Not Just Standards, the Highest Standards

The ACS Division of Education is responsible for managing the accreditation program. Through the use of the ACS Accredited Education Institutes (AEI) Standards and Criteria, participating institutes and skills centers ensure the delivery of the highest quality surgical education.

There are two categories of accreditation that may be sought: Comprehensive and Focused. The requirements for learners, space, facilities, and personnel are higher for Comprehensive AEIs compared to Focused AEIs; however, both Comprehensive and Focused Education Institutes must meet rigorous standards for accreditation and undergo a robust multi-level review process. The differences between the two levels of accreditation are noted in our Standards Manual.

The following videos provide a high-level overview of each standard.

• Overview of changes
• Standard 1
  
• Standard 2
  
• Standard 3
  
• Standard 4
  
• Standard 5

Implementation of the 2021 Standards

AEIs were expected to begin implementing Standards for Accredited Education Institutes (2021 Standards) in November 2021. However, AEIs will not complete an application reflecting the revised standards until they are up for renewal. In the meantime, to help AEIs become familiar with the reorganization of the standards as well as the requirements to demonstrate compliance, all programs will complete a new annual compliance report reflecting the revised standards. Visit the Resources section of your AEI Portal to view new annual compliance report.

2021 Standards and Resources

Standards for Accredited Education Institutes

The Program for Accreditation of Education Institutes is pleased to present the third version of our Standards titled Standards for Accredited Education Institutes. The goals of the 2021 revisions were to reduce redundancy and clarify intent. This resulted in what is primarily a reorganization of the previous Standards. A crosswalk comparing the 2012 standards to the 2021 standards is available for download.