About AFMC

The Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC) is the national voice of Canada’s 17 faculties of medicine.

Our core campuses and teaching communities are comprised of more than 8,000 undergraduate medical students in training, more than 10,000 postgraduate trainees and almost 30,000 full and part-time faculty members. These figures reflect a growth of more than 25% in both the number of students and faculty since 2000.

As part of its mandate, AFMC is continually engaged in advocacy activities related to all facets of academic medicine.

AFMC Standing Committees provide guidance on continuing, postgraduate and undergraduate medical education as well as research and graduate studies. The AFMC Special Resource Committees and Resource Groups also address a variety of issues relevant to medical education.

AFMC manages a rigorous system of accreditation at the undergraduate levels for all 17 faculties of medicine in Canada. Accreditation of undergraduate medical education is undertaken jointly between the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS) in Canada and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) in the U.S.

AFMC, through the Committee on Accreditation of Continuing Medical Education (CACME), also accredits the offices of Continuing Medical Education at all Canadian faculties of medicine.

The Canadian Post-M.D. Education Registry (CAPER) is the active data-gathering and research arm of AFMC with an interest in the post-M.D. clinical education of physicians in Canada.

Since 2002, AFMC's Social Accountability Initiative (SAI) has acknowledged and promoted the role of faculties of medicine in Canada in ensuring access to and quality of the system in order to meet the health needs of the population by addressing issues of professionalism and engaging with other key stakeholders in the areas of public health, Aboriginal health and end-of-life palliative care issues and with young leaders to look at what the health care system will be like in the future. Through the SAI, AFMC is looking at interprofessional models of education and care delivery. AFMC recently received funding to conduct a project on the future of medical education in Canada.

AFMC also coordinates an annual medical education conference. In 2007, over 900 delegates attended the largest conference held in Victoria, B.C.