Thursday, February 28, 2013

LCME Votes to Continue Full Accreditation of COM Medical Education Program

The Liaison Commission on Medical Education (LCME) at its February 2013 meeting voted to continue full accreditation of the University of South Alabama College of Medicine’s medical education program leading to the MD degree. LCME’s next full survey at USA will take place during the 2018-2019 academic year.

Significant effort was expended during the past year in the planning and implementation of a new organ-system, competency-based curriculum during the pre-clerkship years. This effort was led by Dr. Susan LeDoux, associate dean for medical education and student affairs, and a team of committed faculty from both the basic sciences and clinical disciplines.

“Many individuals contributed to our responses to the survey visit by the LCME accreditation team, but special recognition is given to members of the School of Medicine Action Response Team (SMART), the Curriculum Committee and to Dr. Mary Townsley, associate dean for faculty and postdoctoral affairs, who assumed the responsibility of assembling the data base required by the LCME,” said Dr. Samuel J. Strada, dean of the USA College of Medicine.

According to Dr. Strada, the medical school will continue full implementation of an extensively revised curriculum for each year of medical school during the coming academic years, addressing issues of diversity and cultural competency within all facets of the college, and seek novel ways to strengthen scholarly activity in all disciplines.

“Our strong work ethic and the number of productive collaborations during the forty-year history of our college is a strong indicator that we will continue to provide an excellent training environment for future leaders of the medical profession,” he added.