International Surgical Education Centres

International Centre Accreditation is an award of Excellence from the Royal College of Surgeons in recognition of outstanding surgery-related educational provision by a Surgical Education Centre.

The College’s Centre Accreditation process is a review of the entire Surgical Education Centre, its facilities, resources and faculty, its education portfolio, and the infrastructure and quality management processes which underpin the delivery of its educational products. Centre Accreditation is only awarded where there is a clear demonstration of, and a broad confidence in, each of these components. As part of an application, evidence must be provided which demonstrates that the delivery of all provision meets the quality and standards as defined by the College. Where Centre Accreditation is awarded, the Centre receives a time limited institutional accreditation.

Benefits of Centre Accreditation

Receiving International Centre Accreditation from the Royal College of Surgeons of England will enable you to join a very select group of centres that have demonstrated excellence in surgical education provision. The benefits of Centre Accreditation include:

General Benefits

• Peer review from a panel of leading surgeons
• Use of the RCS Logo on materials and websites related to the centre
• Use of the RCS Logo on materials and websites for each accredited course run by the centre
• Listing on the RCS Website
• Listing in RCS Bulletin
• Use of the strap line ‘Accredited by the Royal College of Surgeons of England’ for a three year accreditation term (subject to satisfactory monitoring and review)
• Applicable courses will be awarded with Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points as part of Course Accreditation (where relevant)

Monitoring and Evaluation

Monitoring and evaluation of accredited International Surgical Education Centres includes:

• Use of RCS online participant and faculty evaluation, SCOPE, for all surgical courses accredited by the RCS
• Development and maintenance of online questionnaires in accordance with RCS standards and tailored to specifics courses
• Robust analysis and reporting

Publications

Corporate licence to access RCS Annals and Bulletins online subscription, is included in the annual monitoring fee. Publications will receive a dedicated share of income in accordance with online subscriptions fee scale.

Education

Bespoke individually tailored RCS Course Packages including:

• Course design workshops tailored to specialty/sub-specialty needs
• Faculty development customised classes (workshops for trainers tailored to specialty/sub-specialty needs
• NOTE:
  • Individually tailored bespoke packages could be considered and developed exclusively for RCS Accredited Centres within the subject areas of accredited courses.
  • Standard RCS Course packages are available for any RCS Accredited or Not Accredited instruction which fulfils the criteria for RCS Course delivery regionally and overseas and subject to Standard RCS Fees

  All Education offerings are subject to separate service level contracts.

Membership

• Membership - An opportunity for lead faculty members from accredited centres to be nominated for the Fellowship ad eundem
• NOTE:

  • RCS Fellowships ad eundem could be suggested on a limited basis to lead faculty from the accredited courses. Nominations and approvals are Subject to Rules and Conditions of RCS Fellowship ad eundem

The table below outlines the type of information that would be required as part of a Centre Accreditation Application. The Centre Approval Application should be supported by relevant appendices, including existing policy statements and data, as well as any additional information that may support the application.

Criteria	Information required
Appropriate Learning Environment	Brief description of the Centre (incl. evidence of a shared educational philosophy with College)
	Range of programmes
	Strategy for delivery surgical courses
	A rationale for the proposed collaboration, both in terms of the programme and in working with College within the context of the Centre strategy
	Clear statement that the Centre understands and agrees to operate the principles and practices established for the collaboration
	Details of the resource base to support programmes – physical accommodation, revenue, capital support, computing facilities, subject specific resources
	Staff details
	Arrangements for educational and administrative support of participants
Effective Organisational Structure	Description of the Centre’s organisational structures
	Learning and teaching strategy
	How responsibility for programme design, delivery and assessment is devolved locally
Quality Assurance of the Centre’s provision	The procedures for maintenance and enhancement of quality and standards
	How the Centre monitors and evaluates its overall performance
	How programme quality is monitored and evaluated within the Centre
	How the Centre will prepare monitoring and review reports
	How the reports will be considered within the Centre, and the process for implementing recommended actions
	How participant evaluation of programmes occurs
	Decision making and problem resolution systems at programme and Centre level
Educational Portfolio	Number of Courses/ Specialties(Subspecialties)
	Course Programme Details (as per Course Approval requirements pro-forma)

Further Information

Full details of the College’s fee structure can be reviewed on the Fees pages pages.Full details of the College’s monitoring requirements can be reviewed on the Monitoring pages pages.For further information about Centre Accreditation including the Criteria and Standards, please review the Guidance/FAQs.

If you have any queries about Surgical Education Centre Accreditation, please contact the Quality Assurance Department at qa@rcseng.ac.uk or on 020 7869 6236/6221.