Course Accreditation Scheme
The Academy of Medical Educators is pleased to offer a Course Accreditation
Scheme for courses aimed at training those who are involved in the education
and training of practitioners and students of medicine, dentistry and veterinary science.
Accreditation of your course provides an independent validation of its quality judged against the Academy’s Professional Standards*. An accredited course can state that it is ‘Accredited by the Academy of Medical Educators’ and use the Academy’s logo on course materials (subject to prior sight by the Academy).
Anyone who has successfully completed the course will be able to apply for Membership of the Academy without the need to complete the full application form. They will be required to complete the 500 word reflective statement and provide details of a supporter**, but will not need to complete the CPD and peer review sections (upon uploading evidence of accredited course completion the application form will automatically skip this section).
Membership of the Academy allows the use of the post-nominal letters MAcadMEd, and signifies that the individual has been judged to meet the Academy’s Standards.
How to apply for Accreditation of a course
(a)Courses seeking accreditation are required to provide documentation and supporting evidence to show that the course and course participants meet the Academy’s criteria, including comparison with the Professional Standards. A list of the information and evidence required is overleaf.
(b)Complete the covering form (attached) and return it, with the documentation and evidence, to The Academy of Medical Educators (Ref: Accreditation), Wales Deanery, Neuadd Meirionnydd, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff CF14 4YS.
(c)The Academy’s Course Accreditation Group, a sub-group of the Membership Committee, will assess whether the course meets the criteria, and will feed back to you any questions for clarification.
(d)When a course meets the criteria then Accreditation will be offered for a fixed period of five years from date of letter of notification. The Academy should be informed if the course changes substantially within that period, in which case a reassessment may be required to maintain Accreditation.
(e)The Academy reserves the right (i) to take up further enquiries with the course provider, and (ii) to decline to accept the application for good reason. In the latter case you will be informed of the reason and will have right of appeal if you consider the process followed by the Academy to be flawed.
August 2016
*See:
**The name and contact details for a supporter (e.g. an existing Member or Fellow of the Academy, or your Head of Department) who can provide further information, if required.
Criteria for Accreditation of Courses
- Background information on the course
We require information on the aims, objectives, format, admissions policy and quality assurance processes applying to the course. A list of the information and evidence we are seeking is given below. We are not prescriptive about the form that the documentation and evidence take. You do not need to draw up fresh documentation for us; if you have the necessary information gathered for some other purpose we are happy to receive it in that form. We do ask, however, that the information we seek is clearly identifiable within the documentation you send.
1(a)Philosophy of the course (including aims of course, learning environment, assessment strategy, assessment structure)
1(b)Quality assurance processes
(i)Internal validation
(ii)External validation
(iii)Internal monitoring
(iv)External monitoring (e.g. use of external examiners)
(v)Examples of changes to the course which have occurred as a result of the quality monitoring process
1(c)Candidate information
(i)Candidate selection process
(ii)Candidate support structures
1(d)Faculty information
(i)Faculty selection process
(ii)Faculty development
(iii)Faculty support processes
1(e)Evidence of scholarship in medical education related to the course
(i)Scholarly teaching
(ii)Contributing to scholarship in medical education
- Comparison with The Academy’s Professional Standards
The Academy of Medical Educators identifies a set of core values for all medical educators. In addition, it identifies five domains of activity, each divided into three levels. These domains are
Domain 1 - Design and planning of learning activities
Domain 2 - Teaching and supporting learners
Domain 3 - Assessment and feedback to learners
Domain 4 - Educational research and evidence-based practice
Domain 5 - Educational management and leadership
For Membership of the Academy, a medical educator needs to demonstrate a level of commitment which generally exceeds Level 1 and meets most of the Standards at Level 2. However, it is recognised that few will achieve every element in the Themes at every level or some Themes at any level. You are asked to show:
2(a)How your course supports attainment of the Academy’s Standards at the level required for Membership
2(b)How you can be assured your candidates attain these Standards
- Self-assessment and reflective writing
The assessment process for Membership of the Academy of Medical Educators (like that of the Higher Education Academy) is based on self-assessment by applicants reflecting on the evidence they are able to put forward for their commitment or achievements. You are asked to provide information on the following – we are not prescriptive in how this information is provided.
3(a)Where assessed coursework has involved reflective writing
3(b)Where candidates have been required to self-assess.
Course Accreditation Scheme
Application Form
Please complete the following form and return it with the informationand
evidence to: The Academy of Medical Educators (Ref: Accreditation), Neuadd Meirionnydd, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4YS
Data provided on this form will be held and processed by the Academy in accordance with its Data Protection Policy (copies available from ).
Name of person making the applicationApplicant’s correspondence address
Applicant’s email address
Applicant’s telephone number
Title of course seeking accreditation
Institution at which course is run
Level of course seeking accreditation
Is the course HEA-accredited? (Y/N)
Please use the following checklist to show that information or evidence has been provided against all the criteria and requirements. Use the boxes on the right to indicate where the information or evidence may be found in the materials you are sending, if it is not immediately obvious. Please refer to the list of criteria in the introductory notes to give fuller details of what is required under each item.
Criterion / Enclosed / Information/evidence1(a)Philosophy of the course (including aims of course, learning environment, assessment strategy, assessment structure)
1(b)Quality assurance processes
1(c)Candidate information
1(d)Faculty information
1(e)Evidence of scholarship in medical education related to the course
2(a)How your course supports attainment of the Academy’s Standards at the level required for Membership
2(b)How you can be assured your candidates attain these Standards
3(a)Where assessed coursework has involved reflective writing
3(b)Where candidates have been required to self-assess