Scrutiny of Iran Undergraduate Medical Education Program Accreditation: Post-accreditation Monitoring Challenges

Considering all medical schools in the nation and the preparation of the third round, which will begin in the coming months, a review of the accreditation of undergraduate medical education programs in Iran has identified both opportunities and threats with regard to the 2 previous rounds. The prediction of the third round will not result in quality assurance or improvement for medical schools if the aforementioned opportunities and threats are not carefully examined. This is due in part to a misinterpretation of the nature of accreditation, which is an expertise model, where expertise is the matter of competence, competency, knowledge, skills, and attitude that must be examined in compliance with the well-organized criteria.