Batter up: Medical School to meet virtually with LCME for first stage of review

When the COVID-19 pandemic began to intensify in March, many U-M Medical School (UMMS) activities slowed or came to a halt. This included UMMS’ preparation for an April site visit from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the body which grants accreditation of the school’s M.D. degree.

As the education, research and clinical ramp-up continues across the medical campus, the previously postponed LCME visit is rescheduled for July 8-9, although the first stage will now be a virtual meeting between the reaccreditation team and select U-M leaders, faculty, staff and learners. There will be an on-site follow-up visit to occur in the fall or next spring. After that, sometime in 2021, the medical school will receive notification on its efforts to secure a new, 8-year reaccreditation.

For Associate Dean for Medical Student Education Rajesh S. Mangrulkar, M.D., an avid baseball fan, the postponement was akin to being left standing on deck, just as it was time for UMMS to step up to the plate to showcase the best of the medical school to our LCME visitors.

“For nearly 22 months, teams of more than 200 faculty, staff and learners have been preparing diligently to show how the medical school not only has met reaccreditation standards, but continues to improve itself in a quest to be better,” said Mangrulkar, the Marguerite S. Roll Professor of Medical Education, and an associate professor of internal medicine and learning health sciences, who also serves as faculty accreditation lead. “We are grateful for the opportunity to meet with the LCME team, both on ZOOM and in-person, and we look forward to further highlighting our outstanding medical school.”

Earlier this spring, Mangrulkar sat down with Medical School Dean Marschall S. Runge, M.D., Ph.D., to discuss the importance of the LCME reaccreditation, (click on this link, or the embedded video above, to watch the video) and the school’s efforts to prepare for what was originally planned as an onsite visit.

Virtual sessions will include discussions on these topics: the dean’s perspective on the status of the medical school; educational program objectives, content, curriculum management, and evaluation; teaching, supervision, student assessment, student advancement; medical school finances; library/information resources; student advancement/academic advising/financial aid/personal counseling/health services; institutional diversity/learning environment and student mistreatment; and faculty appointment policies/medical student research opportunities/service learning.

The LCME team also will meet with course directors in the scientific and clinical trunks of the medical student curriculum, as well as with basic science and select clinical department chairs.

The Office of Medical Student Education has produced a series of one-page informational flyers and brief videos on topics that further explain important aspects of U-M’s medical education program. To learn more about the LCME self-study and upcoming virtual visit, see: https://medicine.umich.edu/medschool/about/lcme-self-study.