MHB: Accreditation extended until 2026

11 August 2023

The Brandenburg Ministry of Science, Research and Culture has announced an extension of the accreditation for the Brandenburg Medical School Theodore Fontane (MHB) ahead of schedule up to 31 March 2026.

MHB president Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon is highly pleased with the extension and the resulting planning reliability for the coming three years: “This decision underlines the trust which the Brandenburg government places in our university and confirms our successful course in research, teaching and patient care, independent of the pending vote of the Science Council. Students, staff and instructors alike will benefit from planning certainty. We are confident that successful reaccreditation will justify the decision.” Accreditation procedures have already been initiated, but on-site inspection by the Science Council will not be possible before November or December, which delays the entire proceedings.  

Background:
Official recognition of the first medical school in the State of Brandenburg was temporary and scheduled to expire after ten years by the end of September 2024. Renewal of the recognition was originally tied to an accreditation vote by the Federal Government’s Science Council, the verifying authority for higher education institutions. The State of Brandenburg had applied for institutional accreditation as early as in 2022. Acting on behalf of the federal states, the Science Council performs accreditations of non-state universities in the form of a comprehensive inspection to ensure that their performance in research and student instruction meets recognized academic standards.

The Science Council has to postpone procedures to reaccredit the MHB by at least six months and expects completion in 2025; the Brandenburg government has therefore decided to extend the status quo for the MHB until the probable end of the accreditation process.