LCME Accreditation

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accredits all medical schools in the U.S. and Canada every eight years. It is jointly sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges and the Council on Medical Education of the American Medical Association.

Re-accreditation assures our stakeholders that our medical education program meets or exceeds nationally accepted standards of quality. As such, the Medical School aims to ensure it meets the standards of accreditation set by the LCME and to identify opportunities for program improvement.

UMMS Maintains Full Accreditation

As you know the medical school has been in the process of addressing the 16 Findings that resulted from our July 2020 LCME Site Visit. This work included developing comprehensive action plans, surveying students, dedicating substantial resources, and a Limited Site Visit in May 2022. We want to thank all who participated and helped lead this work.

The LCME will vote on the outcome of each of our 16 Findings during their October 2022 meeting. However, a preliminary report provided by the survey team who conducted the Limited Site Visit indicates we have made important improvements.

There is still much work to be done and we will undoubtedly have to submit ongoing progress reports to the LCME until we fully resolve our current Findings. In the meantime, the medical school continues to maintain full LCME Accreditation. We look forward to engaging you in our continued work.

LCME Findings

Subsequent to our July 2020 Site Visit, the LCME found the MD program's performance was Satisfactory with a Need for Monitoring in 2 Elements, and Unsatisfactory in an additional 14 Elements. Since that time, the school has been focused on making the required improvements to address these identified areas as we prepared for a Limited Site Visit in May 2022. Efforts towards improvement have involved the work of students, staff, and faculty to ensure the UMMS is fully compliant with every accreditation requirement.

Although the outcomes will not be official until the LCME vote in October 2022, below is a brief summary of the recommended findings resulting from the May 2022 Limited Site Visit.

Satisfactory with a Need for Monitoring

Element	LCME Finding	Progress Note
3.3 Diversity/Pipeline Programs & Partnerships	Representation of UIM faculty and Administrative leaders	Vice Dean for DE&I started in 2020; Increases in American Indian/Alaska Native faculty from 11 to 17, Black/African American faculty from 46 to 76, and Hispanic/Latinx faculty from 46 to 61. 26% of faculty hired during the past year were from UIM groups.
7.9 Interprofessional Collaborative Skills	Low satisfaction with IPE curriculum in the TC preclerkship years	Better Together program replaces FIPCC; IPE simulation activity piloted in fall 2021 with positive results; instructional designer review of 1Health curriculum
8.7 Comparability of Education/Assessment	Differences in curricular organization and course-level learning objectives between campuses	Curriculum Assessment and Reform Task Force (CART) developing aligned preclerkship curriculum across both campuses with expected implementation for fall 2023
8.8 Monitoring student time	Low satisfaction with overall workload in the first year	New Preclerkship Workload Policy outlines expectations for workload; tracking amount of time students spend outside of synchronous activities; improved satisfaction with continued monitoring
9.4 Assessment System	Low satisfaction with clinical assessments as reported on the ISA and in the AAMC GQ, especially on observation of H&P	Hired 12 clinical assessors to standardize clerkship clinical performance assessments; all clerkships approaching or at 100% on observation of H&P
12.3 Personal Counseling/Well-being Programs	Need data on the effectiveness of efforts to improve satisfaction with personal counseling and well-being	Expanded TC Confidential Bridging Counseling; Dean approved hiring OLD/counselor on DU dedicated to DU medical students; Added tele-psychiatric services; multiple well being programming; Move to Pass/Fail in core clerkships

Unsatisfactory

Element	LCME Finding	Progress Note
5.11 Study/Lounge/Storage Space/Call Rooms	Availability of, and satisfaction with, these spaces at some hospitals & clinical sites as well as among DU students	Added questions to clerkship evaluations to improve monitoring; created clinical space Fact Sheet; UMMS Dean covering the costs for locker installations at major clinical sites; Dean funding additional renovations of lounge and study spaces on both campuses
7.6 Cultural Competence & Healthcare Disparities	Low satisfaction with curriculum content on caring for patients from different cultural backgrounds among MS1 students on both campuses	Satisfaction among MS2-4 students has improved substantially since July 2019; Hired 3 DEI Thread Directors and two DEI mentors for clinical students; continue curricular review to address DEI issues
9.7 Formative Assessment & Feedback	Satisfaction with the amount and quality of formative feedback in the clinical phase	Implemented a new Clinical Assessment (CSA) for clerkships to provide mid-clerkship feedback; New EPA assessment system provides substantial formative feedback throughout clerkships
11.2 Career Advising	Need effectiveness of efforts to improve satisfaction with career advising	Dean funded new career advising coordinator and an additional Academic Advisor to further support students, especially in Duluth

Satisfactory

The following previously cited Elements have now been fully resolved.

Element	Progress Note
5.4 Sufficiency of Buildings & Equipment	HSEC opened in July 2020 with full occupancy in fall 2021; DU Classroom renovations completed spring 2021 with additional renovations to Room 68 being completed summer 2022; Significant improvement in student satisfaction with educational and teaching spaces on both campuses
6.1 Program & Learning Objectives	Completed mapping of all learning objectives to the 34 Graduation Competencies; syllabi updated to reflect this linking
6.2 Required Clinical Experiences	RCE list revised to reduce the number of RCEs, improved PET dashboard making it easier for students and clerkships to monitor progress, improved communication to students about RCEs, and created an RCE policy to ensure ongoing compliance
9.2 Faculty Appointments	New faculty appointment category was created; gaps in appointments identified and all appointments were processed prior to the Limited Site Visit. Ongoing monitoring and annual notifications have been implemented
9.9 Student Advancement & Appeals Process	Updated policies on scholastic standing. Established an oversight committee to ensure consistency and serve as the final authority on progress and graduation decisions
12.4 Student Access to Health Care Services	Added tele-psychiatry for Duluth students, revised Duty Hours & Excused Absence Policies for improved clarity and to ensure students have the time for needed health care appointments, and improved communications to students about health care services after hours

For more information:

Joseph Oppedisano, D.Ac.
Director of Accreditation & Quality Improvement
joppedis@umn.edu