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Accreditation of the Medicine course of the Bahiana reaches international level

Institution that believes seal to Bahiana is now recognized by the World Federation For Medical Education (WFME).

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The Medicine course of Escola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública has just achieved yet another achievement in its internationalization process. The achievement is due to the fact that the institution, among the 280 medical schools across the country, already belongs to the select group of only 32 medical courses in Brazil accredited by the Accreditation System of Medical Schools (SAEME). The system was implemented through a partnership between the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM) and the Brazilian Association of Medical Schools (ABEM) and was recently certified by the World Federation For Medical Education (WFME), whose goal is to improve the quality of medical education around the world.

The certificate granted by WFME to SAEME recognizes the international accreditation process, post-accreditation monitoring and the decision-making process of the system in the evaluation of Brazilian medical schools. According to the SAEME portal, "the concept of Accreditation means the formal recognition of the quality of services offered by an institution. This recognition is based on standardized assessment by an independent body, which proves that an institution meets previously defined requirements and has competence to carry out its role effectively and safely." The document is valid until April 30, 2029, during which time the system will remain monitored by WFME.

This recognition allows all medical schools that hold the SAEME seal to be automatically recognized and internationally certified to carry out academic activities, such as taking medical residency and postgraduate courses. In addition, students graduating from medical courses at certified institutions will find it easier to validate their diplomas for professional practice in other countries, such as the United States.

The Medicine course of Bahiana received the SAEME seal of accreditation in 2017 and, for this, underwent a rigorous evaluation that proved its status of excellence through criteria that involve educational aspects, faculty profile, quality of management and infrastructure offered to students and employees.

The manager of the Institutional Academic Relationship and Internationalization Center of Bahiana (REAII), Antonieta Araújo, explains that SAEME certification directly benefits the Bahiana insofar as the North American session of the Educational Commission for Foreign Graduates in Medicine (Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates – ECFMG), which regulates the professional practice of physicians in the United States and Canada and by which the Bahiana is already certified, determined that, as of 2023, physicians who wish to do medical residency or practice in those countries must not only have certification from this agency (ECFMG) but also have graduated from a medical school with international accreditation.

To meet this level of international accreditation, the Bahiana has been accredited, through a formal process, with criteria comparable to those established by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) for US medical schools or institutions using other globally accepted criteria such as those presented by the World Federation of Education Medical (WFME).