The integration of alternative training modalities to improve safety within healthcare is increasing and will become progressively part of training, assessment, research and process improvement infrastructure of all disciplines. As there was a need for an official organization in Europe to accredit medical training centres, NASCE was officially founded under the umbrella of UEMS in 2015.

21 different sections of UEMS have recognized NASCE Accreditation System. 

• SWOT analysis of the centre and constructive feedback from NASCE council based upon the site visit by two Accreditation Review Board members
• Opportunity for networking within Europe
• Sharing experience & knowledge with other accredited centres
• Accreditation may lead to increased recognition internationally by non-commercial and commercial organizations
• Active participation at yearly NASCE congress

• Any centre with an appropriate steering board that offers consisted, planned, collaborative and integrated alternative training modalities (assessment, research, teaching activities) to improve clinical care, patient safety and/or outcome metrics across the healthcare system. Centres can be accredited to two levels (single specialty or multispeciality format centre) upon meeting standards set under six headers (Governance, Administration , Teachers , Learners Competencies , Research and Development)
• NASCE accredits the centre but does not accredit specific skills courses or content per se. Accreditation is an on-going process of development and yearly membership of NASCE is required if accredited status is used in any documents related to the centre.

The accreditation process will include:

• Completion of a Application Form for Accreditation
• Review by NASCE Council
• Site visit by two ARB surveyors after signing confidentiality agreement
• Review of the report the two surveyors to ARB and NASCE council
• Decision by the NASCE council
• Decision and constructive feedback sent to centre by NASCE council

If a centre fulfils most criteria, the ARB (Accreditation Review Board) will review the report of the ARB visitors to the centre and based upon consent a temporary accreditation for one year may be granted with the obligation to fulfil “all” required criteria before the end of that year.

Definitely not, 21 sections of UEMS have approved NASCE Accreditation Program and are supporting NASCE http://nascenet.org/structure/council

Yes, as long as these centres are affiliated with a Local University and/or Local Hospital

Yes definitely, because during CRM training, different types of alternative training modalities such as simulation based education are being used and a variety of healthcare providers are being trained and assessed to improve overall safety in daily practice. Furthermore research in this field is increasingly popular. Just be aware that NASCE is not accrediting the content of the training sessions but the overall organization and centre behind it.

No, NASCE only accredits centres not the courses. The various sections of the UEMS do this.

The NASCE council will handle each decision individually. But the documentation for review must be submitted in English, and the surveyors will require your centre to provide someone with knowledge of the centre who is fluent in English as well as your primary language to translate for the surveyors.

For centres outside the UEMS area the surveyors are entitled to a business class flight. The centres should be within 2 hours safe travel from a major airport hub as well as appropriate 4 star accommodations or equivalent. Domestic travel to be organized and paid by the applying institute (for more information; please read the pdf document ”process of accreditation”).

If a center focuses only on one discipline such as anaesthesiology, it  is considered as a single specialty centre. Centres focusing on more than one specialty are considered as multispecialty centres.

There are minor differences in the accreditation criteria for these two types of centres.

Currently this service is not provided by NASCE. 

Currently this service is not provided by NASCE.

Indeed it may be regarded as costly but the purpose of the site visit is to clarify the following:

• Site characteristics – can only be identified by observation
• Outcomes – by speaking with the learners, observing training sessions or videos
• Organizational structure and financial support by meeting the key individuals. 
  

Prior to start the visit of the centre, the two ARB surveyors will sign two copies of a confidentiality agreement and hand one to the centre director and one will kept by the NASCE secretary.

The Application Form for Accreditation will be reviewed by the NASCE council and the two ARB surveyors. 

• Not accredited
• Fully accredited for 4 years
• Temporary accreditation for one year with the obligation to fulfil “all” required criteria before the end of that year.

The maximum time for accreditation by NASCE is 4 years with annual reports.

Yes, an appeal may be done in writing to the ARB, and the decision will be reviewed by external experts within the UEMS.

In order to assure centres have had the appropriate time to fulfil all criteria, centres must wait one year from the NASCE council decision.

Yes indeed, the list can be reviewed on the webpage "Accredited Centers"

The differences of NASCE with other accreditation programs (SSH, ACS ...) are the following:

• NASCE accredits centres with different specialties in contrary to systems accrediting only surgical training centres.
• As NASCE is functioning under the umbrella of UEMS, NASCE accreditation is a governmental system compared with accreditation systems given by associations.

Abstracts of the research conducted at the accredited NASCE centre can be submitted yearly to the NASCE secretary. The local organizing committee supported by the NASCE council will decide if abstracts will be accepted for oral or poster presentations. The best five abstracts will be eligible to enter into a prize competition. At the moments, there is no official journal for NASCE.

Yes, participants coming from NASCE accredited centres have reduced registration fees at scientific activities of NASCE.