An accessible and nonthreatening mechanism must be in place to ensure that allegations of unprofessional behavior hindering the learning environment can be investigated impartially. Program Evaluation Programs must have a means by which educational experiences and other components of the educational program can be evaluated regularly. Input from and participation by residents must be an essential part of this system. Programs must demonstrate the ability to implement changes in any component in response to program evaluation. Faculties of medicine must have in place an effective system of internal review.
Internal review is an essential part of the accreditation process.
It is an important mechanism for providing the postgraduate residency education committee and the residency program with information necessary to improve the quality of the program. It should permit identification of strengths and weaknesses and the recommendation of changes within the program. Internal reviews must be conducted at regular intervals between external reviews by the College of Family Physicians of Canada. While programs are expected to have mechanisms to monitor activities and experiences regularly, this more formal review should follow a process similar to that used by the CFPC s accreditation process. Whenever appropriate, this review should be done as part of the university-wide internal review.