11 Medical Schools Including Yonsei and Wonkwang Granted Four-Year Accreditation in KIMEE Regular Evaluation

All Seven Medical Schools Maintain Accreditation in Interim Evaluation

The Korean Institute of Medical Education and Evaluation (KIMEE), which assesses and accredits the quality of medical education, has granted a four-year accreditation to all 11 medical schools reviewed in its regular evaluation.

On January 8, KIMEE announced that it had conducted the 2025 regular evaluation for medical education accreditation for 11 medical schools-Gachon, Konyang, Kyungpook, Dankook, Daegu Catholic, Ajou, Yonsei, Wonkwang, Jeju, Chungnam, and Chungbuk-and decided to grant them four-year accreditation, valid until February 28, 2030.

In accordance with relevant laws, KIMEE conducts regular evaluations when a university applies one year before its accreditation period expires. For this evaluation, 10 universities whose accreditation was set to expire on February 28 of the following year after being granted accreditation in the previous regular evaluation, and one university whose accreditation was deferred in the 2024 interim evaluation, were subject to review.

KIMEE stated that it applied the 'ASK2019' accreditation standards, which were established in accordance with the standards set by the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME). The evaluation and accreditation were conducted using 92 basic criteria and 51 excellence criteria across nine evaluation domains. These nine domains include: ▲Mission and Outcomes ▲Curriculum ▲Student Assessment ▲Students ▲Faculty ▲Educational Resources ▲Educational Evaluation ▲University Governance and Administration ▲Continuous Improvement.

The universities under evaluation conducted their own self-assessment studies in accordance with the accreditation standards and the self-assessment report guidelines after submitting their evaluation applications. They then submitted these reports to KIMEE, which formed an on-site evaluation team to conduct both document reviews and on-site evaluations.

A KIMEE official stated, "The 11 universities demonstrated a high level of understanding of the accreditation standards and engaged in continuous efforts to improve the quality of medical education, striving to meet the accreditation criteria." The official added, "However, for the 2023 academic year, a temporary guideline due to COVID-19 was applied, and for the 2024 academic year, the judgment reflected the fact that student education was disrupted due to ongoing conflicts between the medical community and the government."

To maintain and manage the quality of education, KIMEE also conducted interim evaluations for seven medical schools-Keimyung, Kosin, Soonchunhyang, Yonsei Wonju, Yeungnam, Ulsan, and Chosun-and decided to maintain their accreditation status.

According to KIMEE regulations, interim evaluations are conducted every two years for universities that maintain accreditation. All seven universities subject to the 2025 interim evaluation had received accreditation in the 2023 regular evaluation.

On this day, KIMEE notified the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and relevant organizations of these results. However, for Wonkwang, Chungbuk, and Ulsan universities, the 'accreditation deferral' decision from the 2024 (first-year) major change evaluation will be applied first, and the final accreditation type and period will be determined based on the results of the 2025 (second-year) major change evaluation to be issued in the first half of this year.

Previously, in February of last year, KIMEE conducted a major change evaluation for 30 medical schools nationwide whose 2025 admission quotas increased by more than 10 percent, and issued an 'accreditation deferral' decision for these three universities.