Media contact: Patrice Guilfoyle at (601) 815-3940 or
pguilfoyle@umc.edu.
JACKSON, Miss. – The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the nationally recognized accrediting authority for medical education programs leading to the M.D. degree in United States and Canada, has continued accreditation of the University of Mississippi School of Medicine for an eight-year term. The medical school received no citations for noncompliance with accreditation standards, a first for the university and rare across the United States and Canada.
“Educating tomorrow’s health professionals is one of three core missions of UMMC and it’s a true testament to the dedication and expertise of our faculty and staff when we receive national recognition for our efforts” said Dr. LouAnn Woodward, associate vice chancellor for health affairs.
The LCME survey team, who visited the campus in February, conducted a thorough review of the medical education program and recently released its findings. Of the 129 standards of accreditation, the LCME can assign one of three statuses: strength, compliance with monitoring, or noncompliance. The 203-page report cited three strengths: effective dean and education program leaders; education program improvements based on medical student evaluation of courses, clerkships and faculty; and effective counseling of Mississippi applicants during the admissions process.
The team also assigned five standards a status of compliance with monitoring. These five areas include submission of grades in a timely manner; expanding narrative feedback in the pre-clinical years; ensuring sufficient financial aid staffing, support and counseling; and describing the impact of the possible affiliation with another health facility on the education of medical students. The university will be required to provide a progress report to the LCME on these items.
“The credit for this exceptional LCME report goes to every person involved in the education, mentoring and counseling of our medical students,” Woodward said.