UC College of Medicine reaccreditation process begins with learning session Sept. 27

Faculty, students and staff are invited to a special event designed to explain the reaccreditation process for the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine set for 1-2:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018, in Medical Sciences Building E531.

Reaccreditation is handled by the Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME), the official accrediting body for medical schools in the United States and Canada. Veronica Catanese, MD, co-secretary and senior director of accreditation services for LCME, will be on hand to discuss the purpose of the LCME Institutional Self-Study required of the college.

Catanese is also senior director of accreditation services for the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

“To ensure a successful outcome, we need to have broad engagement from faculty, students, and staff across our educational community,” explains Pamela Baker, PhD, associate dean of medical education in the College of Medicine and faculty accreditation lead for the self-study.

“In the coming months, we will conduct a comprehensive review of our medical school that requires collecting data, reviewing the findings, and following up on issues,” says Baker. “The self-study process is also an opportunity for us as a medical school to identify our strengths, celebrate our accomplishments, and position ourselves for future challenges.”

Faculty and staff are developing or collating materials necessary for our self-study, while medical student leadership will perform an Independent Student Analysis (ISA) of all students enrolled in the College of Medicine, says Baker.

Survey questions cover the educational program, student services, the learning environment and the adequacy of resources. Once the survey data has been collected, the ISA Steering Committee will complete a report with an analysis and interpretation of their findings for inclusion in the self-study documents.

Andrew Filak, MD, is shown in the UC College of Medicine.

“The LCME accreditation process is paramount to the College of Medicine. It is a review which everyone needs to be actively involved and invested in to ensure success,” says Andrew Filak, MD, interim senior vice president for health affairs and dean of the College of Medicine. “It is important that we take a critical look at all aspects of the College of Medicine. This is a tremendous opportunity for us to continue on our process of quality improvement as we move forward with the education of future physicians.”

A LCME Self-Study Task Force designed to move the College of Medicine through the reaccreditation includes: Interim Dean Andrew Filak, MD; UC Provost Kristy Nelson, PhD; Michael Archdeacon, MD; Stephen Baxter, MD; Aurora Bennett, MD; Philip Diller, MD, PhD; Andrew Fredrich, MD; Stephen Baxter, MD; Neil Holsing; Michael Lieberman, PhD; Mary Mahoney, MD; Robert Neel, MD; Arthur Pancioli, MD; and Dani Zander, MD.

Individual members of the task force also will chair six subcommittees designed to provide detailed answers to LCME on a host of topics ranging from mission, planning, organization, leadership and faculty preparation in the college to academic and learning environments, educational resources and infrastructure, along with curricular objectives, design, content and management and teaching supervision and assessment. LCME also reviews student patient safety, medical student selection, academic support, career advising, assignment, health services, personal counseling, financial aid service and progress.

“Throughout the self-study process, we will develop and implement policies and/or processes to address any issues that are identified,” says Baker. “We will also determine when and how we will measure outcomes to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new processes. We will conduct two mock site visits to prepare our faculty, students and staff in terms of what to expect during the LCME Survey Team site visit.

The self-study process will culminate in a 35-page Self-Study Summary Report to the LCME as well as the completed Data Collection Instrument (with appropriate appendices) and the ISA Report.

The LCME Survey Team site visit is scheduled for October 20-23, 2019. 

For additional information about the reaccreditation process please contact Pamela Baker at bakerpl@ucmail.uc.edu or 558-1891.

Top photo by Joseph Fuqua/UC Creative Services and second photo by Colleen Kelley/AHC Communication Services.