The Historical Development of Accreditation in Medical Education

IT MAY BE CONTENDED that national accreditation of medical institutions in this country commenced in 1847 with the organization of the American Medical Association in Philadelphia. The call to this meeting voiced the belief that national convention would be conducive to the elevation of the standards of medical education in the United States. Medical Schools The Philadelphia session appointed a Committee on Medical Education which stated, This Association considers defective and erroneous every system of medical instruction which does not rest on the basis of practical demonstration and clinical teaching;... it is... the duty of the medical schools to resort to every honorable means to obtain access for their students to the wards of a well regulated hospital. 1 The lowly state of undergraduate medical education a hundred years ago is reflected in the frequent resolutions, debates, and recommendations dealing with this subject as the principal topic of discussion