Frequently Asked Questions
Undergraduate accreditation is used to demonstrate that our undergraduate medical program meets accepted standards for educational quality. In Canada, a school receives accreditation from The Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS) and the United States’ Liaison Committee on Medical Accreditation (LCME).
CACMS accreditation provides assurances to medical students, graduates, the medical profession, healthcare institutions, health authorities, regulatory authorities and the public that:
- educational programs culminating in the award of the MD degree meet reasonable, generally-accepted, and appropriate national standards for educational quality, and
- graduates of such programs have a complete and valid educational experience sufficient to prepare them for the next stage of their training.
- The accreditation requirements are divided into 12 standards, which are further subdivided into 96 elements. A full list of these are found at the .
- Standards consider the leadership, learning environment, school resources, curriculum, and student supports. Each standard is rated as being in compliance, compliance with need for monitoring, or noncompliance.
- Elements are the smaller components that compose the standards. They are rated as satisfactory, satisfactory with monitoring, or unsatisfactory.
- The UGME Accreditation Limited Site Visit event will take place in person over two days at the PEI Campus on October 20th and 21st, 2026 (Wednesday and Thursday, respectively).
Limited accreditation visits are designed to be held on-site but can occur as a virtual visit when circumstances do not allow for face-to-face meetings.
At least three (3) months before the scheduled Limited Site Visit, the medical school must submit the following required information:
- a data collection instrument (DCI)
- medical school self-study (MSS)
- independent student assessment (ISA) data
During the Limited Site Visit, the Site Visit team meets with educational leadership, staff, students, residents, and faculty to clarify information and learn if the school actually follows its policies and procedures. Within one week following the Limited Site Visit the team will submit a finalized exit report to the dean.
UGME Accreditation Limited Site Visit Schedule.
A limited site visit is similar to a full accreditation visit but much narrower in scope. Rather than reviewing the entire MD program, a limited site visit examines only specific accreditation standards or elements that CACMS has identified as needing review. The team for our Limited Site Visit will be examining 10 of the 12 standards, and 39 from the full 96 elements.
- On the morning of the first day of the visit the Limited Site Visit Team will meet with the Dean of Medicine and any members of senior leadership that the dean wishes to bring. The dean orients the team to the history and activities of the medical school as well as the relationship with and functioning of the regional campus.
- From approximately 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., October 20th and 21st, the team will meet with appropriate faculty, students and staff. Each evening the team reviews the information they have collected and composes their report.
- A full list is available on the Policy & Procedures page.
- The Interim Review Team will ALWAYS ask EVERYONE about student mistreatment and student exposure policies.
- Staff and faculty connected directly to the provision of undergraduate medical education will be expected to be aware of the policies and procedures relevant to their work and provide evidence that the policies and procedures are followed.
- e.g., the UCLs should know procedures around changing the curricular content and be able to provide evidence of a time when the procedure was followed.
- The process of accreditation ensures we are delivering high quality, dynamic and innovative academic programming to our learners while enabling our faculty to be exceptional teachers.
All staff and faculty who are directly involved in the administration of medical education and support to learners. Also, a representative group of students, residents, and faculty are expected to meet with the Limited Site Visit Team.