Analysis of accreditation standards for medical programmes in Argentina

Abstract

The evaluation of the quality of higher education is a key issue that involves a diverse array of factors, factors which encourage the revision of policies and systems of accreditation, both of which are systematic and well-established processes in Argentina. The accreditation of an undergraduate programme of study consists of recognition based on certain standards and minimum quality criteria which have been previously determined. This research analyses the makeup of accreditation standards for medical programmes in Argentina. The results demonstrate differences in the makeup of standards in terms of the quantity and distribution of objects of evaluation and variables associated with each other. In addition, we identified a lack of order of appearance of the different objects and related variables in the standards, with certain objects of evaluation being evaluated, followed by others, while afterwards there is a return to these same objects in subsequent standards.

Keywords: Standards, accreditation, makeup, undergraduate, medicine.