Meet the RCGP International accreditation medical director

My name is Dr Anwar Khan; I am pleased to be given the opportunity to introduce myself as the RCGP International Medical Director for International Accreditation. I have been a GP Trainer and MRCGP Examiner since 1996; I was the Deputy Medical Director of Assessment when the "new” MRCGP came in 2007 and have edited a book on assessment in medical education. Currently, I also run the Induction and Refresher Assessments for GPs wanting to come to work in the UK.

For over a quarter of a century, I have been involved with international education and training in more than two dozen countries; it has been a vital part of my own personal and professional development. I started my work in MRCGP(INT) as International Development Advisor in Oman and I was very keen that they adapted the exam to the specific needs of that country rather than export a UK-model.

RCGP postgraduate training from an MRCGP International site

The RCGP has started an accreditation process for postgraduate specialist training in family medicine in an international setting. The driver for this was a direct request to the College from one of its MRCGP International sites. The purpose of accreditation is to promote and ensure educational programme quality through a rigorous process of external scrutiny and assessment and stimulate further development. It is targeted to international organisations offering a form of postgraduate specialist training following attainment of a medical degree.

Internationally, there is huge variability in these programmes of training in duration, content, and level of practitioner produced and the process of accreditation based upon the World Federation of Medical Education standards allows for this variability. It includes accreditation of the whole training programme, its component parts such as the individual training practices or hospital-based training environments, individual trainers, or educators, as well as the curriculum, and the related assessments.

RCGP International award of excellence

This accreditation aims to provide assurance that the administrative and academic infrastructure, the facilities, quality management processes, and the educational provision and delivery, meet the standards defined by the Royal College of General Practitioners. This award of excellence from RCGP International, using agreed quality criteria, will enable organisations providing family medicine training to:

• Provide assurance and evidence to their organisational leadership, to educators, trainees, and the public that they are delivering high quality education and training.
• Assess their own education and training delivery, governance and leadership arrangements, resources and educational planning against evidence-based quality standards using identified areas of good practice and areas for improvement as a basis for this.
• Demonstrate to stakeholders that the organisation places value on developing a workforce that is fit for purpose, with the right skills, competencies and behaviours to ensure deliver of high-quality patient care.
• Work in partnership with the RCGP and other providers of educational programmes to demonstrate and ensure faculty and doctors in training have access to high quality professional development.