Bangladesh has formally begun the accreditation process for medical education, with the Bangladesh Medical Education Accreditation Council (BMEAC) accrediting two government medical colleges for the first time to ensure quality education.
The statutory body has accredited the MBBS programmes of Dhaka Medical College and Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College after the institutions met BMEAC standards, officials said.
BMEAC sent letters to the two colleges on January 12 informing them of the decision, BMEAC Registrar Prof Humayun Kabir Talukder told The Daily Star yesterday, describing the move as a milestone in improving and standardising medical education in the country.
BMEAC will formally issue accreditation certificates to the colleges for a period of five years soon, said Prof Humayun, adding that they granted the accreditation following the standard set by the World Federation for Medical Education for medical education.
The development comes at a time when over 100 public and private medical colleges provide medical education in the country, but the quality of education at many institutions has been questioned due to shortages of manpower, infrastructure, equipment and other facilities.
Against this backdrop, the health ministry has cut 572 seats in government and private medical colleges for the 2025–26 academic session, citing inadequate infrastructure, manpower, hospital facilities and other shortcomings.
The accreditation council was established in April 2024 under the Bangladesh Medical Education Accreditation Act 2023 and was reconstituted in October following the change of government in August that year.
Prof Humayun said the council follows a rigorous process to grant accreditation to medical colleges.
First, BMEAC developed a self-assessment report template for all medical colleges, based on standards set by the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) and relevant local legislation.
After a medical college submits its self-assessment report, a technical committee of the council reviews it. If the committee gives clearance, a team then physically visits the college.
Once the site-visit team submits its report, the council makes a final decision on accreditation assessing 11 criteria based on which the institutions will be judged, he said.
Regarding the two colleges, Prof Humayun said BMEAC shared their documents with the WFME for validation, and a WFME team visited Dhaka Medical College for a first-hand assessment.
He said the two colleges will be required to submit annual reports to BMEAC and renew their accreditation before the expiry of the five-year tenure.
Six more public and private medical colleges have submitted their self-assessment reports, and the council is taking the next steps, he said.
He also said BMEAC has received a positive response from the WFME regarding accreditation of the council itself and hopes the approval process will be completed soon.
Once BMEAC is accredited by the WFME, medical colleges accredited by it will be considered WFME-accredited, he added.
Contacted, Prof Rubina Yasmin, additional director general (medical education) of the Directorate General of Medical Education, said students from accredited medical colleges will benefit in terms of higher studies and job opportunities abroad.
She added that accreditation would also attract more foreign students to study medical education in Bangladesh.
According to the 2025–26 admission circular, there are 5,100 seats in 37 government medical colleges and 6,001 seats in 66 private medical colleges.
