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Are Caribbean medical schools accredited?

How Caribbean MD programs are accredited, how to read CAAM-HP, ACCM, NVAO, and GMDC statuses, and where to verify the live registry.

Page last reviewed 2026-11-02

Short answer: Some are, some are not — and "accredited" is not one label. Status depends on the accrediting body, the exact decision (full, with conditions, provisional, withdrawn, denied), and the date you checked. Open the agency's own list before deciding.

Last reviewed: 2026-11-02.

Why this question is messy

Caribbean medical schools use several accreditors. The two regional names students encounter most often are:

  • CAAM-HP — Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and Other Health Professions. WFME-recognized. Publishes a live assessed-programs list.
  • ACCM — Accreditation Commission on Colleges of Medicine. Also WFME-recognized. Publishes its own assessed-programmes page.

Others matter too:

  • NVAO — Dutch-Flemish Accreditation Organisation. Accredits Saba University (Caribbean Netherlands).
  • GMDC — Grenada Medical and Dental Council. Cited by St. George's University for its primary government recognition.
  • IAAR — listed by some schools as an accreditor; verify its WFME recognition status against the current WFME Recognition Status list.

Treating every school as "ACCM accredited" or "CAAM-HP accredited" without checking is a common error in secondary directories. Confirm each body on the school's own accreditation page and then on the agency's live list.

How to read a status

Use the agency's own language. Do not soften or upgrade:

| Label you see on an agency list | What it means | What it does NOT mean | |---|---|---| | Accredited | Full accreditation, conditions not stated | Permanent; can change at next review | | Accredited with conditions | Accredited — but conditions attached | Equivalent to clean "accredited" | | Provisional accreditation | Time-limited, may progress or lapse | Full accreditation | | Candidacy / applicant status | Early process stage | Accreditation | | Not accredited | Agency did not grant accreditation | — | | Voluntarily withdrawn | School left the process | Accredited | | Denied | Agency rejected the application | — | | On probation | Concerns serious enough for probation | Status cleared |

"Assessed" or "site visit completed" is not accreditation. See methodology.

Who recognizes these accreditors?

The key question for U.S. pathway planning is not just "is the school accredited?" but "is the accreditor recognized by WFME?" ECFMG's eligibility rules (as of 2024 onward) increasingly require a WFME-recognized accreditor. Check:

Live registry (start here)

We maintain a verification-dated master accreditation table built from primary agency lists and school disclosures. Each row links to a source URL and a lastVerified date. Browse individual school pages under Schools, or compare the Big 4 on Compare.

Examples that catch bad directories

| School | Common trap | What primary sources show (verify live) | |---|---|---| | American University of Antigua | Listed generically as "ACCM" | CAAM-HP — accredited with conditions (2024–2028 on CAAM-HP list) | | Saba University | Called "ACCM" accredited | NVAO, not ACCM — 2018 besluit; positive peer review 2026-01-27 | | All Saints University | Called "accredited" without nuance | CAAM-HP not accredited; ACCM voluntarily withdrawn (2025); school cites IAAR | | ACSOM | Called fully ACCM accredited | ACCM provisional since Nov 2025 |

Always open the agency page before you decide. Our pages can lag a fresh agency update.

What accreditation does not guarantee

Accreditation (even from a WFME-recognized agency) does not by itself guarantee:

  • U.S. residency placement
  • Title IV federal loan eligibility
  • Licensure in a specific U.S. state or other country
  • A specific ECFMG pathway eligibility

Those are separate checks — see ECFMG / U.S. pathway and the U.S. Department of Education foreign schools resource.

Primary sources (always verify directly)

  1. CAAM-HP assessed programs list
  2. ACCM assessed programmes list
  3. NVAO public decisions database
  4. WFME Recognition Status
  5. ECFMG eligibility documentation

Next steps

  1. Open the accreditation registry — one row per decision
  2. Read the school's entity page and click through to the primary source
  3. Re-check the agency list yourself before applying — decisions change at agency meetings
  4. See how to compare schools for a structured checklist

All guides · Methodology · Corrections