Secretariat of International Quality Assurance and Accreditation Network has been chosen by Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education to facilitate the international accreditation process of selected Iranian universities of medical sciences. To meet this expectation, the Secretariat of Quality Assurance and Accreditation Network (IQAAN) has planned a project which requires 15 months period of time and is going to be done in 17 different phases. This projects consists of three stages which are defined as introduction, implementation and monitoring.

In the introduction stage which consists of three phases and is estimated to last three months, selected universities of medical sciences will get trained to prepare for the accreditation process and collect the required documents.

The implementation process which includes 10 phases and is considered as the key stage of the accreditation process is estimated to last about 6 months. In this stage the selected universities will get trained to prepare themselves for the site-visit of the inspectors which are sent on behalf of the accreditation body.

The final stage which is the monitoring stage consists of 5 phases and will take approximately 6 months to be done. In this stage, the universities which have been able to receive an accreditation certificate will get trained to monitor all the responsibilities and activities that are done in the university and will learn how to prepare for the reaccreditation that must be done after four years.

Moreover, the universities which did not receive accreditation certificate, will get trained to prepare to apply once more for the accreditation process and try to receive accreditation certificate again. 

All these stages and phases have been indicated in details in the flowchart below: