If your program is currently accredited, the 2026 SSH Accreditation Standards are relevant to you now.
The updated 2026 standards introduce an updated approach to simulation education accreditation. Across the framework, several areas have been revised, including Assessment, Research, Systems Integration, Fellowship Program, and Human Simulation. However, the most significant change is the consolidation of the two 2021 documents — the Core Accreditation Standards and the Teaching/Education Accreditation Standards — into one unified set of requirements: the SSH Accreditation Core Simulation Education Standards. This combined framework applies to all accredited Programs.
Under the 2021 structure, Core standards focused on Program operations, while Teaching/Education addressed the design, delivery, and continuous improvement of educational activities. In 2026, these areas are evaluated together within a single framework.
Although much of the existing content remains familiar, Programs will notice changes in how requirements are organized, along with several new or expanded expectations and updated wording. The result is a more integrated set of standards that brings Program operations and educational practices together while incorporating updates across the broader accreditation framework.
If your reaccreditation cycle is approaching, read the new standards now rather than at application time. The gap between what your program currently documents and what the updated standards require is easier to close with a full planning cycle behind you.
APPLICATION PORTAL CLOSED UNTIL DEC. 15
The online application portal is closed while SSH updates it for the new standards. It reopens no later than December 15. That current window is a great time to build your application packet — a Word document organized to the updated standards is a practical way to get ahead before the portal reopens.
For programs mid-cycle, the Mid-Cycle Accreditation process is available when a significant change in your program’s scope — adding a Focus Area, for instance — warrants an update between full reaccreditation reviews.
The broader point: the SSH Accreditation mark is most valuable to programs that treat the standards as a working framework, not a filing requirement. The programs that get the most out of reaccreditation are the ones that have been living the standards in the years before the application is due.
Updated standards are available now at ssih.org/full-accreditation. For all questions, please email us at accreditation@ssih.org.
We can't wait to see you and, more importantly, help you get SSH Accredited!
Sincerely,
Kristyn Gadlage, BSE
SSH Director of Accreditation