LCME Accreditation

Overview

• What is LCME? The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the accrediting body for medical education programs leading to the MD degree in the United States or Canada.
• Since first receiving full accreditation for a four-year medical degree program in 1967, the College of Human Medicine engages in a comprehensive and extensive self-study process each accreditation cycle.
• The College’s last site visit occurred in 2014 and resulted in full accreditation.
• The College is awaiting results from the LCME site visit in March of 2023.
  
  

Key Dates

October – November 2021: Invitations sent to Self-Study Task Force members

October 2021 – January 2022: Independent Student Analysis managed by Dean’s Student Advisory Committee (DSAC)

January – July 2022: Self Study Task Force and its subcommittees complete their work

December 27, 2022: CHM Submits its Data Collection Instrument (DCI), Self-Study, and Independent Student Analysis (ISA)

February, 2023: Last data update to the LCME Site Team

March 20 – 22, 2023: LCME site visit 

 

Message from the Dean | 3.22.2023

Friends, 

This is just a quick update on our LCME site visit this week. Our people have been meeting with the LCME site survey team for three days, and our visitors just left. They were complimentary, happy, and impressed with what we accomplish at the college.

In the coming weeks we will see draft versions of their findings and then the full draft report in June. Our visit will come before the full LCME committee for an actual vote and decision at the LCME’s October 2023 meeting. So, we will not really know how the visit turned out until we get our letter from the LCME sometime in November.

The site team was very complimentary of the people they met during the visit. And, in particular, they were impressed by the consistent dedication to our mission in all of our people: the staff, the faculty, and the students across all of our communities. This is one of our greatest strengths, and I am happy, but not surprised, our dedication is obvious to our visitors.

Anyone who has been in one of these meetings knows that we prep and debrief each session, and Secchia 220 was a hive of energy during the visit. In one corner, Jennifer Edwards-Johnson or Robin DeMuth prepped a group while Wanda Lipscomb or Heather Laird-Fick debriefed another group across the room. Jayne Johnson, Cyndi Vincent, Amy Fowler, and Kris Stroud were tracking down people, data, or food. There was a lot to track; more than 130 people met with LCME team including students, residents, faculty, community partners, and administrators.

It all ran smoothly because of Lisa Galbavi, who has now run four LCME site visits for the college. She is the grandmaster of LCME logistics. The LCME has even asked her to present on how to organize and manage a visit. Our grateful college owes its LCME successes to Lisa, her organization, her hard work, and her intelligence.

Another special thank you goes out to Carol Parker who, as Assistant Dean for Program Evaluation and Continuous Quality Improvement, has kept our LCME train on the tracks for the past many years. Carol provided continuity to the re-accreditation effort while Academic Affairs leadership went through changes. She has spent uncountable hours preparing for the site visit and strategizing with college leadership on how best to meet LCME accreditation requirements. We appreciate her leadership, resiliency, and commitment to the college.

I also want to thank everyone who has kept the college going, taught students, and saw patients for us so our team could dedicate their time to the visit. Also, a sincere thank you to the Grand Rapids Information Technology (GRIT) team and Grand Rapids Operations team for the work they did behind the scenes that kept our operation seamlessly running. Finally, I want to express my deep appreciation and admiration to our faculty lead for the site visit, our Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Andrea Wendling. I’ve done this job, and I know how difficult it can be. Andrea was there for people who needed help, there when we required a push, and there for the incredible hours and responsibility that comes with a project like this. We are so lucky to have Andrea leading us on this journey. 

With appreciation to everyone contributing to this accreditation cycle,

Aron

LCME Frequently Asked Questions