The Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM) was established in 2003 to ensure that medical schools in participating countries are recognized to be of international standard at the national, regional and international levels. Funded by CARICOM member governments which were the signatories to the agreement that established this new accrediting body, the CAAM was launched in 2004 at which time it became operational. The role of the Authority is to accredit medical education programmes leading to the MB.BS/M.D. degrees in CARICOM member states. The graduates of the UWI MB.BS degree programme initially received automatic recognition from the General Medical Council (GMC) of Great Britain, since medical education training began in 1948. Accreditation by the GMC continued over the years, with periodic visits, as various changes took place in medical education at UWI. Other schools have been established in member countries since 1974, some of which received limited registration status from the GMC. The overriding purpose of the GMC’s accreditation was that the medical schools produce medical practitioners who were safe and competent to practise in the UK and internationally and who had an adequate basis to undertake postgraduate training. Accreditation status with the GMC normally gave graduates the ability to register to practise in most other British Commonwealth countries.

In recent years however, the GMC sought to replace their two-tier system with a single form of registration for overseas qualified doctors. The proposed arrangements obviated the need to continue with the reviews of the previously recognized qualifications, such as that of the UWI, leaving a void of accreditation by an internationally recognized body.

For the UWI and other medical schools in the region to remain attractive to regional and international students, their programmes must be recognized to be of international standard both at home and abroad. Thus the CAAM was established to assure that aim is realized. Consequently, the Authority has looked at the standards of the GMC as well as those of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) of the USA and Canada, and has developed comparable standards. By judging the compliance of medical education programmes with national and internationally accepted standards of educational quality, this accrediting agency serves the interests of the general public in the CARICOM community and the interest of the students enrolled in the programmes of the schools.

Acting independently of the participating countries, the CAAM will make periodic evaluations of the medical education programmes in CARICOM countries. The Authority is set to undertake its first review from March 25 to April 7 2006, where the UWI, inclusive of all four institutional sites, is the first to be assessed. This assessment will be carried out by a team of reviewers which comprises medical professionals from the Caribbean Community, North America and the UK.

In preparation for the site visit by the review team the UWI is currently in the process of completing its institutional self study which will form the database for the review. Scheduled to arrive in Jamaica on March 25, the team will begin with the assessment of the medical programmes at the Mona campus of the UWI on March 26. Moving on from Mona, the team will divide and travel to the Cave Hill campus in Barbados and to the clinical training site in the Bahamas on March 30 to continue the accreditation process. The team will then re-group in Trinidad on April 2 to complete the process with the review of the medical programme at the St. Augustine campus. The accreditation process will see the team meeting with the Vice Chancellor, Campus Principals, Deans of the Faculties of Medical Sciences and the School of Clinical Medicine and Research, Director of Finance, Campus Bursars, Heads of Department and medical students, throughout the process.

The University of Guyana and St. George’s University in Grenada are making preparations for their medical education programmes to be accredited by the CAAM where the process should begin later this year.

A website for the CAAM is currently being developed. In the mean time however, as a matter of protocol and in keeping with CAAM regulations, requests for information about the Authority must be directed to the CAAM Secretariat. Likewise, to protect the interest and credibility of the CAAM and to serve the interests of the public where the dissemination of correct information is concerned, information relating to the Authority and its function should come from the CAAM Secretariat. Contact Information: The CAAM Secretariat, P.O. Box 5167, Kingston 6, Jamaica.Tel: (876) 977-2014, Fax: (876) 977-5578, E-mail: lorna.parkins@uwimona.edu.jm