Medical school proposal will end up being another ‘fiasco’

First of three parts

There are a total of 131 legitimate medical schools in the United States. Almost every one of the medical schools is affiliated with an established accredited university, e.g., The Keck School of Medicine at the University Of Southern California located in Los Angeles, California. The number of medical schools that are not affiliated with an established accredited university like USC and operate solely as an independent entity is less than a half-dozen, e.g., Ohio Medical School located in Toledo Ohio and New York Medical College located in Valhalla, New York. Even though these schools of medicine operate independently and not under the auspices of an accredited university, they meet all of the criteria for medical school accreditation established by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and have “teaching hospitals” for the students who successfully complete the requirements for the Doctor of Medicine degree.

The LCME is the nationally recognized accrediting authority for medical education programs leading to the M.D. degree in U.S. and Canadian medical schools. The LCME is sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Medical Association. Furthermore, LCME is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the reliable authority for the accreditation of programs of medical education leading to the doctorate in medicine.

Medical school programs in existence within the United States and judged by LCME to meet national standards of quality are designated as “accredited” for a usual term of eight years. Programs judged to be not in substantial compliance with LCME standards are designated as “accredited on probation”. Programs on probation that later fail to meet standards; those applying for accreditation and not meeting the standards; or those never applying for accreditation, are considered “not accredited”. Approved new programs under development are designated as “provisionally accredited” until the graduation of the first (charter) class.

The LCME does not accredit educational programs leading to the M.D. degree in institutions that are chartered outside the U.S. and Canada. If requested, however, the LCME will provide information and consultation about medical education standards and the process of accreditation to undergraduate medical education programs that are located outside the U.S. and Canada.

Attendance at an LCME-accredited medical school is required and mandatory for medical students to be able to obtain financial aid via Title VII of the U.S. Public Health Service Act. It is also required for enrolled U.S. medical students to sit for the first and second steps of the United States Medical Licensing Examination sequence. U.S. medical schools must possess LCME accreditation in order for their graduates to gain acceptance into graduate medical education programs in the U.S.

So without LCME accreditation, the medical students will be turned away and not be able to attain the training and certification that students who earn an M.D. from accredited institutions receive.

Licensing bodies in all 50 U.S. states require that graduates of U.S. medical schools have successfully completed an LCME-accredited program as a condition for obtaining a license to practice. Without a legitimate license, a medical student will not be able to work in a hospital or clinic setting in the United States.

Any new medical education program seeking accreditation must follow a series of steps. The general sequence involves initial evaluation of the readiness of the program to admit a “charter class”, i.e., the first year class admitted. If the LCME deems a school ready to admit a charter class, it will grant initial provisional accreditation to the educational program. The program is then reconsidered annually as it develops and additional resources are put into place. If all goes well, the program will conduct a self-study early in the fourth year of the charter class’ progression. If the self-study and corresponding documentation indicate that the program meets all accreditation standards, the program is granted “full accreditation”.

If a medical school chooses to admit a charter class prior to receiving initial, provisional accreditation from the LCME, there will be no guarantees made by LCME for the eligibility of students who were admitted prior to provisional accreditation being granted, to take any and all of the components of the USMLE; and/or gain access to accredited residency programs in the U.S., even if the school receives provisional accreditation before such students graduate.

Dr. Jesus D. Camacho
Delano, California