The IRCAD (Research Institute Against Cancers of the Digestive System) has been officially certified by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) for all of its educational programs in minimally invasive surgery, held in Strasbourg, France. As a result, the IRCAD has become the first French Academic Center in surgical education and training to earn such a prestigious distinction, granted by the world-famous ACS scientific organization based in America.
The IRCAD trains more than 4,300 surgeons from the world over, and takes pride in being accredited along with other American illustrious academic institutions such as Stanford, Harvard, New York University, Duke or University of Houston.
The IRCAD has become the first and only academic center dedicated to surgical education to be accredited in France, and is also one of the few centers to have been accredited in Europe, along with the prestigious Imperial College of Surgeons in London.
The accreditation is valid for a period of 3 years. This distinction aims to improve surgical patient care, to support mandatory continuing medical education, to supervise and control surgeons’ skills, and to enhance education and training in new surgical techniques.
In order to claim for this accreditation, the IRCAD has been submitted to a two-step evaluation. The first step consisted in a thorough on-site review of the IRCAD, conducted by expert physicians. The second step consisted in the creation of an extensive application, which required the dedication of two qualified members of staff working full time on the project for 4 months. In the end, the Evaluation Committee for Accreditation unanimously agreed on the certification of the IRCAD as a comprehensive Accredited Education Institute.
This new distinction awarded for the top-notch quality of the IRCAD’s educational programs adds to the previously granted accreditations delivered by the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, the American Medical Association, as well as the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
The American College of Surgeons (ACS) is a scientific and educational organization of physicians, which was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and to improve the quality of care for surgical patients. The ACS has more than 78,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world.