, Stefan Lindgren and Jørgen Nystrup.
Report: WFME Global Standards in Medical Education: Status and Perspectives following
the 2003 WFME World Conference. Medical Education, 2003, 37, 1050-1054.
 June Shannon. Article “Medical School Growth puts Quality at Risk”, Medicine Weekly,
September 2003, Vol. 7/Issue 37. According to interview with Hans Karle in connection
with the World Medical Association General Assembly, Helsinki.
 Doug Payne. Article “World Beat”, The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 2003,
Vol. 50, Issue 5, A52. According to interview with Hans Karle in connection with the World
Medical Association General Assembly, Helsinki.

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 Hans Karle. WFME Global Standards for Quality Improvement. e-VAGUS. IFMSA
electronic Newsletter, 2003, 52,1, 9.
 Ozgur Onur. Reflections on Medical Education. e-VAGUS. IFMSA Electronic Newsletter,
2003, 52,1,7.
 Jordan J. Cohen. Academic medicine’s latest imperative: achieving better health care
through global medical education standards. Medical Education, 2003, 37, 950-951.
 Madalena Folque Patricio. Global Standards for Quality Improvement, World Federation for
Medical Education, Boletim of Sociedade Portuguesa de Educacão Médica, 2003, 13, No.
2-3, 13-16.
 J.P. de V. van Niekerk. “WFME Global Standards Receive Ringing Endorsement”, The
Network – Towards Unity For Health Newsletter, December 2003, Vol. 22, No. 02.
 R. Hays and M. Baravilala. Commentary. Applying global standards across national
boundaries: lessons learned from an Asia-Pacific example. Medical Education, 2004, 38,
582.
 J. Grant, J. Marshall and N. Gary. Implementation of WFME Global Standards in Basic
Medical Education. Evaluation in Pilot Studies. WFME Office: University of Copenhagen,
Denmark, 2004.
 Hans Karle. Impact of the WFME Global Standards Programme. Editorial. Educación
Médica, Volumen 7, Suplemento 2, Julio-Septiembre 2004.
 Spanish translation of the Trilogy of WFME Global Standards in Medical Education,
Educación Médica, Julio-Septiembre 2004, Volumen 7, Suplemento 2.
 Jørgen Nystrup, Christophe Segouin, Leif Christensen and Hans Karle. “Developpement de
la Qualite dans la Formation Medicale: presentation d’une initiataive internationale conduite
sous les auspices da la Fédération Mondiale pour l´Education Médicale (World Federation
for Medical Education, WFME). Pédagogie Médicale, 2004, 5, 218-229.
 Janet Grant, Joanne Marshall and Nancy E. Gary. Pilot Evaluation of the World Federation
for Medical Education’s Global Standards for Basic Medical Education. Medical Education,
2005, 39, 245-46.
 Manual for WFME Advisors. WFME Office, University of Copenhagen, 2005.
 Hans Karle. WFME Global Standards for Quality Improvement. The Role of Students.
IFMSA Website.
 WHO-WFME Guidelines for Accreditation of Basic Medical Education, 2005. WFME
website www.wfme.org.
 Proceedings of IM Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy. Translation into Russian of the
WFME Trilogy of Global Standards, Vol. II, and Report from All-Russia National Meeting
of Rectors of Medical Schools with the WHO- WFME Strategic Partnership Towards
Quality Improvement, Moscow, 2005, Vol. IV.
 WFME Report to WHO, Geneva: Implementing the WFME Global Standards for Quality
Improvement of Medical Education, September 2005.
 J.P. de V van Niekerk. International Standards: A Tonic for Medicine in Africa. Transactions.
Journal of the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA) 2005, 49, 41-42.
 Russian Academy of Advanced Studies: Continuing Professional Education in Health.
Information about WFME Programme and translation into Russian of CPD Standards.
Moscow, 2005.
 Ukrainian Medical Education. Translation of Trilogy of WFME Global Standards into
Ukrainian. Kiev, 2005.
 Hans Karle. Impact of the WFME Global Standards Programme. Boletim of Sociedade
Portuguesa de Educação Médica, Vol. 15, no. 1-3, 2005. a. Educação Médica Pré-graduada

11
 Standards Globais da WFME, b. Educação Médica Pós-graduada Standards Globais da
WFME, c. Desenvolvimento Profissional Contínuo (DPC) dos Médicos Standards Globais
da WFME.
 Hans Karle. Global Standards and Accreditation in Medical Education: A View from the
WFME. Supplement on the occasion of the ECFMG 50th Anniversary Invitational
Conference “Impact of International Medical Graduates on US and Global Health Care”.
Academic Medicine, 2006, 81, no. 12 Suppl., 43-48.
 Michael Field, Laurie Geffen and Theanne Walters. Current Perspectives on Medical
Education in China. Commentary. Medical Education, 2006, 40, 938-939.
 Arcadi Gual. Guia de la OMS/WFME para la acreditación de la formación médica de grado.
Editorial. Educacion Medica, 2006, 9(3), 101-102.
 Guia de la OMS/WFME para la acreditación de la formación médica de grado. Educacion
Medica, 2006, 9(3), 103-110.
 Hans Karle. Standarder för kvalitetsvärdering av läkarutbildninger (Standards for Quality
Evaluation of Medical Education). Svenska Läkartidningen, 2007, 104, 2682-85.
 Quality Assurance Task Force of MEDINE. The Thematic Network on Medical Education in
Europe. WFME Global Standards for Quality Improvement in Medical Education. European
Specifications. Copenhagen, 2007.
 European Specifications for Global Standards in Medical Education. Commentary. Medical
Education. 2007, 41, 924-25.
 Christophe Segouin and Hans Karle. Des recommandations européenes pour promouvoir
des standards en éducation médicale. Pédagogie Médicale, 2007, 8, 184-6.
 Quality Assurance Task Force MEDINE Thematic Network. Leif Christensen. Survey of
Quality Assurance and Accreditation of Basic Medical Education in Europe. Report, WFME
Office, October 2007.
 Hans Karle. Relevance of the WFME Global Standards in Medical Education in the South
East Asian Region. South East Asian Journal of Medical Education, 2007, 1, 2-7.
 Iskender Sayek and Hans Karle. Global Standards: Route for Accreditation in Medical
Education. Commentary on behalf of MEDINE. Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences, 2007,
37, 257-259. (http://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/medical).
 The Executive Council, the World Federation for Medical Education. International
Recognition of Basic Medical Education Programmes: A WFME Position Paper. Medical
Education, 2008, 42, 12-17.
 Hans Karle. Current standards for the best possible postgraduate training of specialists – do
we need reform? Conference book. Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes (UEMS).
50th Anniversary Conference, April 2008, Brussels, Belgium.
 Hans Karle. WFME Policy on International Recognition of Medical Schools’ Programmes.
Proceedings from the 5th APMEC. Ann Acad Med, Singapore, 2008; 37.

Presentations at National and International Meetings and Conferences

 AMEE Annual Meeting, Prague, Czech Republic, September 1998: WFME-Workshop on

Accreditation in Undergraduate Medical Education; Presentations by Hans Karle and Jørgen
Nystrup.
 Biennial AMEWPR/WHO WPRO Meeting, Manila, Philippines, September 1998; Lecture:
Hans Karle: Need for International Standards in Medical Education.
 Conference on Medical Registration, Cape Town, South Africa, September 1998: Lecture:

12
 J P de V van Niekerk: International Standards in Medical Education and Accreditation of
Medical Schools.
 Inaugural Session of Catalan Association for Medical Education, Barcelona, Spain,
November 1998: Lecture: Hans Karle: The Need for International Standards in Medical
Education.
 WHO SEARO / University of Peradeniya Conference: Towards Quality of Medical
Education: Partnership for Action, Kandy, Sri Lanka, December 1998: Lecture: Hans Karle:
Need for International Standards in Medical Education.
 Pan-Pacific Symposium on Medical Education 99, Tokyo, Japan, February 1999: Lecture:
Hans Karle: International Standards in Medical Education and Faculty Development
 PAFAMS Conference: Informatics, Education and Health in Society of Knowledge. Bogota,
Columbia, July 1999: Lecture: Jose Patino and Hans Karle: International Accreditation of
Medical Schools.
 "Ottawa in Africa", 9th International Ottawa Conference on Medical Education, Cape Town,
South Africa, March 2000. Lecture: Hans Karle: “Defining International Standards in Basic
Medical Education”.
 ECFMG Symposium "Focus on Internationalisation", Casablanca, Morocco, April 2000.
Lecture: Hans Karle: “The WFME International Standards”.
 ECFMG meeting with Medical Schools in Pakistan, Aga Khan University, Karachi,
Pakistan, May 2000. Lecture: Nancy Gary (ECFMG): Presentation of the WFME
International Standards.
 Symposium on Medical Education, Medical Faculty, Cologne, Germany, May 2000.
Lecture: Hans Karle: “Definition of International Standards in Basic Medical Education –
Towards a Global Core Curriculum”.
 Medical and Dental Professional Board of the Health Professions Council of South Africa,
Pretoria, South Africa, June 2000. J.P. de V van Niekerk: Orientation about the WFME
International Standards.
 AMEEMR/WHO EMRO Educational Consultation, Irbid, Jordan, June 2000. Lecture: Hans
Karle: “Definition of International Standards in Basic Medical Education”.
 Conférence Universitaire Suisse, Basel, Switzerland, June 2000. Ralph Bloch: Presentation
of the WFME International Standards.
 China Medical Board, IIME Advisory Group meeting, New York City, USA, June 2000.
Hans Karle: Presentation of the WFME International Standards.
 ANZAME Conference, Perth, Australia, July 2000. Raja Bandaranayake and the WFME
Office: Poster on Definition of International Standards.
 6th Biennial Meeting of WHO/AMEWPR: “Medical Education in Diverse Clinical Settings:
Urban and Rural Communities”, July 2000, Townsville, Australia. Hans Karle: Presentation
of the WFME International Standards.
 AMEE Annual Meeting: “Best Evidence Medical Education”, Beer Sheva, Israel, August
2000. (a) Lecture: Jørgen Nystrup: “Defining International Standards in Medical
Education”. (b) Poster: WFME Office: “Definition of International Standards”.
 52nd General Assembly, WMA. Edinburgh, UK, October 2000. Quality Improvement of
Medical Education. The Concept of International Standards. Lecture: Hans Karle:
“Globalisation of Medical Education”.
 Annual Network Conference, Manama, Bahrain, October 2000. “Innovation in Health
Professions Education and Community Orientation: Implementation, Sustainability and Best
Evidence of Effectiveness”. Lecture: Raja Bandaranayake and the WFME Office:
“Developing International Standards in Medical Education”.

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 2nd Argentinean Conference on Medical Education, Mendoza, Argentina, October 2000.
Lecture: Enrique Guntsche and the WFME Office: “Globalisation of Medical Education”.
 WHO Workshop on Training of Trainers in Quality Assurance and Accreditation Procedures,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 2001. Lecture: Hans Karle: “WFME Task Force on Defining
International Standards in Basic Medical Education”.
 Second National Congress of Medical Education in Turkey, Izmir, April 2001. Student
presentation of WFME International Standards.
 “Training and Resources Development program on the Future of Medical Education”,
Aalborg, Denmark, August 2001. Organised by IFMSA during the International Training
Congress for Medical Students. Roundtable Discussions: Hans Karle: “Implementing
International Standards in Basic Medical Education”.
 AMEE Annual Meeting, Berlin, Germany, September 2001. Lecture: Hans Karle:
“Globalisation of Medical Education. The Concept of International Standards”.
 XV Congress of SEDEM (the Spanish Society for Medical Education), Granada, Spain,
October 2001. Lecture: Hans Karle: “Globalisation of Medical Education. The Concept of
International Standards”.
 XVI Panamerican Conference on Medical Education, Buenos Aires, Argentina, November
2001. Self-evaluation and Accreditation in Changing Times. Lecture: Hans Karle:
“International Accreditation. Vision of the WFME”.
 Workshop and Seminar on “Global Perspectives in Medical Education”, Chennai, India,
November 2001, organised by the Department of Curriculum Development of the Tamil
Nadu Dr. M.G.R Medical University. Lecture: Abraham Joseph and the WFME Office:
“Globalisation of Medical Education. The Concept of International Standards”.
 WHO/AFRO Consultative Meeting on Improving Collaboration amongst Health
Professionals, Governments and Stakeholders in Human Resources Development, Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia, January 2002. Basic Medical Standards Document used as background
material at roundtable discussion by J.P. de V van Niekerk.
 Meeting on Medical Education, Ankara, Turkey, March 2002. Lecture: Hans Karle: “Global
Standards in Medical Education – The Vision of WFME”.
 Meeting on Medical Education, Ankara, Turkey, March 2002. Lecture: Hans Karle: “Quality
Improvement in Postgraduate Medical Education. The Concept of International Standards”.
 NBME Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, USA, 14-15 March 2002. Panel Discussion: Hans
Karle: “NBME Role in Global Assessment of Health Professionals”.
 Council of Rectors All-Members Meeting, organised by AIHA, Almaty, Kazakhstan, May
2002. Lecture: Hans Karle: “International Standard Setting in Medical Education”.
 Workshop on: Quality Assurance of Medical Education, Beijing, China, May 2002. Lecture:
Hans Karle: “International Standards in Basic Medical Education”.
 The WFME Postgraduate Standards presented by Hans Karle during the Workshop on
Quality Assurance of Medical Education, Beijing, China, May 2002.
 WHO-Ministry of Health Workshop on Comprehensive Health Professional Education in
Jordan. Presentation of WFME Standards by Sa’ad Hijazi.
 10th Ottawa Conference, Ottawa, Canada, July 2002. Lecture: Hans Karle: “International
Standard Setting in Basic Medical Education”.
 10th Ottawa Conference, Ottawa, Canada, July 2002. Lecture: Hans Karle: “WFME
Standards in Postgraduate Medical Education”.
 AMEE Annual Meeting, Lisbon, Portugal, August-September 2002. Poster: WFME Office:
“Towards International Standards in Postgraduate Medical Education”.

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 2002 Workshop on International Medical Education for the ECFMG meeting of Fellows of
the Foundation for the Advancement of International Medical Education Research
(FAIMER) in Philadelphia, 30 October 2002. Presentation of the WFME International
Standards by Nancy Gary and Janet Grant.
 In relation to external review of the medical school, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey,
October 2002. Lectures: a) Hans Karle: “Global Standards and Accreditation of Medical
Schools”. b) Leif Christensen: “Impressions of Medical Education, Uludag University –
preliminary findings”.
 Consensus Conference on Continuing Medical Education, arranged by Consorzio Italiano
per la Ricerca Medica, November 2002. Lecture: Hans Karle: “Towards a Trilogy of WFME
Global Standards in Medical Education”.
 The Third GCC Conference on Medical Education, Oman, December 2002. Lecture: Hans
Karle: “Standards of Medical Education in the Era of Globalisation”.
 WFME World Conference, Copenhagen 2003. Lecture: Nance E. Gary, Janet Grant and
Joanne L. Marshall: “An Evaluation of the Utilization of the World Federation for Medical
Education Global Standards for Quality Improvement in Basic Medical Education in Eleven
Medical Schools”.
 WFME World Conference, Copenhagen 2003. Lecture: Leif Christensen: “Further Pilot
Studies of WFME Standards – Ten Additional Medical Schools”.
 Annual GAME Meeting, New York City, June 2003. Lecture: Hans Karle: “Global
Standards for Continuing Professional Development”.
 Meeting of the ECFMG Board of Trustees. Ottawa, Canada, 12 July 2003. Lecture: Hans
Karle: “Physician Manpower from a Global Perspective – The Possible Impact of Global
Standards in Medical Education on Migration Patterns”.
 AMEE Meeting, Bern, September 2003. Session: “Making Medical Education Relevant to
Medical Practice: Medical Schools in the Continuum of Lifelong Learning”. Lecture: Hans
Karle: “ CPD – The Role of Medical Schools”. Session arranged by Dr. Hans Karle and Dr.
Jørgen Nystrup: “International Work with Standards in Medical Education”. Lectures: a)
Hans Karle, Jørgen Nystrup and Leif Christensen: Highlights of the WFME World
Conference March 2003; b) Nancy Gary, Janet Grant and Joanne Marshall: “World
Federation for Medical Education: Piloting with the Global Standards for Basic Medical
Education; c) Leif Christensen: “Profiles of Medical Schools: The Use of WFME Standards
in Pilot Studies”; d) Jørgen Nystrup, Hans Karle and Leif Christensen: “WFME Standards
for Continuing Professional Development”.
 First International Conference on Change Management in Medical Education, Shaheed
Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, 30 November -
2 December 2003. Lectures: a) Hans Karle: “WFME Global Standards in Medical
Education – Principles and Perspectives”; b) Jørgen Nystrup: “Global Standards in
Postgraduate Medical Education (PME) and Continuing Professional Development (CPD)”;
c) Leif Christensen: “Use of Standards in Institutional Self-evaluation”. Workshops: a)
Hans Karle: “Planning an Accreditation System Compatible with a Mainly State-run
Medical Education System” ; b) Jørgen Nystrup: “Medical Education – Policy Analysis”; c)
Leif Christensen: “Change Management in Medical Education”.
 WFME visit to National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan and
Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 21-27 March 2004: Lectures: Hans Karle:
“WFME Global Standards and Accreditation in Medical Education”.

15
 WFME Task Force Seminar on WFME Advisors – Role, Selection and Training, Barcelona,
Spain, 1-3 April 2004: Opening presentation: Hans Karle: “The WFME Commitment to
Quality Improvement in Medical Education”.
 UNESCO/OECD Initiative, Development of Guidelines on Quality Provision in Cross-
border Higher Education, Paris, France, April 2004: Introduction to Workshop: Hans Karle:
“Guidelines for Professional Bodies”.
 European Forum of Medical Associations and WHO (EFMA/WHO), Dubrovnik, Croatia,
April 2004. Session: CME/CPD in Europe. Lecture: Hans Karle: “Quality of Medical
Education in Europe”.
 First Conference of Arab Faculties of Medicine Society and First Conference of Jordanian
Faculties of Medicine, Amman, Jordan, April 2004. Lecture: Hans Karle: “WFME Global
Standards in Medical Education and Accreditation of Medical Schools. Principles and
Perspectives”.
 International Association of Medical Regulatory Authorities. 6th International Conference on
Medical Regulation, Dublin, Ireland 2004. Lecture: Hans Karle: “Education Standards and
Accreditation as a Vehicle for Change in Medical Practice”.
 EULAR Congress 2004, Berlin, Germany, June 2004. Lecture: Hans Karle: “Quality
Standards in Postgraduate Education”.
 11th Ottawa Conference, Barcelona, Spain, July 2004.Workshop “Implementing Global
Standards in Medical Education” organised by WFME. Presentations: a) Hans Karle:
”Status of the WFME Global Standards Programme”; b) Richard Hays: “Regional and Local
Specifications”; c) Janet Grant: “Planning Pilot Studies of WFME Standards in Postgraduate
Medical Education and CPD”; d) Jørgen Nystrup: “Transforming the WFME Standards in
CDP to a Semi-quantitive Rating Scale”; e) Leif Christensen: “Institutional Use and Advisor
Functions”; f) Hans Karle: “Recognition/Accreditation of Programmes”.
 Meeting of Deans of Medical Schools of Venezuela arranged by PAFAMS. Caracas,
Venezuela, July 2004. Lecture: Hans Karle: ‘WFME Global Standards in Medical Education
Implementation in Accreditation Procedures”.
 Convention of Association of Medical Faculties of Ecuador (AFEME), Quito, Ecuador, July
2004. Lectures: a) Hans Karle: “WFME Global Standards in Medical Education.
Implementation in Accreditation Procedures”; b) Hans Karle: “La Federación Mundial de
Educación Medica”.
 AMEE Annual Meeting, An international meeting on education in the healthcare
professions, 5-8 September, 2004 Edinburgh International Conference Centre, Edinburgh,
Scotland, UK. a) Symposium 7, “Globalisation and international standards” organised by
WFME; b) Spotlight: Hans Karle: “Globalisation and international standards”; c) Session
organised by WFME: “The Bologna Declaration – Implications for Medical Education”:
Lecture: Leif Christensen: “The Bologna Process and Medical Education”. d) Ibero-
American Session, Lecture: Hans Karle: “The WFME Global Standards Programme -
Lessons Learned”.
 WHO-WFME Seminar of Task Force on Accreditation of Medical Education Institutions
and Programmes, 4-6 October 2004, Copenhagen, Denmark. Lecture: Hans Karle: “WFME
Commitment to Quality Improvement of Medical Education”.
 ISQua 21st International Conference on Quality in Health Care, 22 October 2004,
Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Lecture: Hans Karle: “Medical Education Quality
Improvement: The Use of Consensus Based Standards”.

16
 C.I.R.M. Consorzio Italiano per la Ricerca in Medicina, Milano, Italy, November 2004.
Consensus Conference on “Continuing Professional Education”. Lecture: Hans Karle:
“Global Standards for Continuing Professional Development”.
 4thGCC Medical Education Conference, Al Ain, United Arabs Emirates, November 2004.
Lecture: Hans Karle: “Global Standards and Accreditation of Medical Education”.
 University of Cairo, Cairo, Egypt, December 2004. Lectures: a) Hans Karle: “Accreditation
and Quality Improvement of Medical Education”; b) Leif Christensen: “WHO-WFME Draft
Guidelines for Accreditation Systems”; c) Jørgen Nystrup: “WFME Global Standards for
Postgraduate Medical Education and Continuing Professional Development of Medical
Doctors”.
 I.M. Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy, January 2005. Lecture: Hans Karle: “Quality
Improvement in Medical Education. Global Standards and Accreditation of Medical Schools
Programmes”.
 WHO-WFME Strategic Partnership Workshop for Russian-speaking Countries on Better
Medical Education for Better Health: Developing Strategies in the European Union, St.
Petersburg, Russia, 2-4 February 2005. Lectures: a) Hans Karle: “World Federation for
Medical Education (WFME) Global Standards for Quality Improvement”; b) Janet Grant:
“Curriculum Development: Bridging the Gap between Global Standards and National
Health Needs”; c) Hans Karle: “Towards Accreditation Schemes of Medical Schools and
Programmes”; d) Leif Christensen: The Bologna Process towards the European Higher
Education Area: Objectives Actions, Achievements and Challenges”; e) Leif Christensen:
European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) in Medical Education”; f)
Stefan Lindgren: “Characteristics of Postgraduate Medical Education and Continuing
Professional Development”.
 Medical Education Reform in the Sudan, The First International Conference, February 2005,
Khartoum. Lectures: a) Hans Karle: “Accreditation of Institutions and Programmes in
Medical Education. The Impact of WFME Global Standards”; b) Jørgen Nystrup: “Is it
possible that the WFME Standards can be quantified?”; c) Preconference Workshop: Hans
Karle, Jørgen Nystrup and Leif Christensen: “Planning an Accreditation System to support
Medical Education Reforms”.
 10th Anniversary Harvard Macy Institute Symposium, Washington, USA, 7-10 April 2005.
Lecture: "A Global View of Medical Education" - International Standards for Medical
Education Probability, Possibility or Myth - Globalisation of Medical Education Status of
the WFME Global Standards Programme.
 All-Russia National Meeting of Rectors of Medical Schools with the WHO-WFME
Strategic Partnership Experts, Moscow, Russia, 13-14 April 2005. Lectures: a) Hans Karle:
“Global Trends in Medical Education and the Approach of the WHO-WFME Strategic
Partnership towards Quality Improvement”; b) Leif Christensen: “Towards the Convergence
and Quality Improvement in Higher Education in Europe”; c) Janet Grant: “WFME Global
Standards for Quality Improvement and their use”; d) Hans Karle: “Towards Accreditation
Schemes of Medical Schools and Programmes”; e) Janet Grant: “Curriculum Development:
Bridging the Gap between Global Standards and National Health Needs”; f) Leif
Christensen: “Basic Medical Education, its Structure and Disciplines. g) Leif Christensen:
“European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) in Medical Education”; h)
Janet Grant: “Postgraduate Medical Education and Continuing Professional Development
(CPD) in the Context of the Global Standards”.
 26th Annual Scientific Congress of Alexandria Faculty of Medicine, First International
Medical Education Conference Bibliotheca Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt, 28-29 April

17
 2005. Lectures: a) Hans Karle: “Implementation of the WFME Global Standards for Quality
Improvement: A Tool for Accreditation of Medical Schools”; b) Jørgen Nystrup: “WFME
Global Standards for Quality Development in Postgraduate Medical Education and
Continuing Professional Development”.
 First Meeting of the MEDINE Network. Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgium,
6 May 2005. Hans Karle: Presentation of the MEDINE Task Force (WFME/AMSE) on
Quality Assurance Standards in Europe.
 The Ministry of Health, the Czech Republic, in collaboration with the WHO/EURO Office
in the Czech Republic and the Institute for Postgraduate Education in Health Care: Seminar:
Current and Future Needs for Human Resources in Health Care, Prague, Czech Republic, 1
June 2005. Lecture: Leif Christensen: “The WHO-WFME Strategic Partnership to Improve
Medical Education. Initiatives in the European Region”.
 Bi-regional Meeting in SEARO/WPRO, Bangkok, Thailand, 6-8 June 2005. Lecture: Hans
Karle: “Implementation of WFME Global Standards – The Impact of the WHO-WFME
Strategic Partnership”.
 IFMSA Meeting, 6-9 July 2005, Copenhagen, Denmark. Lecture: Hans Karle: “Standards in
Medical Education and Quality Assurance”.
 Regional Consultative Meeting on Taking the HRH Agenda Forward at Country Level,
organised by WHO/AFRO, NEPAD and ACOSHED, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, 18-20
July 2005. Presentation: Hans Karle: “The Role of WFME and its Global Standards
Programme”.
 AMEE Annual Meeting, 30 August – 2 September 2005, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Symposium organised by WFME: “Accreditation of Institutions and Programmes in
Medical Education”; Chairperson: Hans Karle. Lecture: Leif Christensen: The WHO-
WFME Guidelines for Accreditation Systems.
 Ministry of Health Consultation, 7-9 September 2005. Astana, Kazakhstan Roundtable
Discussion. Lecture: Hans Karle: “Global Standards and Accreditation of Medical Schools
and Programmes”.
 Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen. Thematic Conference on
Internationalisation, 23 September 2005, Copenhagen, Denmark. Lecture: Hans Karle:
“Present Initiatives at the Faculty of Health Sciences and International Trends”. Leif
Christensen: “Moderator of Roundtable Discussion”.
 Second Policy Dialogue in the Baltic Countries on Human Resources for Health, organised
by WHO/EURO and European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, 26-27
September 2005, Vilnius, Lithuania. a) Lecture: Hans Karle: “Trends, Initiatives and
Challenges Towards Quality Assurance and Mutual Recognition of Professional
Qualifications in the EU: An Overview”, b) Hans Karle: Moderator of Roundtable
Discussion.
 Consultative meeting on Strengthening the Role of Colleges of Medicine in the Production
of Health Workers in the WHO African Region, 27-30 September 2005 in Brazzaville. JP de
V van Niekerk. Lecture: ”WFME Global Standards in Health Sciences Education”.
 PSG Institute of Medical Sciences and Research: Vision 2020 Towards Global Standards in
Health Sciences Education, 28-29 September 2005. Coimbatore, India. a) Lecture: Hans
Karle: ”Global Standards in Health Sciences Education: The WFME Initiative”, b) Hans
Karle: Lecture: “Presentation of Action Plan Document and Closing Remarks”.
 German Rectors Conference: Potentials and Limits of the European Reform Process for
Medicine and Health Sciences in Germany, 14-15 October 2005, Bonn, Germany. Lecture:
Hans Karle: “Europe and Beyond – Global Perspectives of Health Sciences”.

18
 AIHA Regional Medical Education Partnership and CAR Council of Rectors, 26 –28
October 2005, Almaty, Kazakhstan. Lectures: a) Leif Christensen: “WFME Contributions”
b) Leif Christensen: “The WFME Global Standards – Principles, Development and Status”.
c) Leif Christensen: “EU/European Projects: The Bologna Process, etc.”.
 Brazilian Association of Medical Education (ABEM), 29 October 2005, Natal, Brazil.
Lecture: Hans Karle. “Global Accreditation of Medical Schools: Quality and Relevance”.
 German Association for Medical Education, 4 – 6 November 2005, Medical Faculty of
Westfäliche Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany. Lecture: Hans Karle: “Where does
European Medical Education Tend to the Future? A Global Perspective”.
 Korean Society for Medical Education, 18th National Conference on Medical Education
“Quality Assurance in Medical Education”, 18-19 November 2005, Daejeon, Republic of
Korea. Lecture: Hans Karle and KH Meng: “Quality Assurance of Medical Education:
implementation of the WFME Global Standards”.
 National Conference on Medical Education, Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan, 22-23 November 2005.
Lectures: a) Leif Christensen: “Globalisation of Medical Education and European Trends”.
b) Janet Grant: “WFME Global Standards for Quality Improvement and their Use in Self-
evaluation and Curriculum Development”. c) Leif Christensen: “Basic Medical Education,
its Structure and Disciplines“. d) Janet Grant: “Evaluation of Medical Education”. e) Leif
Christensen: “The WHO-WFME Guidelines for Accreditation of Basic Medical Education”.
 National Meeting on Developing Strategy for Health Professions Education in Ukraine with
the WHO/WFME Experts. Kiev, Ukraine, 7-8 December 2005. Plenary session I: Lectures:
a) Hans Karle: “European trends in medical education and the approach of the WHO-
WFME strategic partnership towards quality improvement”. b) Leif Christensen: Towards
convergence and quality improvement in higher education in Europe: the Bologna Process
and other initiatives”. Plenary Session II: Panel discussion: Lectures: a) Hans Karle:
“Towards accreditation schemes of medical schools and programmes”; b) Janet Grant:
“WFME Global standards for quality improvement and their use”. Concurrent round-table
discussions: Lectures: a) Leif Christensen: “Basic medical education, its structure and
disciplines; b) Hans Karle: “Accreditation of schools and programmes: Comparison of
national requirements with the WHO/WFME guidelines.” Plenary Session IV: Panel
discussion: Galina Perfilieva, Hans Karle, Janet Grant, Leif Christensen: “Mutual
Recognition of professional qualifications in the EU/ Directive 2005/36/ЕС”.
 WHO-WFME Strategic Partnership Workshop for Russian-speaking Countries “Better
Medical Education for Better Health”: Developing Strategies in the European Region. Kiev,
Ukraine, 9 December 2005. Lecture: Galina Perfilieva, Leif Christensen: “Experiences from
national meetings following the St. Petersburg Workshop”. Lecture: Hans Karle: “Promotion
of Accreditation”.
 First International Annual Primary Health Care Conference: The Challenges in Primary
Health Care, Abu Dhabi, The United Arab Emirates, 21-23 January 2006. Lecture: Jørgen
Nystrup: WFME Global Standards in Medical Education for Quality Improvement – Of
Interest and Relevance for Primary Health Care?
 International Conference on Accreditation, Quality Assurance and Recognition of
Qualifications in Higher Education organised by UNESCO, Harare, Cluster Office, Nairobi,
Kenya, 6-8 February 2006. Lectures: a) Hans Karle: The World Federation for Medical
Education (WFME) Global Standards in Medical Education: Development and Use. b) Leif
Christensen: The WHO/WFME Guidelines for Accreditation of Basic Medical Education.

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 AIHA Regional Medical Education Partnership and CAR Council of Rectors, 22 February
-24 February 2006, Almaty, Kazakhstan. Lecture: Leif Christensen: Review of WFME
Reference Documents.
 WHO/WFME Workshop on ECTS and Allocation of ECTS Credits. I.M. Sechenov Moscow
Medical Academy, Moscow, Russia, 14 – 18 April 2006. Leif Christensen.
 XVII Panamerican Conference on Medical Education “Life Long Medical Education”,
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 19-22 April 2006. Lectures: Hans Karle: a)
International Accreditation. Role of WFME; b) Continuing Medical Education and
Professional Development in Primary Health Care. The View of WFME.
 Thematic Network MEDINE Annual Meeting, Prague, 5 May 2006. Lecture: Hans Karle:
“Developing European Standards in Medical Education based on the WFME Global
Standards. Report from Task Force III”.
 ZdravPlus Regional Medical Education Partnership and CAR Council of Rectors, Meeting
on Accreditation, 11 May – 12 May 2006, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Lecture: Leif Christensen:
“Overview of activities in standard setting and accreditation in the CAR countries”.
 Harvard Macy/Karolinska Institute Course, the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, 10
May 2006. Lecture. Hans Karle: “International Design Strategies for Medical Curricula
Across the Continuum. Reflections on Indicators for Measuring Curriculum/Institutional
Quality”.
 AMEWPR Workshop, Beijing, China, 15-16 May 2006. Lecture: Hans Karle: “Quality
Assurance in Medical Education: WFME Standards as a Tool in Accreditation”.
 The 12th International Ottawa Conference, New York City, USA, 21-24 May 2006. WFME
Symposium: Solving Globalisation Problems in Basic Medical Education – Current
Developments in the Use of the WFME Standards. Lectures: a) Leif Christensen: “Use of
standards in quality assurance – The WHO/WFME Guidelines for accreditation”. b) Hans
Karle: “Use of standards as a tool for accrediting the accreditors”. c) Peter McCrorie, Ciaran
O’Boyle, Graham Buckley, Fintan Foy, Allan Johnson, Jim McKillop, Sarah Penney, David
Rowley, Lesley Southgate, Cara Talbot and Hani Zakhour. Workshop: “Using the WFME
Global Standards in Basic Medical Education as a Basis for Quality Assurance and Quality
Improvement (QAQI) of a Medical School”.
 TSMU Workshop “Curriculum Development, Evaluation and WFME Standards”, June
2006, Tbilisi State Medical University. Organised by Janet Grant.
 WHO/WFME Strategic Partnership Inter-country Workshop: Promotion of Accreditation in
Basic Medical Education. Chisinau, Moldova, June 2006. Lectures: a) Leif Christensen:
Need for National Accreditation Systems in Europe: The WHO/WFME Guidelines for
Accreditation in Basic Medical Education. b) Hans Karle: WFME Project on Promotion of
Accreditation. c) Hans Karle: International Recognition: “Accrediting the Accreditors.
 Société internationale francophone d'éducation médicale (SIFEM), Beyrouth, Lebanon, 2-4
June 2006. Lecture: Christophe Segouin, Hans Karle, Brian Hodges and Pierre Henri
Bréchart: Impact sur la Formation Medicale en Europe de la Globalisation des Systemes de
Sante.
 ECFMG 50th Anniversary Invitational Conference, Philadelphia, USA, July 2006. Lecture:
Hans Karle: Global Standards and Accreditation: A View from the WFME.
 Network: Towards Unity for Health 2006 Conference, September 2006, Ghent, Belgium.
Didactic Session organised by Hans Karle, Leif Christensen and Jørgen Nystrup: “Standards
and Accreditation as a Reflection and Promotion of Social Accountability in Medical
Education”.

20
 AMEE Annual Meeting, Genoa, Italy, 15-18 September 2006. 1) Workshop on European
Standards in Medical Education organised by WFME on behalf of the Thematic Network
MEDINE: Lectures: a) Leif Christensen: “Preliminary Reflections of the EU Thematic
Network MEDINE Task Force on Quality Standards”, b) Hans Karle: “European Standards
– Relevance of an Intermediary between Global and National Standards”. 2) Lecture: Jørgen
Nystrup, Hans Karle and Leif Christensen: “Process – Outcome Interrelationship – Needs
for a Comprehensive Approach”.
 Regional Consultation of Medical Councils in the Countries of the South-East Asia Region,
Thimphu, Bhutan, 17-19 October 2006. Lecture: Nantana Sirisup, Chulalongkorn,
University: Improving Quality in Medical Education – Evolving Trends.
 IAMRA International Conference, Wellington, New Zealand, 11-14 November 2006.
Lecture: Hans Karle: "WHO/WFME Accreditation Guidelines".
 Georgian National Meeting and ECTS Training Course, organised by WHO/WFME
Strategic Partnership, Tbilisi State Medical University, Georgia, December 2006. Lectures:
Hans Karle: a) “European Trends in Medical Education and the Approach of WHO/WFME
Strategic Partnership Towards Quality Improvement, b) “Global Standards and
Accreditation: A View from the WHO/WFME Strategic Partnership”, Leif Christensen: a)
“Towards Convergence and Quality Improvement in Higher Education in Europe: The
Bologna Process and Other Initiatives, b) “Basic Medical Education, Its Structure and
Disciplines”, c) “ECTS Course”.
 Comité Permanent des Médicins Européens Conference: “CPD Improving Health Care”, 14
December 2006, Luxembourg: Lecture: Hans Karle: “Quality Improvement of CPD in the
European Region – the View of WFME”.
 Dr. Füsun Sayek Second Medical Education Meeting, organised by the Turkish Medical
Association, University of Ankara, Ankara, Turkey, March 2007. Lecture: Hans Karle:
“European Specifications to Global Standards in Medical Education”.
 MEDINE Annual Meeting, May 2007, Oslo, Norway. WFME-AMSE presentation of
Quality Assurance Task Force results: European Specifications to the WFME Global
Standards for Improvement of Medical Education.
 CAAM-HP/WFME Invitational Conference on Accreditation of Medical Education
Programmes in the Caribbean, Jamaica, May 2007. Lectures: a) Hans Karle: “Global
Perspectives on Accreditation”, b) Leif Christensen: “Value and Importance of
Accreditation”.
 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Pre-conference Symposium, May 2007, Lisbon,
Portugal. Hans Karle: Standards for Quality Assessment of Medical Education Programmes
- European Specifications to the WFME Global Standards for the Continuum of Medical
Education.
 WHO-WFME Strategic Partnership Workshop on Requirements to Clinical Training in
Medical Education, Moscow, Russia, May 2007. Lectures: Hans Karle: a) “Standards for
Clinical Training – the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) Global Standards
for Quality Improvement with European Specifications”, b) Leif Christensen: “Global
Trends in Improving Clinical Training”, c) Stefan Lindgren: “Extension of the Clinical
Training Settings for Medical Education”, d) Stefan Lindgren: “Skills Lab and Use of
Simulations”.
 Conference of the Association of Medical Universities and Colleges in China (AMUCC),
June 2007, Beijing, China. Hans Karle: Recent developments of the WFME Global
Standards Programme: Promotion of Accreditation - International Recognition of Medical
Schools - The Global Health Professions Education Institutions Database.

21
 AMSE Annual Conference, June 2007, Lisbon, Portugal, Hans Karle: Accreditation and
Quality Assurance of Health Teaching Institutions – Outcome of the
MEDINE/AMSE/WFME Task Force.
 18th WONCA World Conference. Workshop: Postgraduate Accreditation Standards: What
can we learn from each other?. Allyn Walsh, Erica Bell, Lee Kheng Hock and Hans Karle.
Singapore, July 2007.
 AMEE Annual Conference, August 2007, Trondheim, Norway. MEDINE/AMSE/WFME
Symposium: Accreditation of Medical Schools’ Programme in Europe. Chaired by Jørgen
Nystrup. Lectures: a) Maria Rosa Fenoll Brunnet and Hans Karle: Presentation of European
Specifications for the WFME Global Standards in Medical Education; b) Jadwiga Mirecka
and Leif Christensen: Quality Assurance Systems in Europe.
Ibero-American Session: Emerging Needs and Demands in Continuing Professional
Development. Lecture: Hans Karle and Jørgen Nystrup: Harmonisation Process in CPD – A
WFME Perspective.
 MEDINE Annual Meeting, Antalya, Turkey, September 2007. Maria Rosa Fenoll-Brunnet
and Hans Karle. Final Report from MEDINE Quality Assurance Task Force.
 ASME Golden Jubilee Conference. Global Medical Education: a special role for Europe?.
University College, Dublin, Ireland, October, 2007. Notes by the Chair: Hans Karle: WFME
Global Standards Programme – Essential Developments.
 4thAMEA2007 Conference on Quality Accreditation and Standards in Medical Education,
October 2007, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. a) Symposium 1: Quality
accreditation: The roles of international organisations. Lecture: Hans Karle: WFME Global
Standards Programme – Essential Developments. b) Panel discussion: Lecture: Hans Karle:
Quality Accreditation: Ethical Concerns.
 The Accreditation Board for Medical Education in Korea (ABMEK) Symposium on Global
Standards in Medical Education and the Korean Medical School Accreditation System,
Seoul National Medical University, 29 October, Seoul, Korea. Lecture: Hans Karle: Global
Standards in Medical Education and Promotion of Accreditation.
 Catholic University Medical School, 30 October 2007, Seoul, Korea. Lecture: Hans Karle:
Current Challenges for Medical Education Programmes – Curricular Trends and Needs for
Quality Assurance.
 5th Asia Pacific Medical Education Conference (APMEC), January 2008, Singapore.
Symposium on Harmonisation, Quality Assurance, Standardisation and Accreditation.
Lecture: Hans Karle: WFME Policy on International Recognition of Medical Schools’
Programmes.
 Project Globe Meeting, Glen Cove, NY City, February 2008. Lecture: Jørgen Nystrup: New
developments with CPD standards.
 13th Ottawa Conference, March 2008, Melbourne, Australia. Symposium organised jointly
with FAIMER: International Recognition and Accreditation of Medical Schools’
Programmes. Hans Karle: Lecture: WFME Policy on International Recognition.
 Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes (UEMS) 50th Anniversary Conference, April
2008, Brussels, Belgium. Hans Karle: Lecture: Current standards for the best possible
postgraduate training of specialists – do we need reform?
 First Saudi International Medical Education Conference (SIMEC), April 2008, Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia. Hans Karle: Lecture: Global Medical Education: International Recognition
and Accreditation of Schools and Programmes. Hans Karle and Ian Allen: Workshop on
accreditation in medical education.

22
 5th Turkish National Medical Education Congress, May 2008, Izmir, Turkey. Lecture: Hans
Karle: National and International Recognition/Accreditation of Medical Schools’
Programmes.
 The Mexican Association of Faculties and Medical Schools (AMFEM) International
Congress, June 2008, Ixtapa, Mexico. Lecture: Hans Karle: a) Future of the Medical
Education Regulation: Aims, Obstacles and expected Results; b) Medical Curriculum
Regulation: Whose responsibility and why?
 AMSE Annual Conference, June 2008, Barcelona, Spain. Lecture: Leif Christensen: Survey
of Accreditation and Quality Improvement Methods for Medical Education Programmes in
the European Union.
 WHO Meeting in Tirana, Albania, June 2008. Lecture: Leif Christensen: WHO/WFME
Strategic Partnership to Improve Medical Education: Activities in the European Region and
the Avicenna Directories.
 IFMSA Bologna Process Follow-up Workshop, Charité, Berlin, July 2008. Lectures: Hans
Karle: a) International Recognition of Medical Schools’ Programmes: Expected Impact of
the Avicenna Directories on Student Mobility; b) Andreas Rudkjøbing: The Avicenna
Directories and Student Mobility.
 40th Congress of Japan Society for Medical Education (JSME), July 2008, Tokyo, Japan.
Lecture: Hans Karle: Issues and Perspectives in Medical Education – Reflecting the Current
40 Years. WFME Global Standards Programme.
 AMEWPR Board Meeting, July 2008, Japan. Lectures: Hans Karle: a) WFME Activities –
Past and Future Directions. The Role of the Regional Associations for Medical Education; b)
The Avicenna Directory of Medical Schools. A Tool in International Recognition.
 WHO/WFME National Meeting, November 2008, Minsk, Belarus. Lectures: Hans Karle: a)
Global Standards and Accreditation: A View from WHO/WFME Strategic Partnership; b)
European Trends in Medical Education and the Approach of the WHO/WFME Strategic
Partnership Towards Quality Improvement. Leif Christensen: c) Towards Convergence and
Quality Improvement in Higher Education in Europe: The Bologna Process and other
Initiatives; d) Curriculum Planning: Basic Medical Education, its Structure and Disciplines.
 WFME-Iran Joint International Congress on Implementation of WFME Standards in
Undergraduate Medical Education, Kish Island, Iran, November 2008. Lectures: Stefan
Lindgren a) Reforms and Initiatives in Quality Improvement of Medical Education; b)
Undergraduate Medical Education in Scandinavia. Leif Christensen a) Accreditation of
Basic Medical Education: A WFME Perspective; b) Trends in Clinical Training.
 Second Meeting of the Regional Network of Medical Councils SEAR Countries, November
2008, Chiang Mai, Thailand. Lecture: Khunying Kobchitt Limpaphayom and Hans Karle:
Guideline Proposition in the context of WHO/WFME guidelines.
 Orpheus 2009 European Conference, April 2009, Århus, Denmark. Lectures: a) Stefan
Lindgren: Global Standards for Quality Improvement in Medical Education; b) Hans Karle:
Setting Standards for Medical Education.
 Policy Dialogue on Human Resources for Health in Serbia organised by WHO/EURO, the
Serbian Ministry of Health and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies,
April 2009, Belgrade, Serbia. Lecture: Hans Karle: Perspectives of European Medical
Education within the Framework of the WHO/WFME Partnership to Improve Quality.
 Workshop on Accreditation of Medical Education organised by accreditation authorities in
China, Beijing, 15 and 16 May 2009. Lectures: a) Michael Field: Basic Medical Education
WFME Standards for Quality Improvement; b) Theanne Walters: The Avicenna Directory

23
 for Medicine; c) Theanne Walters: Overview of WFME/WHO Guidelines for Accreditation
of Basic Medical Education.
 AMSE Conference, Zagreb, Croatia, June 2009. Lecture: Jørgen Nystrup: WFME Global
Standards for Quality Development in Postgraduate Medical Education.
 WHO/WFME Strategic Partnership Training Workshop on Accreditation of Basic Medical
Education & Role of Assessors, Karaganda, Kazakhstan, 9-10 June 2009. Lectures: Leif
Christensen a) Introduction: Role of Standards; b) Standards/Criteria & their Use in
Evaluation, Accreditation etc.; c) Self-evaluation. The Basis for External Evaluation, Quality
Improvement & Accreditation; d) Planning & Carrying Out External Evaluation & Site-
Visit; e) Recommendations Regarding Quality Improvement & Accreditation. Jørgen
Nystrup a) The WFME Global Standards; b) Accreditation of Basic Medical Education &
Role of Experts; c) Role of Assessors; d) International Design Strategies for Medical
Curricula Across the Continuum. Reflections on Indicators for Measuring
Curriculum/Institutional Quality.
 AMEE Annual Conference, Malaga, August-September 2009. Global Imperatives in Medical
Education – a Festschrift for Hans Karle. Lecture: Janet Grant, UK: Formulating global
standards in medical education. Panel discussion: Applying WFME Global Standards: an
overview and case studies. Chairs: Leif Christensen and Jørgen Nystrup. Panel members:
Sekelani Banda, Zambia, Cheng Boji, China, Thomas Chacko, India, Anne Keane, Ireland,
Pablo Pulido, Venezuela. Lectures: James Hallock, ECFMG, USA: International recognition
of medical education. Laurie Geffen, Australia: Global standards in prospect and retrospect.
David Prideaux, Australia: Globalism and localism in medical education: equality or
equivalence. Galina Perfilieva, WHO EURO: Strategic partnership to improve medical
education in a wider context. David Gordon, AMSE, Copenhagen: The role of the Avicenna
Directories. Robbert Duvivier, IFMSA, the Netherlands: Students' expectations of medical
education. Stefan Lindgren: In praise of Hans Karle. Hans Karle: Reflections.
 Theme-day on Quality, Copenhagen Graduate, Schools of Health Sciences, Copenhagen,
Denmark, September 2009. Lecture: Hans Karle: Means of Improving Quality in Ph.D.
Education. What can we learn from the WFME Global Standards?
 HRK German Rectors’ Conference. Symposium: Transferring Knowledge: Innovating
Medical Education. Berlin, Germany, October 2009. Lecture: Hans Karle:
Internationalisation of Medical Education - A Challenge to Quality Assurance.
 WHO/WFME Meeting, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, October 2009. Lectures: Leif Christensen:
Accreditation of Basic Medical Education. A WFME Perspective; Jørgen Nystrup: WFME
Global Standards for Quality Development in BME, PME and CPD.
 Medical Education. The Third International Conference in the Sudan & the 6th Scientific
Meeting of the Scientific Society for Arab Faculties of Medicine, Khartoum, Sudan,
October/November 2009. Pre-Conference Workshop: Leif Christensen & Jørgen Nystrup.
Accreditation system Training Workshop for Assessors. Lectures: David Gordon. The
Avicenna Directories: Where and how the World’s Professions in Health Care are educated
A New Tool in Quality Assurance of Medical Education. Jørgen Nystrup: Pfizer Project to
ensure Quality in Medical Education. Leif Christensen: Trends in Clinical Training.
 WFME Training Workshop on Accreditation for Kazakhstan, Hillerød, Denmark 9 -27
November 2009. Course directors: Leif Christensen & Jørgen Nystrup. Lectures: Leif
Christensen: a) Introduction; b) Accreditation – Definitions and Elements; c) Planning a
Self-Evaluation; d) External Evaluations, etc.. Jørgen Nystrup: a) The Danish Health Care
System & the Danish Quality Assurance Model; b) Specification of Standards and
Determination of the Need for Data to Assess Fulfilment; c) Appointment of Review or Site-

24
 Visit Teams etc.. Hans Karle: a) The Role of Standards in Evaluation and Accreditation; b)
Principles of Standard Setting; c) The Avicenna Directories. David Gordon: a) On
Standards, Data Collection and Analysis; b) The Self-evaluation Report its Structure and
Content –UK experience. Jørgen Hedemark: Planning the Site-Visit, Assessment of Clinical
Training. Hans Sjöström: Preliminary Feed Back to Medical School, the Final Report, its
Structure and Content – Experience from Participation in Site-Visits in Ireland. Stefan
Lindgren: Assessing Quality.
 WFME-NAQAAE (National Authority for Quality Assurance and Accreditation of
Education) Accreditation Workshop, Cairo, Egypt, 7-9 December 2009. Lectures: Jørgen
Nystrup a) Presentation of WFME and its Standard Programme; b) External Evaluation; c)
Role of Assessor. Leif Christensen a) Introduction to the WFME Global Standards and their
Use; b) Self-Evaluation; c) Accreditation. Jørgen Nystrup & Leif Christensen The WFME
Global Standards for Quality Improvement in Basic Medical Education. Categorization,
Formulations, Subcategories and Interpretations. Educational Perspectives. Hans Karle a)
The Role of Standards in Evaluation and Accreditation of Medical Schools – History,
Philosophy, Concept and Intentions behind the WFME Global Standards Programme; b) The
Avicenna Directory for Medicine.
 Joint Meeting of the Scandinavian and German Physiological Societies, Copenhagen,
Denmark, March 2010. Lecture: Hans Karle: International Recognition of Basic Medical
Education Programmes.
 Workshop programme at COMHS, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman, May 2010.
Lectures: Jørgen Nystrup: a) Overview of the WFME; b) The WFME Standards – Areas &
sub-areas, types of standards & level of attainment; c) Accreditation – Quality Control or
Quality Improvement (The relations between external experts and local staff);
d) Organising and performing external evaluations including site-visits – experience from
the Middle East; e) Planning the process from self-evaluation to a SWOT-analysis and plan
for corrective actions and to the external evaluation; f) Summary of standards; g) Site visit
details. Lectures: Leif Christensen: a) Role of Standards; b) Accreditation Procedure – the
WHO/WFME Guidelines for Accreditation; c) Assistance in designing and carrying out self-
evaluations – experience from Eastern Europe; d) Organising the work – resources and
responsibilities; e) Benefits of accreditation procedure for formal submission for
accreditation and the “Site Visit” details; f) Procedure for formal submission for
accreditation.
 2nd Annual Symposium on Quality Assurance in Medical Education, King Fahad Medical
City, Faculty of Medicine, Center for Quality of Medical Education, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,
May 2010. Lectures: David Gordon: a) Consistency and regulation of standards in
undergraduate and postgraduate medical education; b) Institutional Self-assessment: How to
Develop the Process. Lecture: Willam Burdick: The WFME Standards: How to apply the
WFME Standards.
 AMSE Conference 2010, Berlin, Germany, June 2010. Lecture: Stefan Lindgren:
Internationalisation – possibilities and challenges for health care and education.
 Harvard Macy Institute, Boston, USA, June 2010. Lecture: Stefan Lindgren: Accreditation –
An International Perspective.
 AMEE Annual 2010, Glasgow, UK, September 2010. Lecture: Stefan Lindgren: The Role of
WFME in International Accreditation, VII Ibero-American Session.
 Fremtidens läkara Congress, September 2010, Malmö, Sweden. Lecture: Stefan Lindgren:
International Careers in Medicine. Lecture: David Gordon: The Future Role of the Doctor in
Health Care.

25
 ORPHEUS, AMSE and WFME Joint Task Force Meeting on Standards for Ph.D. degree in
Bio-medicine and Health Sciences in Europe. Zagreb, Croatia, October 2010. Lectures:
Hans Karle: Improving Quality in Ph.D. Education.

 THE 1ST EMRO (WHO)/WFME International Conference on Health Profession Education

and Accreditation and the 7TH Meeting of the Scientific Society for Arab Faculties of
Medicine at the University of Science and Technology, Sana’a, Yemen, 27-30 November
2010. Lectures: Stefan Lindgren: a) The Process of International Accreditation.
8th
 Asia Pacific Medical Education Conference (APMEC), National University of Singapore,
Singapore, 26-30 January 2011. Jørgen Nystrup and Leif Christensen: Poster: The WFME –
Pfizer Project to ensure Quality in Medical Education.
 Presidential Symposium. The 43rd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Medical
Education (JSME), July 2011, Hiroshima, Japan. Lectures: Stefan Lindgren: a) The Global
Standards of Medical Education and The Doctor’s Role; b) Objectives of the Global
Standards and the Doctor’s Role; c) Current and Future Perspectives of Two International
Standards; d) The Avicenna Directories.
 Study Visit to CLUCIME from Azerbaijan and Belarus, Copenhagen-Malmö, May-June
2011. Lectures: a) Hans Karle: The role of standards in accreditation of medical schools; b)
Hans Karle and David Gordon: International directories of medical schools, the Avicenna
Directory and recent developments; c) David Gordon: Workshop on self-assessment: how to
develop the process?; d) Stefan Lindgren: On assessment of competence and training of
clinical schools.
 The Global Alliance for Medical Education (GAME) Annual Meeting, Münich, Germany,
June 2011. The Hippocrates Award 2011: Lecture: Hans Karle: Perspectives on Global
CME.
 OECD 50th Anniversary, Paris, France, June 2011. Lecture: David Gordon: Health Reform
and Human Resource Policies.
 Framtidens läkarutbildning. Svenska Läkaresällskapet, Stockholm, Sweden, August 2011.
Lecture: Stefan Lindgren: The global role of the doctor in health care.
 AMEE Annual Conference, Vienna, Austria, August 2011. Lecture: Stefan Lindgren: a) The
role of WFME in international accreditation. International accreditation of medical schools;
b) Accreditation, a vision of the WFME IX Ibero-American Session.
 WHO Network Experts Meeting on Medical Education: International Conference on
Medical Education organized by Turkmen State Medical University, Ashgabat,
Turkmenistan, September 2011. Lectures: Stefan Lindgren: a) Current developments in
medical education. A global perspective; b) Accreditation – A vision of the WFME. David
Gordon: c) European trends and perspectives in medical education; d) Directories for
Turkmenistan; e) PhD standards in Biomedicine.
 Sudan Medical Council. Building Capacity for Accreditation Development and
Sustainability. WHO/WFME Workshop, Khartoum, Sudan, September 2011. Lectures: Leif
Christensen: a) Why Accreditation of Basic Medical Education. The WFME Perspective; b)
Accreditation of Basic Medical Education. The WHO/WFME Guidelines; c) Orientation:
The WFME/FAIMER Pilotproject “Accrediting the Accreditors”; d) Social
Responsibility/Accountability (Social Responsibility/Accountability of a Medical School
and its Programme 1); e) The WFME Standards and Their Use. Introduction; f) Orientation:
Updating the WFME Global Standards for Basic Medical Education; g) Self-Evaluation; h)
Reading the Self-Evaluation Report. Self-Evaluation. The Basis for Quality Improvement,
External Evaluation & Accreditation; i) Planning & Carrying Out External Evaluation &

26
 Site Visit; j) Recommendations Regarding Quality Improvement & Accreditation: A. Group
Discussion: Improving the Standards; B. Group Discussion: Improving Selection and
Training of Assessors; C. Group Discussion: Improving Structure of the Accreditation
System; D. Group Discussion: Improving Management of the Accreditation System.

Translations

A number of individual experts and organisations assisted in translating the WFME Global
Standards:

 Arabic: BME Standards, 2002, by Dr. Akbar Mohsin and AMEEMR. A complete translation
of the Trilogy under preparation by EMRO.
 Cambodian: BME Standards, 2002, by AMEWPR + WHOWPRO.
 Catalan: BME Standards, Estàndards Globals de la WFME per a la millora de la qualitat,
2003, published by l’edició catalana and supported by Institut d’Estudis de la Salut and
Agència per a la Qualitat del Sistema Universitari de Catalunya.
 Farsi (Persian): BME Standards, 2003, by Dr. Fatemeh Javidan and Ms. Fahimeh
Rabbanikhah, Supervision, Evaluation and Expansion of Medical Universities, Health
Ministry, Iran and supervised by Dr. Bahram Einollahi, Secretary of Supervision, Evaluation
and Expansion of Medical Universities, Council of Ministry of Health and Medical
Education of Iran. PME Standards, 2004, by Mrs. Azam Bagheri, Dr. Alireza Ebadi, Dr.
Esmaeel Fakharian, Mr. Mohamad Ghanaee, Dr. Elaheh Malakan Rad, Dr. Mansoureh
Momen-Heravi, Dr. Rezvan Moniri, Dr. Laila Parvaresh, Dr. Zarichehr Vakili and Mrs.
Maryam Saboori, Kashan University of Medical Faculties.
 French: BME Standards, 2002, by AMEWPR, WHOWPRO and WHOAFRO 2002. PME:
Under preparation.
 German: BME Standards, 2003, by Professor, Dr.med. Florian Eitel, Sybille Schikora and
Nikos Apostolopoulos, Munich University.
 Indonesian: BME Standards, under preparation by SEARO.
 Japanese: BME Standards, 2002, made by AMEWPR + WHOWPRO.
 Korean: BME Standards, 2002, made by AMEWPR + WHOWPRO.
 Laotian: BME Standards, 2002, by AMEWPR + WHOWPRO.
 Mandarin: BME Standards, 2002, by AMEWPR + WHOWPRO.
 Mongolian: BME Standards, 2002, by AMEWPR + WHOWPRO.
 Portuguese: BME Standards, 2004, by Madalena Patricio, Faculty of Medicine, University
of Lisbon. PME Standards by Madalena Patricio, 2005. CPD Standards by Madalena
Patricio 2006.
Boletim of Sociedade Portuguesa de Educação Médica. a. Educação Médica Pré-graduada
Standards Globais da WFME, b. Educação Médica Pós-graduada Standards Globais da
WFME, c. Desenvolvimento Profissional Contínuo (DPC) dos Médicos Standards Globais
da WFME. Vol. 15, no. 1-3, 2005.
 Polish: BME Standards, 2003, by Jadwiga Mirecka and Krzysztof Lipinski, Department of
Medical Education, Medical College of Jagiellonian University, Poland.
 Russian: BME Standards, 2003, by WHO EURO; PME Standards, 2003, by WHO EURO.
CPD Standards, 2003, by WHO EURO. The Trilogy was also translated by the Moscow
Medical Academy (Proceedings of I. M. Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy 2005).

27
  Spanish: BME Standards, (1 version). WFME Task Force para la definición de Estándares
Internacionales para la Educación Médica de Pregrado, Educacion Medica, 2000, 3, No. 4,
158-169.
 Spanish: BME (2 version), PME and CPD Standards. Estándares globales de la WFME para
la mejora de la calidad, Educacion Medica, Volumen 7, Suplemento 2, Julio-Septiembre
2004.
 Thai: BME Standards by Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand with support from
from SEARO, 2007.
 Turkish: BME Standards, by the Turkish Association of Medical Students and IFMSA.
 Ukrainian: BME Standards, 2005 by the Ukrainian Ministry of Health.
 Vietnamese: BME Standards, 2002 by AMEWPR + WHOWPRO.

The translations can be found on the WFME website. WFME emphasises that it cannot be
responsible for the exact wording of the translations. WFME is relying on the individuals who have
kindly assisted the World Federation. Any translation should always be compared with the original
English version.

Establishment of WFME Advisor Function

Parallel to the development of the WFME global standards, staff members of the WFME office and
colleagues from the WFME network already began attending as advisors to some medical schools.

During the process of developing the WFME Standards, members of the International Task Forces
observed that there would be a need for the provision of a counselling function to assist
institutions in using the Standards in their own reform processes. This was also one of the
conclusions from conducting pilot studies and from the post-conference seminar held
immediately after the WFME World Conference in 2003 to provide recommendations
regarding further implementation of the Standards Programme.

An International Task Force was appointed in 2004 and a WFME Task Force Seminar on WFME
Advisors – Role, Selection and Training, took place in Barcelona, Spain, April 2004. The Report
from the Seminar was available in August 2004.

Based on recommendations from the Seminar, a Manual for WFME Advisors was published in
2005. Following this, the WFME Office developed a list of potential advisors, which has been
updated and expanded regularly.

WFME Advisors have been used in Angola, Armenia, Botswana, China, Egypt, Fiji Islands, Ghana,
India, Iran, Ireland, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Papua Guinea, Russia, Spain, Sudan,
Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Venezuela. New applications have been received from the
Caribbean Region, Indonesia, Kenya and Saudi Arabia.

In February 2008, an Advisor course was arranged within the framework of CLUCIME for teachers
at the two universities and new experts have been added.

In 2006, The Open University Centre for Education in Medicine (UK) and WFME/CLUCIME
decided to set up a system for distance learning programmes in medical education methodology and

28
management. The project was designed early 2007 and has been discussed with Foundation for
Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER). Funding has been
achieved for a pilot study to be conducted in 2008. A planning meeting to develop material took
place in OUCEM in April 2008. A small working group with representatives from OUCEM,
FAIMER, ECFMG, WFME supplemented by a few experts from UK and India developed two
models of distance learning material, one for standards for medical education and another for
organising a self-evaluation process, both based on the WFME Global Standards.
In 2008, the WFME/CLUICME/OUCEM project received financial support and in April and June
2009, new models will be developed, including one for site visit and one for setting up accreditation
systems.
In June 2009, a WHO/WFME training course for assessors was held in Karaganda in Kazakhstan.
This was followed up by a WHO/WFME workshop in Hillerød, Denmark, November 2009,
supported by the World Bank, about the WFME Global Standards Programme, the Role of
Assessors and Accreditation.

Promotion and Use of the WFME Standards at the Global, Regional,

National and Institutional Level

The impact of the WFME Global Standards is currently followed by registration of information
about use of the Standards in institutional self-evaluation, peer reviews and programme
development as well as incorporation in national/regional standards and accreditation systems.

Institutional Self-evaluation/Peer review/Programme development

The number of medical schools, which has used the BME Standards for institutional self-
evaluation, peer review, programme development or otherwise is registered country-wise in Annex
1.

Based on the information accumulated, more than 500 medical schools around the world have been
using the Standards.

Incorporation in National/Regional Standards and Accreditation Systems

According to the information accumulated, more than 80 countries around the world have been
using the WFME Global BME Standards either directly or as a template for national standards for
recognition of medical schools or have found their standards consistent with the WFME Standards
(Annex 1).

The WFME PME Standards are used as basis for programme development or accreditation in some
countries, e.g. Australia, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland and the
UK.

The current situation regarding use of the WFME Standards is described region-wise in the
following:

29
 Global organisations:

CIDMEF

BME In 2005, the organisation CIDMEF (Conférence Internationale des Doyens et Facultés de Médecine
d´Expression Francaise), which includes 128 medical schools in 40 countries, adopted basic
CIDMEF standards based on the WFME Standards. “CIDMEF recognition” is given to medical
schools fulfilling these standards and the evaluation procedure and the standards are available on
http://www.cidmef.u-bordeaux2.fr (information October 2010 from Professor Tewfik Nawar,
Faculté de Médecine, Université de Sherbrooke, President of CIDMEF).

Africa (Sub-Saharan):

Angola
BME A WFME Advisor visited the medical school in Angola, May 2005. The school has in 2006
finalised a self-evaluation study based on the WFME BME Standards, and plans to continue with
external review.

PME At the same time, the school intends to work with the WFME Standards in Postgraduate Medical
CPD Education and CPD.

Congo
BME WFME BME Standards are influencing curriculum development in the country.

Kenya
PME The Aga Khan University in East Africa is using the WFME PME Standards in development of
postgraduate medical education programmes.

Malawi
BME The medical school of Malawi has performed self-evaluation and been benchmarked (external
evaluation) according to the WFME BME Standards.

Mozambique
BME WFME BME Standards are influencing curriculum development in the country.

Nigeria
BME WFME BME Standards are influencing curriculum development in the country.

South Africa
BME WFME Standards in Basic Medical Education are influencing curriculum development and were
adopted by the Medical and Dental Professions Board of South Africa for the accreditation process
in South Africa.

30
 Sub-Saharan Africa
In 2001, WHO/AFRO and AMSA decided in principle to prepare an implementation process, which
should evaluate all sub-Saharan African Medical Schools within the next 3 years.

The plan has been delayed. The first study took place in 2005 at the University of Malawi including
also the school for dentistry and the school for nursing.

The plan was also discussed at a meeting for all deans in Sub-Saharan Africa in Brazzaville, July
2005. Plans for new site visits are ongoing.

Uganda
BME WFME Standards are influencing curriculum development in the country.

Zambia
BME The only medical school in the country uses the WFME Standards in BME in a reform process. The
school made a self-evaluation process in 2004. A new self-evaluation process in 2009, showed a
remarkable development in fulfilment of the WFME Standards.

Americas:

According to information from PAFAMS, the majority of the 581 medical schools recognised by
PAFAMS, are using the WFME Global Standards in programme development.

Argentina
BME See MERCUSOR Countries and Latin America (Granada Declaration).

Aruba
BME WFME BME Standards are influencing curriculum development.

Bolivia
BME According to ABOLFAM national standards for accreditation are being developed within the
MERCUSOR collaboration (See MERCUSOR Countries and also Latin America (Granada
Declaration)).

Brazil
BME According to ABEM national standards for accreditation are consistent with the WFME standards.
See also MERCUSOR Countries and Latin America (Granada Declaration).

Canada
BME See USA (LCME).

PME Regarding Postgraduate Medical Education, The College of Family Physicians of Canada intends to
use the WFME PME Standards as a basis for Programme Development in family medicine/general
practice. An initiative to develop global standards for this discipline has been taken in collaboration
with the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA). At the WONCA World Conference
2007, data were presented showing strength and problem areas of the Canadian postgraduate
training systems compared to the WFME Standards for family medicine.

31
 Caribbean Region
BME In July 2006, formal collaboration was established by WFME with the Caribbean Accreditation
Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM/HP). In May 2007, a
joint conference on accreditation was held in Jamaica. WFME has also participated in site visit of a
medical school at Dominica. In November 2009, a ECFMG/FAIMER/WFME project was designed
on accreditation systems, initially with focus on the accreditation activities of CAAM-HP, and in
March 2011, WFME experts evaluated a CAAM accreditation process conducted in Grenada and
New York City.

Chile
BME See MERCUSOR Countries and Latin America (Granada Declaration). According to
ASOFAMECH, national standards are consistent with the WFME standards. About 1/3 of 24
schools (11 members of ASOFAMECH) have been accredited.
Colombia
BME According to information from ASCOFAME, WFME standards are consistent with national
standards used by the National Council for Accreditation. Standards were developed already in
1996, but have been adjusted. Approx. 50% of 53 medical schools have been accredited. The new
school at the Universidad de los Andes in Santa Fe de Bogota has used the WFME standards as
basis for curriculum development.

Dominican Republic
BME According to ADOFEM, there are still no national accreditation standards used in the republic, but
at least 1 of 9 medical schools have used the WFME standards in curriculum development. They
plan to follow the model for development used by Ecuador.

Ecuador
BME In Ecuador, a national convention of 16 of 19 medical schools in July 2004 decided upon an
Academic Act (ACTA ACADEMICA DE QUITO, 23 July 2004), which implies an Auto-evaluation
process to be conducted by the Association of Ecuadorian Medical Faculties (AFEME) using the
WFME BME Standards as the national standard for basic medical education. According to
information from AFEME most schools have so far conducted self-evaluation.

PME In 2005, a new postgraduate medical education project was planned focussing on how to implement
an evaluation programme. This project uses the WFME Global Standards in Postgraduate Medical
Education as a basis.

CPD The WFME Standards are used by an association designing the “professional development and
research institute” (Colegio Medico de Pichincha).

Guatemala
BME The WFME Global Standards in Basic Medical Education have been introduced by a WFME
advisor to the Medical School of Guatemala.

Haiti
BME WFME BME Standards are influencing curriculum development.

Latin America
See Granada Declaration (Spain).

32
 MERCUSOR Countries
BME The present members of the MERCUSOR Trade Agreement (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and
Uruguay) and associated countries (Bolivia, Chile and expectedly Venezuela) intend to develop a
common accreditation system. The standards to be used will to a high degree (app. 95%) be
consistent with the WFME BME Standards.

Mexico
BME According to AMFEM, the national council for accreditation has adopted the WFME standards.
Approx. 50 of 70 medical schools have been accredited according to these standards and 5 medical
schools did not achieve accreditation.

Paraguay
BME See MERCUSOR Countries.

Peru
BME According to ASPEFEM, the committee for accreditation of faculties of medicine (CAFME) uses
standards, which have adopted the principles of the WFME standards. All 28 medical faculties have
been accredited.

Saint Kitts & Nevis

BME WFME BME Standards have been used in self-evaluation study.

Uruguay
BME See MERCUSOR Countries.

USA
BME The principles of the WFME Standards were in 2001 incorporated in a new version of the LCME
Standards for the US and Canada. It has been proposed that the LCME Accreditation Standards
explicitly should be consistent with the WFME Standards.

In 2004, a comparative study conducted by LCME showed that the LCME standards are consistent
with the WFME standards. Major differences were that LCME Standards are more detailed,
whereas the WFME Standards show higher emphasis on social accountability of medical schools.

In a press release of 21 September 2010, the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical
Graduates (ECFMG) has determined that, effective in 2023, physicians applying
for ECFMG Certification will be required to graduate from a medical school that
has been appropriately accredited. To satisfy this requirement, an applicant’s
medical school must be accredited through a formal process that uses criteria
comparable to those established for U.S. medical schools by the Liaison Committee
on Medical Education (LCME) or that uses other globally accepted criteria, such as
those put forth by the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME).

Venezuela
BME In Venezuela, a proposal for national standards for medical schools has been developed based on the
WFME BME Standards. Negotiations are taking place with Venezuelan Council of Higher
Education to establish an accreditation system.

33
 See also MERCUSOR countries and Latin America (Granada Declaration).

Eastern Mediterranean:

Eastern Mediterranean region:

BME According to information from EMRO, the region adapted regional standards based on the WFME
Global Standards in 2002. Since then, WHO-EMRO has worked for establishment of national
accreditation systems in the region and so far launched projects in Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, the Gulf
Region, Tunisia, and Morocco.

Bahrain
BME See GCC countries.

Egypt
BME In Egypt, two processes regarding accreditation of medical schools have taken place. Following the
WFME World Conference, the Cairo University Kasr El Ainy School of Medicine conducted a self-
evaluation process based on the WFME BME Standards. This was followed up in December 2004
by a WFME site visit. According to new information in 2008 from the Dean, a number of
significant changes have been made based on recommendations in the WFME report.

The process of self-evaluation, which has now spread to most medical schools in Egypt, has been
linked to a new National Quality Assurance and Accreditation Council (NQAAC) under the
Ministry of Education for all types of higher education in Egypt. The national accreditation process
in Egypt has been confirmed by a new law. Plans for definition of national standards on medical
education, using the WFME Standards as a benchmark, are in progress. Such standards will be
discussed with all medical schools and finalised in 2005. A new WFME site visit (Alexandria
University Medical School) was conducted in 2007. All medical schools are expected to have
conducted self-evaluation before the end of 2008 and formal accreditation will start in 2011.

Another initiative has been taken by WHO/EMRO according to a Regional Resolution on

Establishment on Accreditation Systems for Health Professions Education of 2003. The process is
called AEMS (Accreditation of Egyptian Medical Schools). According to information from
WHO/EMRO, medical schools in Egypt use the WFME BME Standards.

In 2010, a Memorandum of Understanding between the World Federation for Medical Education
(WFME/AMEEMR) and the National Authority for Quality Assurance and Accreditation in
Education (NAQAAE) was signed by the two organisations as a basis for future collaboration.

PME Self-studies based on the WFME PME Standards have been conducted at Cairo University and
Alexandria University.

CPD The Egyptian Syndicate is interested in using the WFME CPD Standards as a benchmark.

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries

BME Recommendations and Guidelines on Minimum Standards for Establishing and Accrediting Medical
Schools in the Arabian Gulf Countries, incorporating the WFME Standards, were developed and
approved by the GCC Medical Colleges Deans’ Committee on Standards and Accreditation in April

34
 2001 and sent to Universities and Ministries of Health in the region. A Guide to the preparation of
an Accreditation Submission for Medical Colleges in the Arabian Gulf States (GCC
Recommendations and Guidelines on Minimum Standards for establishing and accrediting medical
schools in the Arabian Gulf Countries) was developed in April 2001 and endorsed by 14
medical colleges.

The regional specifications to the WFME Global Standards have been piloted in the College of
Medicine and Medical Sciences, Arabian Gulf University, Bahrain and the College of Medicine,
Kuwait.

Iran
BME Declaration of the first International Conference on Reform and Change Management in Medical
Education, Teheran, Iran, 30 November – 2 December 2003 concluded that the set of standards
proposed by WFME is an appropriate framework to establish national standards. Provisional
proposal for national Iranian standards is under production by the Shaheed Beheshti University of
Medical Sciences and Health Services, Tehran.

Iranian National Standards for Basic Medical Education (INBMES) following the WFME
Standards were developed 2003-2006 and legitimised by the Iranian High Council of Medical
Education, March, 2006. The standards use 7 areas, which, however, include all WFME 9 areas.

WFME is supporting the project “Developing and Implementation of National WFME-based Basic
Standards on Curriculum and Assessment in Iranian Medical Schools: A Joint Project”. The project
was presented at a conference organised jointly by the Ministry and WFME in Iran, November
2008. WFME presented several papers. The conference included representation from nearly all 48
medical schools in Iran. It was confirmed that Iranian National Standards based on the WFME
Standards (see above) have been legitimised and are now used after request from the Ministry for
Health and Medical Education by all Iranian Medical Schools.

Iraq
BME The WFME BME Standards are used as basis for national standards (information 2008 WHO
EMRO).

Jordan
BME The WFME Standard Document in BME was used as basis for a new programme for accreditation
of medical schools in Jordan (2002).

In January 2008, the Jordanian Corporation for Accreditation of Higher Education decided to use
the WFME Standards in the Arabic translation with slight Jordanian adjustments as basis for
accreditation of medical schools.

Kuwait
BME See GCC.

Libya
BME The WFME BME Standards are used as basis for national standards (information 2008 WHO
EMRO).

35
 Morocco
BME The WFME BME Standards are used as basis for national standards (information 2008 WHO
EMRO).

Oman
BME See GCC.

Qatar
BME See GCC.

Saudi Arabia
BME See GCC.

Some medical schools have conducted self-evaluation using national standards adopted by a new
national council for accreditation (NCAAA); these standards are consistent with WFME BME
Standards. Some medical schools also use the WFME Standards directly. Following a self-
evaluation by King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, College of Medicine, a
WFME site visit was conducted in April 2009.

Sudan
BME WHO/EMRO has stimulated introduction of an accreditation system based on the WFME Standards
in BME. The newly established Accreditation Committee for Accreditation of Medical Schools,
formed jointly by the Accreditation Committee for Higher Education in Sudan and the Sudan
Medical Council, has adopted the WFME Standards in BME as basis for accreditation of the
existing 26 medical schools. A data collection form, which follows the WFME Standards with some
additional guidelines, especially as a supplement to annotations, has been sent to all medical
schools. According to information from the evaluation and accreditation corporation under the
Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific, the process is proceeding satisfactorily. In 2008, all
medical schools will have conducted self-evaluation.

Syria
BME The WFME BME Standards are used as basis for national standards (information 2008 WHO
EMRO and AMEEMR).

United Arab Emirates

BME See GCC countries.

Some medical schools use WFME BME Standards for reform processes.

PME In the United Arab Emirates, the General Authority for Health Services (GAHS) has convened a
Council on postgraduate medical education using the WFME Global Standards for PME as a basis.

Yemen
BME WHO/EMRO has worked with an accreditation system based on WFME Standards in BME.
Initiatives to conduct self-evaluation studies have been taken. According to WHO/EMRO, medical
schools are using the WFME BME Standards.

36
 Europe:

European region
BME A Quality Assurance Task Force conducted by WFME and AMSE under the Thematic Network on
PME Medical Education in Europe MEDINE, in 2007, published European Specifications for the WFME
CPD Standards for Quality Improvement in Medical Education.

Albania
BME Requests have been made for a package from the WHO/WFME partnership on accreditation of
medical schools.

Armenia
BME Representatives from the government and also from the Armenian Medical Association have
expressed their interest to work with the WHO/WFME Partnership for reforms of medical
education based on the WFME standards. Requests have been made for a package on guidelines and
tools for accreditation of medical schools.

Austria
BME The medical school of the University of Vienna in 2007 decided to undergo an accreditation process
along the lines used by the Swiss OAQ, which uses the WFME Standards. This process is
conducted by the Austrian agency for quality assurance and will use the European Specifications to
the WFME Global Standards (both basic and quality development part). A report of the “pilot
accreditation of the undergraduate curriculum” was finished May 2009: “Evaluation des Studiums
Humanmedizin an der Medizinischen Universität Wien. Pilotprojekt Akkreditierung. Bericht des
Review-Teams”, Österreichische Qualitätssicherungsagentur. Use of the WFME Global Standards
with European Specifications turned out to be very useful.

Azerbaijan
BME Practical guidelines are a tool for accreditation of medical schools and programmes that are
consistent with WHO/WFME guidelines have been requested.

PME The WFME PME Standards are used in a reform process on postgraduate medical education, which
started 2010.

Baltic Countries
BME Health and education authorities in the three Baltic countries (Estonia; Latvia; Lithuania) in 2005
started a process of incorporating the WFME Standards in basic medical education in their systems
of recognition of medical schools.

Belarus
BME In 2005, the Ministry of Health asked the WHO-WFME Strategic Partnership to assist in reforms of
medical education based on the WFME Standards.

Belgium
BME WFME BME Standards are influencing curriculum development.

37
 Central Asian Republics (CAR)
BME The Council of Rectors in the Central Asian Republics in 2002 at a meeting in Almaty, Kazakhstan
started to consider an accreditation system based on the WFME International Standards.

At a new meeting of the Council of Rectors in Almaty, Kazakhstan, November 2005, plans for a
regional accreditation system was again discussed without any conclusion.

In February 2006, the question of introducing regional accreditation guidelines for the Central Asian
Republics was again discussed at a meeting in Almaty, Kazakhstan, arranged by Z Draw + with
financial support from USAID. The conclusion was that national standards, also to be used for
national accreditation, will be developed based on the WFME BME standards and that accreditation
should follow the WHO/WFME Guidelines for Accreditation. Regional co-ordination will continue.

In May 2006, the second meeting of this group took place in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The group
started formulation of national specifications to the WFME BME standards for Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Simultaneously, a group of administrators from these four
countries are working with principles for accreditation and a plan for use of WFME advisors.

Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS Countries) (NIS Countries)

BME A WHO-WFME Strategic Partnership Workshop for the 12 Russian speaking countries on Better
Medical Education for Better Health: Developing Strategies in the European Region was held in St.
Petersburg, Russia in February 2005 and concluded that joint activities were recommended between
Russian speaking countries to coordinate and mutually support developments within the framework
of a Strategic Partnership with WFME and WHO. This should include activities for Accreditation of
Medical Schools based on the WFME Standards for Basic Medical Education.

The meeting was the basis for a systematic process at the national level in the CIS Countries. In
2005, meetings were arranged in Russia, Armenia, the Baltic Countries, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
and Ukraine (see individual countries).

At a WHO/WFME Strategic Partnership Workshop for Russian-speaking countries in Kiev,

Ukraine, plans for adjustment of the programme were made.

In June 2006, a WHO/WFME Strategic Partnership Workshop in Chisinau, Moldova on Promotion

of Accreditation in Basic Medical Education with representatives from ten countries concluded that
the WFME Global Standards in Basic Medical Education and the WHO/WFME Guidelines for
Accreditation are useful as frameworks for national institutions and agencies working with quality
assurance and accreditation. Implementation should improve national standards and national
accreditation systems. Furthermore, that an establishment of a database of accredited institutions
and programmes is highly needed. The experiences could be extended to other health professions
educations.

In letter of 14 July 2009, the State Medical and Pharmaceutical University “Nicolae Testemitanu” of
the Republic of Moldova confirms that is in the final phase of elaborating its strategy according to
WFME recommendations.

38
 Croatia
BME National Standards for accreditation of medical schools based on the WFME BME Standards.

Czech Republic
BME The Ministry of Health and some medical faculties have started a reform process in which they have
asked for assistance from the WHO-WFME Strategic Partnership.

Denmark
BME The Danish Medical Association recommends pre- and postgraduate medical education to follow
the WFME global standards.

WFME BME Standards are influencing curriculum development in all medical schools.

Estonia
BME See Baltic countries.

France
BME WFME BME Standards are influencing curriculum development in some schools.

In 2005, the organisation CIDMEF (Conférence Internationale des Doyens et Facultés de Médecine
d´Expression Francaise), which includes 128 medical schools in 40 countries, adopted basic
CIDMEF standards based on the WFME Standards. “CIDMEF recognition” is given to medical
schools fulfilling these standards and the evaluation procedure and the standards are available on
http://www.cidmef.u-bordeaux2.fr (information October 2010 from Professor Tewfik Nawar,
Faculté de Médecine, Université de Sherbrooke, President of CIDMEF).

CPD In France, le Conseil National de L'Ordre des Médecins has developed a new system for CME
based on the WFME CPD Standards.

Georgia
BME Practical tools and guidelines on accreditation of medical schools, consistent with the WHO/WFME
guidelines have been requested.

Tbilisi State Medical University has renewed its curriculum based on the WFME BME Standards.

Tbilisi State Medical University in coordination with the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social
Affairs of Georgia in 2007 decided to establish an international medical educational centre in
Georgia, which will be actively involved in implementation of the WFME Global Standards
Programme and WHO/WFME Guidelines for Accreditation. In connection with this, there are plans
for establishment of a common accreditation system for 3 Caucasian countries using the WFME
Standards and the WHO/WFME Guidelines as basis.

PME/
CPD WFME PME and CPD Standards are increasingly influencing programmes in the country.

39
 Germany
BME In 2000, a Task Force for evaluating the Medical Schools of Baden-Württemberg (Heidelberg,
Tuebingen, Freiburg, Mannheim, Würzburg), Germany used essential elements of the WFME
standards.

According to information from the Humboldt University, Charité in Berlin, the medical school uses
the WFME BME Standards as reference.

Hungary
BME WFME BME Standards are influencing curriculum development.

Ireland
BME The Medical Council of Ireland has since 2003 used the WFME Standards as basis for inspection of
medical schools.

A report: “Medical Education in Ireland – A New Direction”, report of the Working Group on
Undergraduate Medical Education and Training, 2006 refers to the WFME BME standards.

The Medical Council of Ireland in 2005 started a second round of inspections based on the WFME
BME standards. Material has been developed, which demonstrate, that the medical council follows
the WFME standards very closely, including division in basic and quality development standards. In
2006, the medical council requested assistance from WFME in implementing this process referring
to the WFME project on promotion of accreditation.

WFME Advisors are used in site visit teams.

PME In Ireland, initiatives have been taken to evaluate and accredit all specialists training programmes
using the WFME PME Standards as a benchmark. The report “Preparing Ireland’s Doctors to Meet
the Health Needs of the 21st Century, report of the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training
Group” refers to the WFME PME Standards.

Italy
BME WFME BME Standards have been used in self-evaluation study in some schools.

Kazakhstan
BME See CAR.

At a meeting in 2002 in Almaty of the Council of Rectors in the Central Asian Republics, initiatives
were taken to assist in establishing accreditation.

In 2005, the Ministry of Health asked the WHO-WFME Strategic Partnership to assist in reforms of
medical education based on the WFME Standards. A plan for reforms of medical education and
pharmaceutical education in the Republic of Kazakhstan before 2010 has been developed by the
government. Plans for WFME assistance in establishing a new accreditation system were discussed
at a meeting with representatives from the Administrative Department of The President and Vice-
Ministers of Education and Health in September 2005 in Astana.

40
 In 2005, the government (MOH in co-operation with MOE, which is responsible for accreditation)
decided to establish a national system for accreditation of medical schools based on WFME Global
Standards and with the use of external experts in collaboration with WHO/WFME.

In February 2006, the government of Kazakhstan approved a new reform of medical education,
which uses the WFME BME Standards as a basis. The process includes establishment of a national
accreditation system, which will be based on the WHO-WFME Guidelines for Accreditation of
Basic Medical Education.

In 2008, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of
Kazakhstan developed standards for institutional accreditation of the medical
academies/universities of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The set of standards uses the WFME Global
Standards in BME with 9 areas 36 sub-areas. With a few exemptions, all standards for quality
development are considered as basic standards. In 2009, these national standards, now based on the
European Specifications to the Global Standards, were finally adopted and published:
Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan, National Accreditation Center.
Guide to the Institutional Self-study for Medical Education Institutions. Astana, 2009.

In 2010, The National Accreditation Center of Ministry of Education and Science, The Republic of
Kazakhstan started accreditation of the medical schools in the country with WFME advisors as
members of review or site-visit teams: West Kazakhstan State Medical Academy named after M.
Ospanov, Aktobe, November 2010 (Jørgen Nystrup); Semey State Medical University, Semey,
November 2010 (Leif Christensen) and Karaganda State Medical University, Karaganda,
November/December 2010 (David Gordon).

Kyrgyzstan
BME See GCC.

In 2005, the Ministry of Health asked the WHO-WFME Strategic Partnership to assist in reforms of
medical education based on the WFME Standards. A package on accreditation of medical schools
and programmes, consistent with the WHO/WFME guidelines has been requested.

Latvia
BME A package on accreditation of medical schools and programmes, consistent with the WHO/WFME
guidelines has been requested.

See also Baltic countries.

Lithuania
BME See Baltic countries.

Malta
BME The Medical Faculty of Malta has in 2005 adopted the WFME Standards with European
Specifications.

Moldova
BME A package on accreditation of medical schools and programmes, consistent with the WHO/WFME
guidelines has been requested. WFME standards are used as basis for accreditation.

41
 Netherlands
PME A new system for postgraduate training in the Netherlands will be based on the WFME PME
Standards, and the Royal Dutch Association for Medicine is now working with the document on
WFME Standards with European Specifications (information, September 2007).

Norway
BME WFME BME Standards are influencing curriculum development in some schools.

Poland
BME The State Accreditation Committee (SAC) for universities, established in 2002, deals with overall
principles for higher education and is supplemented by the Committee for Accreditation of Medical
Universities (CAMU), established in 1996 due to initiative of the rectors of medical universities.
CAMU uses medical education specific standards, which in 2004 were adjusted to the WFME BME
Standards including division in basic and quality development standards.

Portugal
BME A national accreditation process based on the WFME BME Standards is under preparation.
Discussions are taking place in medical schools inspired by the WFME BME Standards.

Romania
BME WFME BME Standards are influencing curriculum development.

Russia
BME At a meeting in January 2005 in the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian
Federation together with representatives from the Ministry of Education, WHO and WFME, it was
decided to work for reforms of medical education in Russia based on the WFME Global Standards
Project with support of the WHO-WFME Strategic Partnership.

The I. M. Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy (MMA) has developed a series of publications on
developments of medical education, which include translation of the WFME Global Standards. In
April 2005, The All Russia National Meeting of Rectors of Medical Schools with participation of
the WHO-WFME Strategic Partnership in Moscow, discussed quality development of medical
education based on the Global Standards.

Implementation of the WFME standards programme as a task area for a new WHO collaborating
centre at MMA is under consideration.

A new national curriculum (allows for 15% institutional separation) for basic medical education,
developed by Moscow Medical Academy in co-operation with the ministry of education, which
takes into account the WFME Standards, was activated September 2006. Furthermore, a centre for
accreditation will be established.

CPD The Russian Academy of Advanced Studies used the WFME CPD Standards as background for a
meeting in December 2005 to celebrate its 75th Anniversary. In this connection, the book in Russian
“Continuing Professional Education in Health” included information about WFME activities and a
complete translation of the WFME CPD Standards.

42
 Serbia
BME WFME BME Standards have been used in self-evaluation study. According to information from the
Dean of the Medical School in Belgrade, all five public medical schools in Serbia have used the
WFME BME Standards in reform of medical education taking place since a new law in 2004. The
Standards have also influenced the new development in accreditation of medical schools in the
country; in addition to general standards for higher education, the Serbian accreditation authorities
under the Ministry of Education, have now added medicine specific criteria.

Spain
BME The Granada Declaration on Medical Education was adopted October 2001 by medical schools in
Spain, the Association for Medical Education in Spain (SEDEM), the Spanish government and
medical schools in Latin America, represented by PAFAMS. The Declaration implies commitment
to a development of medical education based on the WFME Guidelines. The Granada Declaration
(English translation) was published in Educacion Medica, 2002, volumen 5, number 1, 6-8.

The WFME-Standards and the White Paper on Health Care Professionals in Catalonia have merged
in a joint-strategy of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia. The Catalan Ministers of Health
and Universities have signed an agreement to implement educational policies derived from the
White Paper. As part of this, the WFME Basic Standards have been accepted by the University
Quality Agency to assess Health Schools in Catalonia.

Sweden
BME WFME BME Standards were used as basis for evaluation of all 6 medical schools in 2006-2007
(Högskoleverket).

PME A project based on the WFME Standards in postgraduate medical education is conducted at the
Karolinska University Hospital. The project is envisaged to have great impact on the entire
postgraduate training system in Sweden. WFME’s PME Standards are the basis for the programme:
Applied Learning. Case-based Residency Training at the Karolinska University Hospital in
collaboration with Karolinska Institutet. This process resulted in a report to the Ministry of Social
Affairs, which will be the basis for a new act on PME of doctors in Sweden. The proposal for new
PME Competencies Standards refers directly to the WFME PME Standards.

Switzerland
BME The accreditation system for medical schools in Switzerland, established in 2002, uses the WFME
BME Standards as criteria. In 2006, the Swiss Accreditation Standards were adapted to the new law
on medical professions. The basic structure of the standards remained the same and is still strongly
based on the WFME Global Standards, now also including the WFME European Specifications.
The Swiss Standards are available in German, French and English. Similar standards have now been
developed for dentistry, veterinary medicine, pharmacy and chiropractic.

PME An accreditation system for postgraduate medical education was started in 2004 based on the
WFME Global Standards. Experts from around the world evaluated the Swiss postgraduate system
in general as well as programmes for 42 specialties in a written evaluation process. All evaluations
followed in detail the WFME PME Standards. A report: Akkreditierung der
Weiterbildungsprogramme in Humanmedizin 2004/05, Organ für Akkreditierung und
Qualitätssicherung der Schweizerischen Hochschulen, Schlussbericht OAQ, was published in May
2005.

43
 New Standards for Postgraduate Medical Education, based on the WFME PME Standards, were
published November 2006 and a new accreditation round was conducted in 2009/2010.

Tajikistan
BME See CAR.

Turkey
BME WFME BME Standards are influencing curriculum development. WFME Standards with European
Specifications have been disseminated to all medical schools.

A new Turkish Medical Education Accreditation Committee, established 2008, will use the WFME
Standards with European Specifications as the benchmarking reference.

PME The WFME Standards are influencing programme development.

Turkmenistan
BME See CAR.

Ukraine
BME Information about the WFME standards and WHO/WFME guidelines were requested by the
government in 2005. A national meeting on strategy of the development of higher medical
education in December 2005 - including representation from the government – concluded that
accreditation of Ukrainian medical schools should introduce specific criteria based on the WFME
Global Standards and that schools should undertake self-evaluation and further improvement, taking
into account the WFME Standards and use international experts to make accreditation of Ukrainian
medical schools more transparent and in line with international standards.

PME In 2006, the Ministry of Health has started to adopt the WFME standards for PME and intends
CPD to use the WFME CPD standards in creation of the system for continuing professional development
in the country.

United Kingdom
BME According to the General Medical Council, the criteria used for recognition of medical schools are
consistent with the WFME BME Standards.

A new independent graduate medical school, the Brunel-Buckingham Medical School, which will
start in 2008, has decided to measure the plans for the School against WFME Global Standards for
Basic Medical Education.

In development of the third edition of Tomorrow’s Doctors, published by the General Medical
Council in 2009, GMC used the WFME BME Standards as background material.

PME The Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board of the United Kingdom [PMETB] became
the new statutory body for the whole of UK postgraduate medical education from September 30th
2005. The Board has developed explicit standards for all aspects of postgraduate training:
curriculum, assessment, environments, training processes, quality assurance. The Board has decided

44
 to measure its standards against those of the World Federation for Medical Education and a project
is under way to ensure that PMETB standards meet those of the WFME.

Uzbekistan
BME See CAR.

South East Asia:

South East Asian Region

BME The Regional Consultation on Medical Councils in Countries of the WHO SEAR in October 2006
in Thimpu, Bhutan, initiated a plan for a collaborative study on accreditation of basic medical
education in the Region.

A consultation meeting in February 2007 in New Delhi, India, at which the Regional Network of
Medical Councils of the SEAR countries was established, concluded that the Medical Councils
should:

 Collaborate to develop minimum standards for accreditation of medical schools based on the
WFME global standards for improvement of basic medical education modified for the
region
 Explore mechanisms for inter-council recognition of medical schools
 Develop a process for accreditation including criteria for recognition of new medical
colleges and for renewing of accreditation of old schools.

Following that, Professor Nantana Sirisup, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, produced
the report Guideline for Accreditation of Medical Schools: Review of Existing Accreditation
Procedures, which was reviewed by the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) in the
document WFME Review of Guideline for Accreditation of Medical Schools of September 2008.

Based on this document and further comments from WFME in a document of November 2008 on
Draft Accreditation Guidelines, the Network of Medical Councils for the South East Asian Region
at a meeting organised by WHO SEARO in Chiang Mai, November 2008, produced in a consensus
process Regional Guidelines for Accreditation of Medical Schools. The Guidelines follow the
principles of the WHO/WFME Guidelines for Accreditation of Basic Medical Education with a few
modifications respecting special needs in the region and using the WFME Global Standards in
Basic Medical Education (all 9 areas) with a few additional standards.

Bangladesh
BME Based on WHO/SEARO Guidelines for Accreditation of Public Health Education Programmes, a
system has been developed for accreditation of medical colleges in Bangladesh. The Guidelines
follow precisely the WFME Standards for BME including division in Basic and Quality
Development Standards.

India
BME In 2002, a conference held in Chennai, India on Accreditation in Public Health decided to
appropriately adapt the WFME Recommendations on Standards in Medical Education as a
framework for Accreditation of Public Health institutes and programmes.

45
 In September 2005, a national symposium debated the use of WFME standards as a tool for
improving quality of medical education in India. The result was an “action plan” describing national
specifications of the WFME Global Standards which was disseminated to all medical colleges in
India.

WFME BME Standards are increasingly influencing curriculum development of schools in India.

The National Accreditation Council of India under the Ministry of Education uses standards
compatible with the WFME Global Standards in BME.

PME The Medical Council of India, in its 75th Years Platinum Jubilee Conference Proceedings refers to
/CPD the WHO/WFME Guidelines for Accreditation of Basic Medical Education and indicates that such

Guidelines can also be used in accrediting postgraduate medical education and continuing
professional development of physicians.

Indonesia
BME The department of medical education at the School of Medicine Gadjah Mada University
(SMGMU), Yogyakarta, Indonesia in 2000 gathered a national seminar concerning standards in
medical education based on the WFME Standard Document.

The National Accreditation Board for Higher Education has compared their Standards with the
WFME Standards and found them compatible. The WFME Standards have influenced programme
development in some medical schools according to information from the national accreditation
board.

Nepal
BME WFME BME Standards are influencing curriculum development in the country.

A meeting in Kathmandu, June 2009, showed that there is an interest among medical schools for the
WFME Standards, facilitated through the distance learning resources developed together with
FAIMER and OUCEM.

Sri Lanka
BME Standards for accreditation by Medical Council are consistent with the WFME BME Standards.

Thailand
BME National Standards used for higher education accreditation are defined according to 9 quality
themes consistent with the 9 areas of the WFME BME standards. Institutions are following the
WFME standards in international benchmarking.

Western Pacific:

Western Pacific Region

BME The WFME WPR region started developing a set of common standards for basic medical education
in 1998 based on the AMC standards as collaboration between WHO WPR and AMEWPR. The
proposed guidelines were adapted to the WFME BME standards and published as regional
guidelines in 2001.

46
 It was in 2008 at a meeting organised by AMEWPR in Tokyo discussed if the regional guidelines
were still relevant or if AMEWPR should only recommend using the WFME Global Standards as a
template for national standards. Since the participation of WHO WPR is considered important, it
has been decided to include part of the guidelines in a new set of regional standards, which will
include regional specifications to the global standards.

Australia
BME In 2001, the WFME BME Standards were incorporated in a new edition of the national
accreditation procedures for Australia/New Zealand. The AMC system in Australia only uses one
level of standards (basic).

In an Australian Medical Council Jubilee publication “Assuring Medical Standards- the Australian
Medical Council 1985-2010” extensive description is presented about relationships between the
Australian Medical Council and the WFME and the influence of WFME Global Standards and
Guidelines for Accreditation on Medical Education in Australia.

PME The WFME Standards in PME have been used as a benchmarking instrument in evaluation of the
postgraduate medical education programmes in Australia.

Cambodia
BME The programme of the only medical school follows the WFME BME standards.

China
BME At a Workshop in May 2002, medical schools in China decided to work for a new accreditation
system based on the WFME Standards. The request was sent to the Ministry of Education.

In 2004, formulation of a proposal for common national standards for China was finalised. The
proposal consists of Part I with a short description of intended outcome competencies and Part II on
norms for institutions and programmes, which follows the WFME Standards for BME very closely;
the proposal for national standards was accepted by all medical schools with a 5-7 (8) years
curriculum (about 101 medical schools) in 2004. The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of
Health have both expressed positive interest.

New Chinese national standards based on the WFME Standards were proposed in 2006, and the
new national standards were approved in 2007.

Following the WFME Pilot Study II, which involved 4 medical schools in self-evaluation studies, a
plan for a new accreditation system, based on these national standards, has been adopted by the
Ministry of Education. Chinese experts have participated as observers in Australian accreditation
procedures. In May 2006, the first external visit with WFME Advisors took place at the University
of Harbin. In 2007, a follow up of the WFME Advisors took place. In April, 2008, a WFME
Advisor participated in a site visit to Tongji Medical School of Huazhong University in Wuhan.

PME In 2008, the Chinese Medical Association decided to define national standards in postgraduate
CPD medical education and for CME by using the WFME Standards as a template.

47
 Fiji Island
BME The only medical school in 2003 conducted self-evaluation and was reviewed by WFME Advisors
using the WFME Standards in BME as basis. An accreditation system is under consideration.

In 2009, the Fijian Medical Council ordered the new school, the Unmand Prasad Medical School to
undergo evaluation by the WFME Global Standards by external visitors from the US and Japan.

Japan
BME After translation into Japanese, distribution of WFME criteria to members of Japan Society of
Medical Education took place. The WFME Standards were also included in external evaluation of
some Japanese medical schools.

A new accreditation system of 2004 is not using medical education specific standards, but there is
an intention to use the regional adaptation to WFME standards.

Malaysia
BME WFME proposal for standards was in 2000 incorporated in national accreditation procedures in
Malaysia.

Mongolia
BME WFME BME Standards are influencing curriculum development.

New Zealand
BME For Basic Medical Education, see Australia.

PME In 2005, the Medical Council in New Zealand decided to start a project on the accreditation of
training programmes for overseas trained specialists based on the WFME Global Standards in
Postgraduate Medical Education.

Papua New Guinea

BME The only medical school in the country has been evaluated using the WFME Standards in BME as
basis.

Philippines
BME The Association of Philippines Medical Colleges (APMC) has worked with accreditation since
1968. In 2000, a commission recommended that all medical schools were pledged to undergo
voluntary accreditation. In 2004, APMC was asked to modify the system to conform with principles
and format of WFME standards and in 2006 it was decided that the accreditation system will use
the basic standards of the WFME BME standards.

Singapore
BME Singapore National Standards for accreditation are consistent with WFME BME Standards.

PME The WFME Standards in PME have been used as a benchmarking instrument in evaluation of the
family medicine education programme in Singapore.

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 South Korea
BME Most of the WFME Standards in basic medical education are incorporated in the national
accreditation standards, which have been in use since 2002. A process is ongoing to further develop
the set of standards according to WFME standards.

Taiwan
BME The Taiwan Medical Accreditation Council has adopted the WFME Standards for BME as basis.

Vietnam
BME Promulgation of national standards for quality assurance and accreditation was performed 2003
using the WFME BME standards, including the use of nine areas.

Use as Instruction Material and Programme Foundation

The following institutions and organisations have used the WFME Standards as instruction material
in relationship to workshops, etc.

 Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

 FAIMER: (Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research),
International Fellowship in Medical Education (IFME) Programme, Philadelphia, USA.
 The World Medical Association has developed a WMA Medical Ethics Manual, which was
inspired in large parts by the WFME Standards. The result: Medical Ethics Manual was
published 2005 (www.wma.net).
 Project Globe, which aims at enabling global excellence for physicians in primary care
services, is using the WFME Global Standards for CPD as a basis with the intention of a
particular and concrete contribution of WFME in the future process of
accreditation/certification.
 WFME took part in an EU Thematic Network called MEDINE, which is financially
supported by EU. Together with the Association of Medical Schools in Europe (AMSE),
WFME was responsible for conducting a Task Force on Quality Assurance Standards. The
task includes to analyse how the WFME Standards can be adopted to the European context
of medical education and to produce a set of Quality Assurance Standards for Medical
Education in Europe, building on and adapting existing work including the WFME
Standards framework (BME, PME and CPD Standards). The result of this work was the
publication: WFME Global Standards for Quality Improvement in Medical Education –
European Specifications. WFME Office, April 2007.

Impact on Other Health Professions Education and Higher Education

in General
Health professions

Chiropractics: In 2003 (revision November 2004), the European Council on Chiropractic

Education (ECCE) delivering undergraduate chiropractic education and training, revised their
Standards according to the WFME Standards.

49
The Swiss OAQ has developed standards for chiropractic based on the WFME Standards.

Pharmacy: The Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, has developed standards for pharmacy
education using the WFME Standards as a model.

The Swiss OAQ has developed standards for pharmacy based on the WFME Standards.

The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) has established contact to the World Federation
for Medical Education regarding development of international standards.

Dentistry: The Faculty of Dentistry, Alexandria University, is planning to develop standards for
dentistry education based on the WFME Standards.

The Swiss OAQ has developed standards for dentistry based on the WFME Standards.

Veterinary medicine: The Swiss OAQ has developed standards for veterinary medicine based on
the WFME Standards.

Nursing: In 2001, the WFME standards in basic medical education were adapted to the needs for
training programmes in nursing.

In 2004, the Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University, Egypt, has performed a self-evaluation
study using the WFME global standards in basic medical education as benchmark.

In June 2006, WFME accepted a request from WHO to participate in a project on development of
global standards for basic nursing education. A preliminary report was evaluated by WFME in a
Statement on the initial education of nurses and midwives in 2007. In the final report, Global
Standards for the Initial Education of Professional Nurses and Midwives, published by the Nursing
and Midwifery Section on Human Resources for Health, WHO, Geneva in 2009. It is indicated that
the work has received inspiration from the WFME Global Standards for Quality Improvement in
Basic Medical Education.

Higher education in general

WFME was invited to present the WFME Global Standards as a model for higher education at the
UNESCO/OECD initiative on Development of Guidelines on Quality Provision in Cross-border
Higher Education. Such Guidelines were published in January 2006 by UNESCO.

Similar use of the WFME Global Standards took place at a UNESCO meeting in Africa and at a
national meeting in Denmark in 2006.

50
Approval by International Organisations
Comité Permanent des Médecins Européens
The document Basic Medical Education, WFME Global Standards for Quality Improvement was
adopted March 2002 by CPME (Comité Permanent des Médecins Européens).

The document Postgraduate Medical Education, WFME Global Standards for Quality Improvement
was adopted on 21 September 2002 by CPME (Comité Permanent des Médecins Européens).

CPD Standards will be evaluated when translation into French is available.

IFMSA
IFMSA has taken the initiative to stimulate medical students’ organisations to work for reforms in
accordance with the WFME Standards. This initiative resulted in a Policy Statement on
Implementing International Standards in Basic Medical Education in connection with a round table
discussion on the occasion of the 50th General Assembly Meeting in Aalborg, Denmark, August
2001. IFMSA considered the report of World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) on
Defining International Standards in Basic Medical Education as reference point for international
standardisation, and IFMSA states “that providing globalization by collaborating with international
organizations such as WFME is a must in medical education”.

A project for dissemination and implementation of the WFME Standards started 2001, conducted by
the Turkish Medical Students’ International Committee (TurkMSIC) in collaboration with IFMSA.
Translation into Turkish was part of the project.

In 2005, medical students established an information page on the IFMSA website with the purpose
of imparting information about the importance of the WFME Standards Programme and the Role of
Medical Students.

A workshop in Copenhagen, July 2005, organised by IFMSA and the European Medical Students
Council (EMSC), concluded that the guidelines set forth by the WFME in their Global Standards
for Basic Medical Education should be the starting point for baseline criteria to which all medical
schools must adhere.

In 2008, the IFMSA Assembly at a meeting in Monterey, Mexico, adopted “The International
Federation of Medical Students’ Associations’ (IFMSA) Specifications to the WFME Global
Standards for Basic Medical Education”. This document uses the same layout for presentation of
the specifications as do the European Specifications document, developed by WFME, AMSE and
MEDINE.

World Medical Association

At the World Medical Association Assembly, September 2003, a Resolution proposed by the Danish
Medical Association, which supports the implementation of the WFME Standard Programme, was
treated by the Council and it was decided to circulate the proposal to all member associations. At
the same Assembly, a press message about the WFME Standards, which fully supported the WFME
Programme, was released. (WMA Website: www.wma.net).

51
The Resolution was finally approved by the WMA General Assembly in Tokyo, 2004. The
Resolution can be seen on the WMA Website or via the WFME Website: www.wfme.org.

The World Medical Journal Vol. 53, 4 of December 2007, introduces the Avicenna Directories and
also has a comment on the European Specifications to the WFME Global Standards.

European Network for Accreditation

In 2007, WFME joined the European Network for Accreditation. The Network includes the
European Chemistry Thematic Network Association, the European Network for the Accreditation of
Engineering Education, the European Informatics Project and the WFME.

A joint statement of the European Networks for the Accreditation of Chemistry-, Engineering-,
Informatics-, and Medical Study Programmes was signed June 2007.

WONCA
The World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) is working with transcription of the WFME
PME Standards to be used for education of doctors in family medicine.

Association of Medical Schools in Europe (AMSE)

In its “AMSE-Barcelona Declaration on Quality Assurance in the Medical School” , the European
Specifications to the WFME Global Standards are adopted as basis for quality development.

World Health Organization (WHO)

In the WHO publication “Assessing Financing, Education, Management and Policy Context for
Strategic Planning for Human Resources for Health”, extensive reference is made to the WFME
Standards Programme. The areas in the BME Document are used as reference in describing
primary indicators for education of human resources for health.

Partnership with WHO

In January 2004, a Strategic partnership to improve medical education was established between
WHO and WFME to pursue a long-term work plan, intended to have a decisive impact on medical
education in particular and ultimately on health professions education in general. The question of
documentation of quality of education is part of this project.

Topics to be dealt with under this partnership agreement are:

 Establishment of shared database on quality improvement processes in medical schools

 Promoting twinning between schools to foster innovative education
 Means to update management of medical schools
 Assistance to institutions or national/regional organizations and agencies in developing and
implementing reform programmes or establishing recognition/accreditation systems

Information about the partnership: WHO website: www. who.int and WFME website:
www.wfme.org. A brochure was published in 2004.

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Guidelines for Accreditation Systems

An International Task Force was appointed 2004 within the framework of the WHO/WFME
Strategic Partnership.

A WHO/WFME Seminar on Accreditation of Medical Education Institutions and Programmes, was

held on 4-6 October 2004, Copenhagen, Denmark. The Report from the Seminar “Accreditation of
Medical Education Institutions. Report of a Technical Meeting” was published January 2005
(www.wfme.org).

The Seminar formulated a WHO/WFME policy on accreditation:

In general, WHO/WFME will not be accrediting bodies, but should:

 promote and review Regional/National standards

 promote institutional self-evaluation
 define accreditation guidelines
 promote and support accreditation systems
 develop the WHO Directory of Medical Schools

WHO/WFME Guidelines for Accreditation in Basic Medical Education were published May 2005
(www.wfme.org). The guidelines have been translated into Russian and Spanish, the latter
published in Educacion Medica. In January 2008, a Persian translation was added. See also WFME
website.

WFME Project on Promotion of Accreditation

In 2005, WFME formulated a programme on Promotion of Accreditation of Basic Medical

Education within the Framework of the WHO/WFME Strategic Partnership. The project defines a
package for assistance including:

 National specification of the WFME Global Standards

 Institutional self-evaluation
 External review by WFME Advisors
 Site visits by external review teams
 Formulation of evaluation reports and development of an accreditation organisation and
procedures for accreditation

The programme can be found on the WFME website.

In 2006-2007, requests for assistance appeared from medical schools in China, Botswana, Egypt,
Indonesia, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, and by accreditation systems in the Caribbean Region
(CAAM-HP), Egypt, Ireland, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Switzerland.

In 2008, WFME obtained financial support from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer to assist
medial schools in developing countries in conducting self-evaluation and site visits.

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In November 2009, a ECFMG/FAIMER/WFME project was designed on accreditation systems,
initially with focus on the accreditation activities of CAAM.

WHO/WFME Partnership Programmes at the Regional Level

The WHO – WFME Partnership to improve medical education is now working in close
collaboration with the WHO Regional Offices. Concrete examples are the process of supporting
medical education reforms in the CIS countries, development of accreditation systems in the
Eastern Mediterranean region, capacity building of health manpower in Sub–Saharan Africa and
quality development of medical education in e.g. Latin America, South East Asia and the Western
Pacific Region.

In May 2007, a report for 2004-2006 and an Action Plan for 2007-2009 of the Partnership were
finalised.

Documentation in World Register

Since the inception of the WFME Standards Programme, discussions have taken place with WHO,
Geneva, about creation of a World Register of Medical Schools to replace the WHO World
Directory of Medical Schools by including information about quality of medical education.

In 2004, discussions were initiated with WHO and the Foundation for the Advancement of
International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER), which is responsible for the IMED
database, with the purpose of developing quality indicators to be used in databases of medical
education institutions.

In 2005, WHO decided to establish a new Database on Health Professions Education

Institutions. According to a document of January 2006, the goal is to facilitate the access to
updated information on health educational institutions, their distribution, productivity and
characteristics for policymaking and analysis by the countries, professional associations and WHO,
and to include qualitative data such as information about systems (criteria and procedures) used for
recognition/accreditation.

Specific objectives would be:

 To strengthen WHO's capacity on providing information about and monitoring the health
workforce educational background.
 To establish an instrument essential for increasing the professional education capacity by
identifying gaps, shortages and cooperation opportunities.
 To provide evidence-based information needed for investment policies, reducing existing
gaps and increasing equitable access and distribution of health professions education
institutions.
 To establish and to strengthen national accreditation capacity.

54
Expected results:

The Database will offer several new features as follows:

 Comprehensive coverage: All health educational institutions in the world will be

progressively included (schools of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing and midwifery,
public health, physiotherapy and others).

 Improved contents: The HPEI Database will contain institution-level detailed information. It
will also contain a validation mechanism within the database, which will allow users to have
most up-to-date information on the current educational capacity at national and regional
levels.

a) General information including full contact details of schools: i.e. address, phone number,
e-mails, and website
b) Management, including ownership and funding sources
c) Accreditation (who provides the accreditation, criteria use, type of procedure, date)
d) Basic degree courses including main language, degree to be awarded, entrance
requirement and duration of the courses
e) Number of admissions and graduates, attrition rate, etc.

 Improve usability: The Database will be web-based with functions of input, update,
validation of the schools' data, and will allow queries/downloading information from the
database. It will allow easy-access and easy-to-update at different authorized levels. It will
be set up in the HRH website in WHO/HQ (http://www.who.int/hrh/en/) for the quantitative
information about the distribution and composition of the educational supply.

According to the plan, the University of Copenhagen, assisted by the World Federation for Medical
Education (WFME), and the Nursing Collaborating Centre in Japan will take care of information
about individual institutions, providing access on their websites to institutional data on
identification, ownership, accreditation, productivity and educational resources for each one of the
Schools contained in the database.

The University of Copenhagen, assisted by the WFME, will cover health professions such as
medicine, dentistry, public health, physiotherapy, pharmacy and nutrition, while the Nursing
Collaboration Centre in Japan, with the support of International Council of Nurses (ICN), will cover
the nursing and midwifery professions.

Users will be free to download and use the information via website.

WHO Headquarters and the University of Copenhagen have in principle accepted the plan (cf.
WHO Website). A Memorandum of Agreement has been formulated and the plan is expected to be
realised in 2007.

The Avicenna Directories

Following consultation with WFME, an agreement between the WHO Headquarters and the
University of Copenhagen was signed in August 2007, which means that responsibility for

55
development and maintenance of a new database, based on the above considerations, is transferred
to the University of Copenhagen with the assistance of WFME.

The practical work with the project, called the Avicenna Directories, started September 2007. The
Avicenna Secretariat is located at the WFME Office at the Panum Institute, University of
Copenhagen. The personnel include a project coordinator, a full-time secretary, student assistance
and in 2009 a temporary IT expert working at the office of Avicenna under supervision of the
Koncern-it Office of the University of Copenhagen, which is in charge of IT matters. The project
has also benefited from the assistance of 2 guest professors from UK (September 2007 to the
present) and Australia (September 2008 – May 2009, and two shorter visits) respectively.

An Advisory Committee comprising partners relevant for the project (WHO, University of
Copenhagen, WFME, FIP, WFPHA, IAMRA, FAIMER and UNESCO) had its first meeting in
February 2008. Based on recommendations, a work plan was developed. The project will from the
outset comprise schools in medicine, pharmacy and public health.

A leaflet, published in February 2008, gives more detailed information. After invitation, a
commentary was published in the Lancet (2008) The Lancet, 2008, 371, 966-67. The Avicenna
project is described on www.avicenna.ku.dk and www.avicenna-directories.org. Information can
also be found on the Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avicenna_Directories).

The first presentations of medical schools, based on the updated WHO Database, were available
from August 2008.

Following the task in Year one of making data from the WHO, comprising medical schools included
in the Seventh Edition of the WHO World Directory of Medical Schools of 2000 with updates to
2007 (altogether about 1750 schools), transferred to the Avicenna Secretariat in March 2008,
available as a searchable directory on the Avicenna web-site, this directory has been further up-
dated according to requests from authorities and institutions. About 100 new schools have been
added using the WHO criteria for inclusion and the Avicenna Directory now (February 2010) covers
about 1850 medical schools. Furthermore, up-dates have been made to about another 100 medical
schools using relevant validation procedures, including checks of other publicly available
information; intelligence from accreditation agencies, the WFME network and the International
Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA); and comparison with the FAIMER IMED
database.

At the same time, there has been preparation for systematic and comprehensive data collection by
developing a questionnaire for medical schools to be used at the institutional level, which was tested
in a pilot study comprising 30 medical schools covering all six WHO and WFME Regions. In this
process, the Avicenna Secretariat, after provision of information to relevant governmental
authorities, is making contact with medical schools and establishing working relationships with
quality assurance bodies in each of these countries. In addition to the systematic country-wise
collection of data, schools can, on their own initiative, complete the on-line questionnaire, an option
which is now increasingly used.

By February 2010, about 150 medical schools (old and new entrances) from all regions have
completed the questionnaire. Before inclusion in the database all information in the completed

56
questionnaires is carefully validated and necessary corrections made in correspondence with the
schools.

A new database based on the questionnaire and a new web interface was developed in 2009. After
testing of the interface, the first schools became available on the new interface in early December
2009 and schools are progressively being presented with the new comprehensive information.

In September 2010, a meeting was held in Copenhagen with participation of Avicenna partners,
ECFMG and major regulatory bodies. The result of the meeting was to work for a long-term plan
for the Directory, which means financial support from major users. Also, that a merger of Avicenna
and the IMED of FAIMER should seriously be considered. A contract agreement is now being
negotiated. For the transition period, following the end of the three-year project according to the
MoU between WHO and the University of Copenhagen, financial support has been ensured from
WHO, GMC, AMC and South Korea.

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