The UNMC College of Medicine was notified last week that it will continue to be fully accredited, with some areas that need additional attention.
“This review gives us the opportunity to improve our curriculum and to better document portions of our educational program,” College of Medicine Dean Brad Britigan, M.D., said. “I fully expect that through the collective work of our faculty, staff and students over the coming months, we will emerge a stronger college.”
The college’s accrediting body, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), visited UNMC in October as part of the college’s first full-scale review in eight years. The LCME notified the college that it will be accredited but with “warning” status. The college received this status because the LCME identified seven standards (out of the 131 reviewed) that were out of compliance.
Dr. Britigan emphasized that the college’s “warning” status should not be confused with the more severe “probation” or “withdraw accreditation” statuses.
“Largely, the issues identified by the LCME are procedural in nature,” Dr. Britigan said. “Nonetheless, they are required and expected of an organization that provides the outstanding level of medical education that we seek to deliver.”
The seven citations are summarized into three areas:
- Identification and documentation of specific outcome-based objectives for the medical education program as a whole.
- Improved assessment of student clinical exposures and measurement of student knowledge, attitudes and skills.
- Documentation of a comprehensive review of the entire curriculum in addition to our current practice of reviewing each year of the curriculum separately.
Dr. Britigan said that the college will form task forces to address the areas of noncompliance, as well as three others areas in which the LCME noted that the college is in “compliance, with a need for monitoring.” These areas include the nature of feedback to students after examinations, longer hours for the student health clinic and a better awareness of the university policy on student mistreatment.
In addition, all faculty, staff and students are encouraged to provide input at forums that are being scheduled this month. The college must submit a comprehensive action plan to the LCME by Aug. 1. The LCME will review the plan at its October meeting.
“I want to emphasize that our students’ collective performance — as measured in standardized testing and in the quality of their residencies — continues to be excellent. Our current and future students will continue to experience this tradition of success,” Dr. Britigan said. “It also is important to note that none of these areas involves our research or clinical care areas in any way.”