Graduate Medical Education across National Boundaries

Abstract

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) is a professional organization that accredits over 9,300 graduate medical education (residency and fellowship) programs in the United States. It receives no funds from any other corporate entity; it is funded solely through its accreditation services. After receipt of numerous requests to accredit programs outside the United States, ACGME created the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education - International (ACGME-I) to work with educational programs and institutions in other countries. ACGME-I accreditation incorporates many of the structural elements of ACGME accreditation, while being mindful of local customs, societal issues, and history in which the international program resides. It does not intend to place a United States model in other countries, but rather to adapt what we have learned to the local educational environment. The ACGME believes that its work, along with that of others, can help improve world health through physician education.