ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada – The medical program at the St. George’s University School of Medicine has been reaccredited by members of the Grenada Medical and Dental Council (GMDC), for a period eight years or until the year 2030.
St. George's University campus, in Grenada. (Photo courtesy of St. George's University)The notice was recently published in an issue of the government gazette.
“The Grenada Medical and Dental Council hereby announces that it has completed a comprehensive review and evaluation of the St. George’s University School of Medicine (SG USOM) medical education program for the purpose of making a redetermination decision on that program’s accreditation status,” said the chairman of the council, Dr. Robert Yearwood.
The Council was established in 2010 as mandated by the Health Practitioner’s Act.
Pursuant to the Act, the Ministry of Health appoints Council members to carry out GMDC’s responsibilities to oversee “educational institutions with respect to the education of persons in the practice of the medical or dental profession” and “to promote high standards in the practice of medicine and dentistry” in Grenada.
According to its website, in 2017, the Cabinet of ministers and members of the Houses of Parliament formally adopted Resolution 1583, authorizing the Council to “take the necessary steps to develop a new accreditation system to accredit medical schools in Grenada and to begin the work to perform this necessary function.”
In March 2019, Parliament amended the Health Practitioner’s Act, granting GMDC the authority to accredit medical schools operating in Grenada.
The 2019 amendment authorized the Council to undertake all activities necessary to evaluate, accredit, and monitor medical schools in Grenada, and prohibits any person or institution from advertising, conducting courses, or delivering services of a medical doctor degree program unless accredited by GMDC.
In December 2019, the US National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation via a letter to then Health Minister Nicholas Steele determined that the standards and processes for accreditation used by the Ministries of Education and Health in order for the Council to accredit medical schools were comparable to those applied to medical schools in the United States.
