Medical school aces accreditation

he School of Medicine and Dentistry has received a perfect score from the organization that accredits medical schools in the United States and Canada, giving Rochester the highest accreditation status of any medical school in the country.

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), which spans both the American Medical Association and the Association of American Medical Colleges, formally approved Rochester's status as "lauded" during a meeting this month.

The ranking is the official accreditation status of the School of Medicine and Dentistry for the next seven years, the maximum period of accreditation.

The accreditation is based on the results of a five-day visit in October by an LCME survey team.

Comprised of leaders from medical schools throughout the country, the team presented the University with a "clean bill of health." Typically, LCME accreditation reports identify six to eight global "strengths" and six to eight "areas of concern" for a medical school's curriculum, students, faculty, facilities, policies, finances, and related areas.

The team praised Rochester's educational reforms as "innovative, bold, and highly successful," citing the School of Medicine's "double helix" curriculum.

Named after the intertwining strands that comprise DNA, the program integrates basic science and clinical medicine throughout all four years of medical school. Students learn to care for patients as they learn the biological and social sciences that are fundamental to understanding diseases and their treatment and prevention.

The LCME also praised senior administrators for their leadership in the development of and transition to the new program.

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