LCME Team Schedules Visit as Part of Accreditation Process

A team from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the nationally recognized accrediting authority for medical schools in the United States and Canada, will make a visit to UC Davis Health System on Jan. 22-25 as part of the health system’s effort to achieve a new, eight-year accreditation for the School of Medicine.

A six-member team from the LCME, which is sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Medical Association, will meet with small groups of faculty members and deans for discussions. Among the groups that the LCME team will meet with are basic science and clinical chairs; all instructors for first-, second- and third-year required courses; representatives of the Admissions and Financial Aid office; representatives of the Committee on Educational Policy; the Committee on Student Progress; and residents involved in teaching medical students.

In addition, the LCME team will have lunch meetings with a group of first-and second-year students on one day, and a group of third- and fourth-year students on another. The team will tour UC Davis Medical Center and its periphery to view facilities that provide education and support for students. Health system officials also will brief the LCME team on the new Center for Education building, now under construction.

The team will meet with Claire Pomeroy, Vice Chancellor for Human Health Sciences and Dean of the School of Medicine, on the first day of its visit. The team will hold exit meetings with Pomeroy, UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef and Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw.

The School of Medicine submitted to the LCME a comprehensive database and an institutional self-study report in October 2005. The database was assembled by staff, with oversight by Vijaya Kumari, Assistant Dean for Curriculum, and reviewed and summarized by five LCME committees of faculty, students and staff. A self-study report was produced by a task force of deans, faculty, staff and students, chaired by Fred Meyers, chair of internal medicine and Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

Accreditation is a process of quality assurance in post-secondary education that determines whether an institution or program meets established standards for function, structure and performance. The accreditation process also fosters institutional and program improvement.