WFME Agency Recognition Explained

The World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) is often mentioned in school brochures, sometimes in ways that overstate what it does. WFME does not accredit medical schools. It runs a Recognition Programme that evaluates the organizations that accredit medical schools. Understanding that two-step structure, school accredited by an agency and agency recognized by WFME, is the key to reading accreditation claims correctly.

Agencies, not schools

WFME's FAQ is direct: "WFME does not provide an accreditation process for medical schools." Its Recognition Programme grants Recognition Status to individual accrediting agencies that have been evaluated as meeting WFME's recognition criteria. Those agencies then accredit individual medical schools and programs.

The correct way to describe a school in this system is therefore "accredited by a WFME-recognized agency," and only when the school's accreditation by that agency is current. A school cannot hold WFME recognition itself. WFME also states that a school's self-evaluation against WFME standards is not sufficient, and that an external evaluator or accrediting agency is eligible for recognition only if it is an acceptable type of agency (see below).

Why the program exists

WFME gives two reasons for the program. First, having an accreditation system does not in itself guarantee trustworthy decisions; the system must operate in a robust, transparent way. Second, the growth in the number of medical schools worldwide has created a market for accreditation, and WFME notes that some private firms and individual consultants offer an accreditation service "of little worth." Recognition is meant to distinguish accreditation that has been independently checked from accreditation that has not.

WFME states that Recognition Status of an agency "confers the understanding" that education in the schools it accredits is at an appropriate and rigorous standard. That is a statement about the agency's process, not a guarantee about any individual school, and not a statement about where its graduates may practice.

Who can be recognized

According to WFME's FAQ, three types of agency may apply:

• a government or inter-governmental entity;
• an independent professional body authorized or recognized by the relevant national or state/provincial government (a ministry of health or education, or both) or by the legislature;
• an independent professional body authorized or recognized by a professional or scientific association with appropriate authority.

An agency does not have to use WFME's own Global Standards for Basic Medical Education. It must use standards that are predetermined, agreed, publicly available and appropriate to the local context; these may be the WFME standards, a variant of them or a comparable set. A general higher-education accreditation system is not necessarily sufficient: WFME expects medicine-specific standards, coverage of clinical training through clerkships or rotations in a variety of settings, and medical expertise among the reviewers.

What WFME evaluates

WFME's recognition criteria cover four areas:

• Background: the agency's scope of authority, its acceptance by others, and how it handles substantive changes.
• Accreditation standards: whether standards exist, are available, are appropriate and are reviewed.
• Process and procedures: school self-study, site visits, reports, training of reviewers, decisions, follow-up and complaints.
• Policies and resources: conflict-of-interest controls, consistency, administrative and financial responsibility, due process, record-keeping and publication of information.

WFME revised the criteria in April 2024; the new version took effect on 1 January 2025 for newly applying agencies and those seeking renewal after that date.

How a review runs

WFME's published timeline describes an eligibility check, a written application submitted in English, and observation by a WFME team of the agency at work: a site visit where the agency reviews one medical school and its associated clinical training sites, and a meeting where the agency makes an accreditation decision. The team drafts a report, the agency can correct inaccuracies, and WFME's Recognition Committee decides. WFME's FAQ says the process usually takes 12 to 18 months. Recognized agencies must submit a status report every year and report significant changes to their policies.

Recognition is time-limited

Recognition Status has an end date. WFME's list of agencies includes a "Recognition until" column, and WFME's announcements state the term granted. In one recent example, WFME awarded a 10-year term to Kazakhstan's Independent Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (IQAA) and renewed the Accreditation Commission on Colleges of Medicine (ACCM) for six years under the updated criteria. When you check an agency, check that its status is current, not only that it was once recognized.

Cross-border agencies

Some countries have few medical schools, which can make independent peer review difficult. WFME's FAQ notes that such countries have used an agency based in another country or a shared agency for several neighboring countries. WFME's agency list reflects this. For example, it shows:

• the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and Other Health Professions (CAAM-HP) operating in a number of Caribbean countries, alongside other agencies;
• ACCM, domiciled in Ireland, operating in several Caribbean jurisdictions, including Curaçao, and in Bahrain;
• the Independent Agency for Accreditation and Rating (IAAR), domiciled in Kazakhstan, listed for Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Belarus and the Kyrgyz Republic;
• national agencies such as the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) and the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) in the United States, the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS), the Japan Accreditation Council for Medical Education (JACME) and the Korean Institute of Medical Education and Evaluation (KIMEE).

WFME's list also shows agencies currently applying. WFME states that an applying agency is applying only for the countries listed and that it "cannot be assumed" it will be recognized elsewhere. An application in progress is not recognition.

How WFME recognition is used by others

Recognition is used as a reference point by other organizations, each for its own purposes. Intealth's Recognized Accreditation Policy, for instance, counts a school as meeting the policy if it is accredited by an agency recognized by WFME or by the US National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation (NCFMEA), and the school also has an ECFMG Sponsor Note. Intealth states that this policy currently has no impact on eligibility for ECFMG Certification. See ECFMG Sponsor Notes Explained.

National regulators set their own rules. Accreditation by a WFME-recognized agency does not by itself make a graduate eligible for registration, examinations or residency in any particular country. Check the regulator where you intend to practice, using our guide to investigating practice requirements.

How to verify a school's accreditation chain

WFME's own advice is to work through the chain one link at a time:

1. Ask the school whether it is accredited and by which agency. Ask for the date of the most recent decision and the date of the next review.
2. Check the agency's website for the school's current status. WFME says you can probably verify it there.
3. Check the agency on WFME's list: is it recognized, for which countries, and until when?
4. Read the school's World Directory listing. Intealth notes that for schools accredited by a WFME-recognized agency, WFME provides accreditation details on the Program Details tab. WFME also says it does not maintain a public list of schools accredited by recognized agencies. Remember that a WDOMS listing is not accreditation.

Be cautious with phrases such as "WFME-accredited school" or "WFME-approved." They misdescribe how the system works. Our data sources page explains where this site's information comes from.