Accreditation
Find out more about accreditation by consulting the available information.
To ensure the quality of medical and postgraduate training, the CMQ is involved in drafting and updating general accreditation standards with its partners.
The CMQ also participates actively in accreditation visits with its partners.
The mandate of the Committee on Medical Education and Accreditation (CÉMA) is to provide its opinion on subjects related to under- and postgraduate medical training and policies, procedures and standards to be followed with respect to medical education and accreditation. The CÉMA is responsible for the accreditation of postgraduate training sites.
The CÉMA is also responsible for the continuing professional development (CPD) accreditation of medical organizations that provide CPD activities in Quebec.
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Undergraduate sector
The accreditation of undergraduate medical education programs for the seventeen medical schools in Canada is administered by the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS). A representative of the Medical Education Division of the Collège des médecins du Québec sits on this committee.
This accreditation is based on recognized standards and offers future graduates the guarantee of quality education for their postgraduate training.
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Postgraduate training programs and sites
The Collège des médecins du Québec (Collège), the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (Royal College) form the Canadian Residency Accreditation Consortium (CanRAC); they are jointly responsible for the accreditation of postgraduate training programs offered by Quebec’s faculties of medicine.
The three colleges conduct accreditation visits on a cyclic basis in order to guide universities towards excellence in specialized medical education. They ensure that joint standards of professional training relating to the governance, structure and academic content of the postgraduate programs developed under the auspices of the faculties are being applied. They follow the rules of the CanERA (Excellence in Canadian Residency Accreditation) accreditation management system.
On July 1, 2019, the CanERA accreditation management system, which is based on an eight-year accreditation cycle, was launched.
The specialties recognized by the Collège and accredited postgraduate training sites are listed in the List of accreditations approved by the CÉMA.
All applications relating to the accreditation of a training site must be completed by the program director and submitted for approval to the associate dean of postgraduate medical education who then forwards the information to the Collège.
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Continuing professional development (CPD)
Continuing professional development (CPD) refers to educational activities designed to support physicians in maintaining their competence across a continuum of training and thereby ensuring patients receive optimal quality care.
Various organizations operate in the field of CPD for physicians in Quebec: the faculties of medicine, the medical federations and organizations (Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec – FMOQ; Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec – FMSQ – and its affiliated medical associations; Médecins francophones du Canada – MdFC; Collège québécois des médecins de famille – CQMF). Each organization has its own structure, but one of its components usually has a more specific CPD mission (CPD Unit).
Accreditation of a faculty of medicine’s CPD Unit is carried out jointly by the Collège and the Committee on the Accreditation of Continuing Medical Education (CACME). However, the Collège alone is responsible for accreditation of the medical federations and organizations.
Following on the work of the Future of Medical Education in Canada (FMEC) project and of the three colleges (the CFPC, the Collège and the Royal College) to harmonize accreditation standards and adopt an eight-year accreditation cycle, the Collège reviewed all the procedures and terms for the accreditation of CPD provider organizations in order to simplify processes and adapt them to the current context. This review is also in keeping with the adoption of new National Accreditation Standards for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Provider Organizations, with an emphasis on self-assessment and continuous quality improvement.
Write to: agrement@cmq.org.
Consult:
CÉMA
Undergraduate sector
- Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS)
- Standards for Accreditation of Medical Education Programs Leading to the MD Degree
Postgraduate Medical Education
- General Standards of Accreditation for Institutions with Residency Programs
- General Standards of Accreditation for Residency Programs
- Standards of Accreditation for Residency Programs in Family Medicine (Red Book)
Continuing professional development (CPD)
- Committee on Accreditation of Continuing Medical Education (CACME)
- Normes nationales d’agrément du Collège pour les organisations prestataires d’activités de DPC [The Collège’s national accreditation standards for CPD provider organizations; in French only]
- Procédures et termes de l’agrément en DPC du Collège [The Collège’s procedures and terms for CPD accreditation; in French only] - Currently under revision
List of accreditations
Postdoctoral training sites and programs accredited by the Collège.
See the list of accreditations (in French only).