Mission and Outcomes

Abstract

All of the accreditation standards in use across the globe articulate the need for the medical education program to define its mission. The statement of the mission is an important way to express the educational philosophy and focus and a means to help the program differentiate itself from other medical education programs. For instance, the mission of a medical school should encapsulate what it is that the medical program wants to achieve now but also define the school’s aspirations for the future. Making the medical program mission as succinct as possible such that it is capable of being shared and understood by faculty and students is an important consideration. Most accreditation teams will seek to ensure that the mission is carefully understood by individual members of staff. Mission statements for medical education programs typically describe excellence in teaching (such as innovation) and/or research (such as articulating key research themes or areas). Some medical schools point to course delivery methods such as problem-based or case-based learning and others to the specific context in which student learning will take place (such as rural and remote settings):