The Australian Medical Council (AMC) develops standards for all phases of medical education and training. In its accreditation processes, it assesses education providers and their medical programs and/ or processes against these standards and monitors them to ensure they continue to meet the standards. AMC accreditation processes apply to:
- Primary medical education programs provided by university medical schools.
- The internship, the first year after medical school, which is a year of supervised work based training.
- Specialist medical training programs; the education providers for these programs are national specialist medical colleges.
- Programs for endorsement of registration of medical practitioners for acupuncture.
- Programs for endorsement of registration of medical practitioners for cosmetic surgery.
- Continuing professional development (CPD) homes.
AMC processes entail both validating that standards are met and quality improvement to promote high standards of medical education, stimulate self-analysis and assist the organisation under review to achieve its objectives. Accreditation is conducted in a collegiate manner involving consultation, advice, and feedback to the organisation under review.
Using a peer review process, AMC expert assessment teams assess medical training programs and their providers against the approved accreditation standards, and grants accreditation when standards are met. Education providers and medical programs that meet the standards are granted accreditation.
The AMC has developed a series of videos, including interviews with experienced AMC assessors and office bearers, that describe the different aspects of the accreditation cycle and process, and how accreditation contributes to improving the standard of medical education and training in Australia.
