Academic Medicine · 1995 · 55 citations · 0 references
ManagementMedical EducationQuality ManagementHealth Care Quality ManagementHealthcare Quality ImprovementQuality AssuranceHealth Care QualityPeer AssessmentQuality Assurance In EducationQuality MeasurementQuality Of CareQuality Of EducationAssessmentsHealthcare Quality AssessmentHealthcare Quality MeasurementPeer-to-peer ReviewQuality Assurance TrainingQuality AwarenessQuality Of Care Evaluation
Medical education quality is a shared concern, as students and the public expect well‑trained physicians, making schools accountable for ensuring high standards. This paper emphasizes that continuous attention is the best way to ensure quality. The authors propose a quality assessment system combining internal quality control, external peer review, and self‑evaluation to link internal and external assessments and drive improvement.
Many people have an interest in the quality of medical education. Students have the right to as good an education as possible, and the public has the right to well-educated and well-trained general physicians and specialists. Therefore, a medical school or faculty must ensure its quality and is accountable for the quality of the training it provides. This paper emphasizes that the best way to ensure quality is by continuous attention to it. Quality depends not on measurement instruments and tools but rather on the spread of quality awareness among faculty, staff, and students. A tool for safeguarding quality is the design of a well-functioning quality assessment system, based on two pillars: a system of internal quality control and external assessment by peers. The connection between the internal and external assessments is the self-evaluation by the school. On the one side, this self-evaluation is a critical self-analysis and an agenda for improvement. On the other side, it contains information for the external reviewers. The peer review also provides input for the process of improvement.