On 21-22 September 2018, the International Seminar on Quality Assurance in Nursing Education was held at the Higher Medical College of the Health Department of Almaty with the participation of 31 delegates from 20 medical education organizations (medical colleges, higher medical colleges, medical universities, HEIs) of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The seminar was organized by the Eurasian Сentre for Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Health сare in the framework of the Plan for the implementation of the goals and objectives of the Memorandum of Cooperation with the JAMK University of Applied Sciences (Finland), which is the partner of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the program of modernization of nursing education in Kazakhstan. The Speaker of the seminar was Johanna Heikkilä who is the Senior Advisor to the President of the JAMK University of Applied Sciences, the Project Manager of the “Modernization of Nursing Education”, the Coordinator and Scientific Supervisor of the CBHE (“Capacity Building in the Field of Higher Education”) for the ProInCa project (“Promoting the innovative potential of higher education in the field of nursing”).

The 2-day seminar covered the International Requirements for Nursing Education (EQF, EU 55/2013, WHO2020, Tuning, Bologna), Quality Assurance in educational institutions (ENQA standards, WHO 2009, student engagement), Support of the World Bank project and the ProInCa Erasmus + CBHA project in the development of nursing in Kazakhstan, the assessment process and the criteria for the transformation of higher medical schools, data on the introduction of a new competency-based learning approach to training in nursing. The participants were also provided with examples of self-assessment of educational institutions in the framework of accreditation in Finland and stages of expert work.

The criteria and accreditation procedure in nursing education developed by the ECAQA were delivered by the ECAQA Director-General Saule Sarsenbayeva.

The Eurasian Centre for Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Health Care (ECAQA) will hold a training workshop on "Accreditation of Medical Education: International and National Context and Prospects" on 5-6 October 2018 in Astana for the ECAQA experts, staff of universities and scientific centers. The speaker of the workshop is Prof. Geneviève Moineau, President and CEO of the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC), Senior Adviser of the World Federation for Medical Education, Member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

The workshop venue: the National Research Center for Maternal and Child Health of the Corporate Fund “University Medical Center” of Nazarbayev University (the conference hall, 32 Turan ave., Astana).

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Eurasian Centre for Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Health Care (ECAQA), the Republic of Kazakhstan, and JAMK University of Applied Sciences, Finland, on 31 May 2018 in Almaty.

The ECAQA representative has participate at the International Conference of the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE), which was held in Helsinki (Finland) on August 26-30, 2017 and participate at the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) Recognition Program for Accrediting Agencies: Purpose, processes, and criteria.

David Gordon (World Federation for Medical Education); John J. Norcini and Marta van Zanten (Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research, USA) “While the purposes of accreditation of basic medical education are to evaluate and ensure the quality of medical education programmes and encourage improvement, accreditation practices vary considerably worldwide. Consequently, the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) has developed and implemented a global programme aimed at recognised agencies that accredit medical schools at an international standard. This workshop will provide and overview of the WFME recognition programme and an in-depth understanding of its purpose, processes, and criteria.