A nationally-recognized accrediting authority for medical schools conducted a positive survey of the Georgetown School of edicine in December, declaring that the medical school had addressed several key areas of concern cited by the group earlier last year.
The Liaison Committee on Medical Education, which is sponsored by the American Medical Association and overseen by the U.S. Department of Education, had cited ten areas of concern, including finance and facilities, regarding the GU medical school. Last month, the LCME recognized the school’s compliance in all areas, according to Amy DeMaria, director of communications for the edical Center.
“We addressed the LCME’s [facility] concerns by adding new 24-hour study spaces, renovating existing classrooms and adding a new, state-of-the-art integrated learning center – one of the only such centers of its kind in the country,” DeMaria said.
DeMaria also said the medical school had increased its library collections by 30 percent over the past two years, and she cited a four-fold increase in electronic publications.
“The LCME team was pleased to note that there has been substantial improvement in all of these areas,” she said.
The medical school is a subsidiary organization of the Georgetown Medical Center.
The LCME will vote next month before officially accrediting the GU medical school through 2011. Administrators said they are optimistic about the upcoming vote.
“We are very pleased that the LCME has found significant progress at the School of Medicine, and reaffirmed our excellent educational program,” Stephen Mitchell, dean for medical education, said. “We are hopeful and optimistic that we will receive full accreditation through 2011. The entire faculty and student body has worked tirelessly over the past three years in this process.”
The GU School of Medicine has always received the LCME’s accreditation, but last month’s assessment is positive news for the Medical Center as a whole, which has been plagued by debt since the 1990s.
“While the LCME accreditation process focuses on the M.D. degree program, it also evaluates the resources of the entire edical Center in being able to balance resources, provide a high quality academic and research environment and provide outstanding research and clinical faculty for the School of Medicine,” DeMaria said.
Despite the financial problems of the Medical Center, the medical school itself remained “fiscally solvent” in 2004 and ended the year with a positive balance, DeMaria said.
Before the 2003 LCME visit and its consequent recommendations, itchell led a series of in-house assessments of the medical school.
“Our standing educational committees and the Committee on edical Education worked diligently under the leadership of Dr. itchell,” DeMaria said. “We began with a comprehensive, internal `self-study’ 18 months prior to the February 2003 visit to prepare.”
The LCME accreditation is necessary for medical institutions to receive federal grants or loans. It is also an important component of “the reputation that drives excellent selectivity and high-caliber students who apply and matriculate at the Georgetown School of Medicine,” DeMaria said.
In 2004, the GU School of Medicine received 7,556 applications for 182 available spots in the school.
