Family Med Academy

[eLearner]

I stumbled onto this the other day: https://www.familymedacademy.com

It's UK-based and I see that the courses are accredited by the CPD Certification Service in the UK, but there is no institutional accreditation which makes me wary of them offering Master's degrees. Seems like the PG Diploma should be the ceiling. To me, once you start offering degrees you're in a different territory. The UK government (at least from what I can tell) doesn't appear to do much if anything about these sorts of things.

Any thoughts on this program?

[datby98]

I stumbled onto this the other day: https://www.familymedacademy.com

It's UK-based and I see that the courses are accredited by the CPD Certification Service in the UK, but there is no institutional accreditation which makes me wary of them offering Master's degrees. Seems like the PG Diploma should be the ceiling. To me, once you start offering degrees you're in a different territory. The UK government (at least from what I can tell) doesn't appear to do much if anything about these sorts of things.

Any thoughts on this program?

I signed up and tackled a free 10-question quiz in internal medicine, where I was presented with various medical scenarios and had to choose a differential diagnosis or suggest an appropriate treatment. The quiz itself was fine, but the feedback was incredibly useless, offering nothing more than a simple "right" or "wrong." Emmm~ it could be due to the fact they are "free."

Although Liverpool Academy for Family Medicine has a catchy name (and we’ve encountered plenty of companies like it), I don’t believe their offerings are truly aligned with family medicine. Additionally, I have no intention of displaying this so-called Professional Degree Certificate on my wall.

[newdegree]

Look a little fishy. Would you even be able to practice medicine in Liverpool? Am I sure no foreign evaluation company in the US would accept this?

[Stonybeach]

At first glance, it looks like continuing education (CE) and "professional development." In the US, if continuing education meets recertification or license renewal requirements, it is usually accredited by a professional body like the American Medical Association (AMA) or another equivalent body. I believe the same applies in the UK, where CE is accredited by the Royal College of Surgeons or something of that level. The diplomas are essentially "professional development" diplomas. I doubt a NACES evaluator would deem them equal to US accreditation at the degree level, but someone can be our guinea pig. haha

[eLearner]

@datby98, Yeah it's weird how the school has family medicine in its name but it only offers like 2 programs in the subject. The diploma does looks strange.

@newdegree Definitely wouldn't be able to practice medicine with that credential alone. To enroll there, an applicant has to already have a Doctorate in Medicine or a Master's in Medicine and be able to issue it to them (I asked).

@Stonybeach I see issues there, too. CPD appears to have a little more pull in the UK than it should and it looks like this school is trying take advantage of that, but I think an FCE would catch on to it. If I were running this school, I'd stick to PG dips and fellowships. CPD course accreditation is not enough to fully legitimize a degree program.

[Dralex]

I am pleased to formally introduce myself as Dr. Alex. I hold a Master's degree in Dermatology from the Liverpool Academy for Family Medicine, an accredited institution registered with the UK Register of
This academy is also recognized by the CPD Standards Office, ensuring the quality and credibility of its programs.

Best regards,

[Stonybeach]

I am pleased to formally introduce myself as Dr. Alex. I hold a Master's degree in Dermatology from the Liverpool Academy for Family Medicine, an accredited institution registered with the UK Register of
This academy is also recognized by the CPD Standards Office, ensuring the quality and credibility of its programs.

Best regards,

Dr. Alex,

Are you a GP? Does the Liverpool Academy of Family Medicine allow a US licensed Physician Assistant with master's and doctoral degrees to take the program?

Kindest regards,

Stonybeach

[Messdiener]

Between the word 'Professional' showing up before the title of each so-called degree as well the fact that they only have CPD accreditation, I wouldn't spend a single pound on this 'training'.

As a heads up, all that CPD accreditation means is that they have some limited quality control for their professional development courses. More details can be found here: https://www.cpduk.co.uk/

[Hotdogman1]

I'm not very familiar with UK schools so I was curious. I couldn't find anything that formally recognizes the school by any UK government-backed accreditation bodies. I search on Ofqual, QAA via postal code search with WC2H 9JQ, and the British Accreditation Council (recognized independent non profit). I decided to confirm the proof on the website itself.

• "Company Number :16011101". I searched this on the UK's official Company database (https://find-and-update.company-informat...ce.gov.uk/) It states that LIVERPOOL ACADEMY FOR FAMILY MEDICINE LTD was incorporated 4 months ago on 10/10/2024. (https://find-and-update.company-informat...ng-history) Completing a masters in 4 months seems unlikely, so I did a general search, where I located another LIVERPOOL ACADEMY FOR FAMILY MEDICINE Limited owned by the same owner. It was incorporated on 11/27/2023 and has an "Active proposal to strike off" (seems to mean dissolution of the company.) https://find-and-update.company-informat...0/officers. The address leads to a serviced/managed flexible office space (https://www.71-75.co.uk/).
  

• UK Register of Learning Providers is a government-run database that tracks organizations offering education and training in the UK. While registration confirms a provider's existence, it does not indicate accreditation or quality assurance by any official UK education bodies. It seems like registration is free.
  

• great.gov.uk seems to be one of the UK's websites to promote and export UK companies internationally. The first thing on the website homepage is "Sell to the world and grow your business." The purpose of the site contradicts what is stated on the Liverpool academy website: "the Liverpool Academy for Family Medicine is officially registered with the UK government on great.gov.uk highlighting your commitment to compliance and recognized standards in medical education. This registration underscores the academy's credibility and dedication to providing quality, accredited programs to students globally."
  

• On their great.gov.uk page (https://www.great.gov.uk/international/b...es=&page=1), it states that they are accredited by the International Accreditation Council. However, it does not specify which International Accreditation Council they are accredited by. Nothing shows up on the IACBE website and I can't find a company registered in the UK with "International Accreditation Council" in its name.
  

• THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONSORTIUM (T/A CPD STANDARDS OFFICE) LIMITED is a Private limited company that was incorporated in 2012. (https://find-and-update.company-informat...1/officers) They also have another "THE CPD STANDARDS OFFICE LIMITED" that is owned by the same people. (https://find-and-update.company-informat...9/officers). Their website is concise and well written:  "CPD (Continuing Professional Development) is not government regulated in the UK, US, and most countries. The monitoring of the CPD records of professionals is conducted by the respective professional body. In the United Kingdom, The CPD Standards Office is a non-governmental organisation that formally assesses and accredits professional education, ensuring it matches a set of rigorous standards of quality and relevance for professional development." (https://www.cpdstandards.com/become-accr...editation/) It seems like CPD and CEU are interchangeable. The only "official" one in the UK seems to be Royal College (I'm not sure). THE CPD Standards office is one of several private CPS providers/accreditors though they seem to be doing financially well.
  

Conclusion: I love UK government sites. Clean UI, so easy to navigate, smooth. 10/10 would use again.

[CollegeStudentAC]

I stumbled onto this the other day: https://www.familymedacademy.com

It's UK-based and I see that the courses are accredited by the CPD Certification Service in the UK, but there is no institutional accreditation which makes me wary of them offering Master's degrees. Seems like the PG Diploma should be the ceiling. To me, once you start offering degrees you're in a different territory. The UK government (at least from what I can tell) doesn't appear to do much if anything about these sorts of things.

Any thoughts on this program?

I signed up and tackled a free 10-question quiz in internal medicine, where I was presented with various medical scenarios and had to choose a differential diagnosis or suggest an appropriate treatment. The quiz itself was fine, but the feedback was incredibly useless, offering nothing more than a simple "right" or "wrong." Emmm~ it could be due to the fact they are "free."

Although Liverpool Academy for Family Medicine has a catchy name (and we’ve encountered plenty of companies like it), I don’t believe their offerings are truly aligned with family medicine. Additionally, I have no intention of displaying this so-called Professional Degree Certificate on my wall.

I thought you earned this certificate, I did the quiz for nothing.