$20M from province will help U of S College of Medicine keep its accreditation: dean

The University of Saskatchewan's College of Medicine says $20 million from the provincial government will helpthe college keep its full accreditation.

The college announced the funding in a post on itswebsiteThursday.

The money is specifically meant to cover costs associatedwith the ongoing review of the college's accreditation by the Committee on the Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schoolsand its American equivalent,the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.

Standards fell short

That review became necessary when, a few years ago, the college was not keeping up with the standards of its peers. U of S student performance in national exams was at the bottom of all Canadian medical schools.

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Since then, the college has been hiring new staff and tweaking its curriculum to raise its standards.

Dr. Preston Smith, the dean of the college, saw the money from the government as a vote of confidence in that work.

"The government sees that the work we've been doing to develop a new curriculum, a new faculty structure is actually working," he said.

The provincial government had previously asked the university to reach within its own operating budget to cover the cost of that restructuring.

The money announced Thursday means the school will no longer have to do that,said university presidentPeter Stoicheff.

The university had previously voiced worries that funding cuts could put the college's accreditation at risk.

Up for final review

Representatives from theCommittee on the Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schoolsandthe Liaison Committee on Medical Educationwill be visiting the college from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1. for a final review to determinewhether the school is up to par.

The college expects to hear by June or July 2018 whether it will keep its full accreditation, said Smith.

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