The head of the medical college at the University of Saskatchewan says it has made a significant turnaround after being placed on probation in 2013.
Dr. Preston Smith, dean at the College of Medicine, said the latest results from the organization that accredits Canadian medical schools make it one of the strongest doctor training programs in Canada.
“I believe our medical school is now among the strongest of any medical doctor program in the country in terms of this accreditation outcome,” Smith said Thursday in a release.
“This latest result speaks again to the commitment and effort of our faculty, staff and students — with critical support from our university, health system and government partners — who rallied and worked together through significant change to create a strong program.”
The school was placed on probation in 2013 after accreditors identified 13 key problems, including faculty accountability and student performance on standardized testing.
The probation was lifted in 2015 after the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS) said 10 of the 13 issues identified had been partially or fully resolved.
The college received full accreditation in 2017 and in its latest report, CACMS said the College of Medicine earned satisfaction in all 93 areas it reviewed.
“We are delivering a program we are proud of and more importantly, that supports the needs of our patients and province with great future physicians,” Smith said.
“That said, our school is committed to continuous quality improvement and ongoing effort to achieve that. If we do that well, accreditation is taken care of, too.”
The CACMS said there are two areas in which it wants to see more data, but added this is not a concern.
The College of Medicine will not be required to host another site visit by CACMS until 2025 or 2026, the university said.