The actions of the Association of Faculties of Medicine in Chile (ASOFAMECH) to assure the quality of medical education in Chile

The aim of ASOFAMECH is to assure the quality of medical education. It promoted a development plan that in 1999 put into motion the accreditation of careers, that soon should be mandatory. Since December 2003, the National Medical Examination is applied and graduates from Medical Schools take it voluntarily. Since 1979, ASOFAMECH created an accreditation system for different training programs for specialists. In 2003 the incorporation of these programs to the Law of Quality Assurance of Superior Education was requested. In 1984, ASOFAMECH participated in the creation of the National Corporation to Assess and Certify Medical Specialists (CONACEM). Recently, the Health Superintendence was created. This organism will gather a national registry of specialists. ASOFAMECH, Scientific Societies, The Chilean College of Physicians and the Academy of Medicine proposed that a title obtained from an accredited training program in a University or a certificate emanated from CONACEM should be requisities fro the incorporation to this registry. These are the actions taken by ASOFAMECH to assure the quality of medical education in Chile.