New Directions in Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Pediatric Training in the Republic of Kazakhstan – was the title of the presentation by S.S. Sarsenbayeva, Director General of the Eurasian Centre for Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Health Care (ECAQA), at the international conference “Child Health and Development: Modern Approaches to Early Detection of and Intervention in Childhood Diseases”, held on 8–9 October 2026 in Almaty. This traditional international event was organised by the Ministry of Healthcare of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Scientific Center of Pediatrics and Pediatric Surgery, who included ECAQA’s presentation in the plenary session, highlighting the important role of quality assurance and accreditation in education and their direct impact on child health and development.
ECAQA is the first and only specialised accrediting agency for medical, pharmaceutical and nursing education in the post-Soviet space and, like no other, clearly recognises the close link between the quality of education, the training of future doctors in medical educational and research institutions, and public health, progress in the medical sciences, the quality of healthcare services and the effective protection of maternal and child health.
The aim of ECAQA’s presentation was to inform academic and research staff about the importance of accrediting medical educational institutions and educational programmes in pediatrics amid constant external and internal challenges: new viruses, the rise in chronic diseases, modern diagnostic and treatment technologies, the global digitalisation of healthcare, the introduction of artificial intelligence into medical practice, and others. The key points of S.S. Sarsenbayeva’s presentation were as follows. Today, training a modern pediatrician requires not only a high level of theoretical knowledge but also the ability to apply it in real clinical practice. The new directions aim to ensure that medical graduates are ready to solve clinical problems independently, communicate effectively with patients and their families, work in a team and observe the principles of patient safety. The quality of pediatric training is directly linked to the quality of teaching and clinical mentoring. Digitalisation should be regarded not as an end in itself but as a tool for improving the efficiency and quality of medical education. The new directions in accreditation and quality assurance in pediatric training reflect a shift from formal control of the educational process to the assessment of its actual outcomes. The main strategic goal of WFME recognition and programme evaluation is to guarantee that medical graduates have sufficient competencies for safe medical practice. The main goal of the quality system is to train pediatricians who not only have the necessary knowledge but are also able to apply it safely, professionally and on an evidence basis in providing medical care to children. The experience of ECAQA as a specialised accrediting agency has shown that accreditation has gradually moved from formal verification of an educational programme’s compliance with established requirements to the assessment of the actual quality of the educational process and its outcomes.
