The effect of accreditation on the education and management processes of the faculty of medicine

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the accreditation studies carried out at Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine between 2010 and 2020 and to determine the effect of the accreditation standards on faculty development. Method: This study is a qualitative research conducted in two stages. The first stage is the description of the self-evaluation reports of Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine between 2010 and 2020 using the document analysis method, and the second stage is the qualitative analysis of the data obtained from personal in-depth interviews with faculty members working in education management between these years. Results: Accreditation studies carried out at Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine have provided rapid change in the topics of mission and objectives, educational program, assessment of students, program evaluation, students and continuous renewal. Although there are beneficial standards under the main areas of educational resources, academic staff/faculty and governance and administration, it has been observed that the impact is limited. In the in-depth interviews, it was stated that the results of some standards under the headings that were found to be beneficial in the document analysis were not evaluated at a sufficient level. Conclusion: It seems that the accreditation process caused significant changes in the faculty. However, monitoring the quality of concrete data and evaluating the quality of existing practices in the reports is necessary to maximize the benefit to be obtained from the accreditation system. It is recommended that institutions monitor the effectiveness of accreditation and diversify the studies to be carried out in this field.