University of Calgary medical school maintains its accreditation

The University of Calgary’s medical school has successfully maintained its accreditation status following a two-year process.

“The Cumming School of Medicine has achieved the best possible result: full accreditation for an eight-year term,” said Dr. Jon Meddings, Dean of Medicine.

Meddings said the school satisfied 95 required elements with a score of 97 per cent overall in a news release Thursday.

He said the school was rated 100 per cent for elements directly related to curriculum and student evaluation.

“We demonstrated throughout the accreditation process just how strong we are,” Meddings said.

The process included in-depth surveys of students followed by focus groups and analysis.  Faculty and staff were also a key part of the process that led to recommendations for improvement.

Achieving accreditation is by no means automatic.

In recent years, four of Canada’s 17 medical schools failed to receive accreditation – forcing them to take remedial measures.

The Cumming School of Medicine is one of only two three-year medical schools in Canada and is one of the first schools to be assessed under new Canadian standards that went into effect in June 2015.

It has continuously maintained its accreditation since its inception in 1970.