[Accreditation of medical schools. Purpose, development and projections of a process (corrected)]

Important advances in the accreditation of higher education institutions and programs have occurred in Chile. A definite step forward had been the accreditation of three of the six Medical Schools, considered in the agreement subscribed between the Chilean Medical Faculties Association and the National Committee for Undergraduate Program Accreditation (CNAP). According to this understanding, educational quality was evaluated using international standards and its improvement was encouraged. The accreditation procedure carried out at the University of Chile Medical School is described. Its observation has revealed the difficulties of accreditation procedures and the early benefits obtained after they have been completed. The careful observation of the evaluation procedure will help to improve the used model and to design an effective accreditation instrument that will ultimately improve undergraduate teaching programs.