What is Accreditation?

Accreditation is an external quality assurance process that ensures our MD program meets the standards set by the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS). It compares our policies, processes, and learner experiences against national expectations. 

It protects learners, staff and faculty, assures quality to support excellent patient care, and maintains eligibility for residency training. 

Accreditation checks whether what we say we do matches what our students actually experience. 

Strategic Direction: “Paving Our Path to 2030”

The College of Medicine’s strategic direction emphasizes: 

  • Connecting
  • Advancing ohpahotân | oohpaahotaan (Indigenous Strategy)
  • Reflecting and learning
  • Embedding equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility (EDIA) principles
  • Sharing our stories
Everything we do—curriculum, admissions, research, community work—flows from our mission to cultivate the health and well‑being of people in Saskatchewan through meaningful service, education, scholarship, and research that matter.

Social Accountability at the College of Medicine

Social accountability is woven throughout admissions, curriculum, community partnerships, research, and service. 

Key components include: 

  • Division of Social Accountability (DSA) 
  • Office of the Vice Dean Indigenous Health (OVDIH) 
  • Biennial community consultations identifying priority health needs 
  • Integration of Social Determinants of Health, equity, Indigenous health, and advocacy skills across curriculum and clerkship 
  • Rural and remote learning experiences 
We train physicians for Saskatchewan — especially communities who have historically been underserved.

Learning Environment & Anti-Discrimination

We prioritize an environment that is safe, inclusive, respectful, and anti-oppressive. 

Foundations include: 

  • The USask Discrimination & Harassment Prevention Policy 
  • The CoM Mistreatment Procedures 
  • Anti-Racism Transformation in Medical Education (ART) participation 
  • CME’s award-winning program “Role of Practitioners in Indigenous Wellness” 
  • Policies shared across all sites (SHA + USask) 
Respect and safety are non-negotiable. We respond promptly and supportively when concerns arise.

High-Level Policy Framework (Mistreatment, Scheduling, Assessment)

Policies you should be familiar with at a high level include:  All policies can be found here. 
Our policies exist to protect student wellbeing, ensure fairness, and maintain academic integrity.

Student Mistreatment: What It Is & How We Address It

We have a zero tolerance stance. Mistreatment includes: 
  • Public humiliation 
  • Racism, sexism, discrimination 
  • Threats or retaliation 
  • Inappropriate physical contact 
  • Harassment 
Reporting options include: 
  • Office of Student Affairs (OSA) 
  • Mistreatment reporting form 
  • Mistreatment Reform Committee proxy reporting 
  • USask Confidence Line 
  • SHA processes when applicable 
Students are protected from retaliation, and all reports are followed up—formally or informally—based on the student’s preference.

Scheduled Time Expectations (Pre-clerkship & Clerkship)

Pre-Clerkship: 
  • Max 35 hours/week curricular time 
  • On average, Max 28 hours/week scheduled 
  • On average, Min 7 hours/week unscheduled 
  • Standard day 8:30–4:30 
Clerkship: 
  • National duty hour expectations 
  • Protected time for academic halfdays 
  • Monitoring through One45 
We monitor workload closely to support student wellness and meet national expectations.

Program Learning Objectives (PLOs)

The PLOs define the “USask physician.” They mirror CanMEDS roles: 

  • Medical Expert 
  • Communicator 
  • Collaborator 
  • Leader 
  • Health Advocate 
  • Scholar 
  • Professional 

These guide curriculum mapping and assessment. 

Curriculum is fully mapped to the PLOs - every course and rotation links back to them.

MD Curriculum Overview (High-Level)

Pre-Clerkship (Years 1 - 2): 
  • Foundations, Clinical Skills, Medicine & Society, Success in Medical School 
  • Active learning emphasis & CBL 
  • Early community, rural, and Indigenous health learning 
  • Service-learning and advocacy experiences 
  • Significant early hands-on clinical learning 
Clerkship (Years 3 - 4): 
  • Rotations across SK 
  • Option for Saskatchewan Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (SLIC) 
  • Rural/remote family medicine 
  • Required socially accountable elective 
  • Weekly longitudinal Year 3 course and Year 4 capstone course to prepare for residency  
Our curriculum reflects the realities of healthcare in Saskatchewan—urban, rural, remote, and Indigenous.

Admissions (IAP, DSAAP, BSAP, Rural Pathways)

Our admissions processes intentionally support a student body that reflects Saskatchewan.

Key Strengths of the USask MD Program

  • Strong social accountability leadership 
  • Rural and remote training experiences 
  • Indigenous health commitments 
  • Active, integrated curriculum 
  • Improved student support systems 
  • Robust Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) mechanisms 
  • Positive learning environment indicators 
  • Focus on hands-on clinical learning experience 

Questions?

If you have any questions, please contact med.quality@usask.ca.
Note: USask's College of Medicine Green Book of Accreditation was inspired by the University of Alberta's Little Yellow Book for Accreditation. 

University of Alberta MD Program. (2022). The Little Yellow Book for Accreditation. https://www.ualberta.ca/en/medicine/programs/md/about/accreditation/guide.html