Recognition and Accreditation Explained

No single badge tells you whether a medical degree will let you practise where you want to. That depends on the country where you intend to practise and on its current rules. This directory records what official sources say about a school, and it is not affiliated with any of the bodies named below.

1. National authorization or recognition

Permission from the national (or state) education or health authority to operate, run the medical program or award the degree. It is the basic legal condition for a school to exist in its own system. We record the authority, the decision or list, its date and its scope (a campus, a program, an intake quota).

2. Institutional accreditation

Quality assurance of the university or institution as a whole. It says nothing specific about the medical program unless the accreditor states so.

3. Medical-program accreditation

Accreditation of the medical degree program itself by a medical-education accreditor — for example the LCME for MD programs and COCA for DO programs in the United States. Statuses such as preliminary, provisional, candidate, probation, expired or withdrawn are shown exactly as the accreditor publishes them; we never round them up to “accredited”.

4. Directory listings, including WDOMS

The World Directory of Medical Schools (WDOMS) lists medical schools reported by national authorities. A WDOMS listing is not accreditation and not an endorsement, and it does not by itself establish eligibility anywhere. We do not copy the WDOMS database; when we record a WDOMS reference it is a directory-listing record with its date. WDOMS listing vs accreditation.

5. WFME recognition belongs to accrediting agencies

The World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) recognises accrediting agencies, not individual schools. On a school profile you may see that the agency which accredits the program holds WFME recognition, with the agency's recognition period and source. We never describe a school as “WFME-accredited” or “WFME-recognized”. WFME agency recognition explained.

6. ECFMG Sponsor Notes

ECFMG (part of Intealth) does not accredit medical schools. For some schools, ECFMG publishes Sponsor Notes in WDOMS that describe ECFMG's own requirements for graduates of particular years or campuses. We record the note's wording, the graduation years it applies to, its provisions, the source and the date we checked it. ECFMG Sponsor Notes explained.

What we do not say

• We do not use “WHO-approved”, “recognized worldwide” or any universal approval badge — no such status exists.
• We do not imply that accreditation in one country guarantees eligibility in another, or that graduating guarantees residency, licensure or employment.
• We do not exclude a school because one particular international credential is absent; we show the verified records instead, and “not verified” when we have none.
• No recognition record, badge or status is sold. Sponsorship never changes these fields.

Coverage so far

49 schools have at least one verified recognition record, and 0 have an ECFMG Sponsor Note recorded. Most basic records do not yet include recognition research; a blank section means “not verified”, never “not recognized”.

Planning to practise outside the country where you study? Start with Investigating practice requirements in your intended country and Understanding national recognition.