School of Medicine LCME Accreditation

The LCME is officially recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to accredit medical schools in the United States and Canada. It has joint oversight by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the American Medical Association (AMA) but is an independent organization.

LCME accreditation is a voluntary, peer-reviewed process of quality assurance that determines whether a medical education program meets established standards. 

For medical education programs located in the United States, accreditation by the LCME establishes eligibility for selected federal grants and programs, including Title VII funding administered by the U.S. Public Health Service. Most state boards of licensure require that U.S. medical schools granting the MD degree be accredited by the LCME as a condition for licensure of their graduates. Eligibility of U.S. students in MD-granting schools to take the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) requires LCME accreditation of their school. Graduates of LCME-accredited schools are eligible for residency programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). (Source: LCME.org)

The New York Medical College School of Medicine was fully re-accredited for the maximum period of eight years (through 2024) by LCME.

2024 LCME Reaccreditation

Every eight years, the School of Medicine (SOM) participates in a thorough accreditation process with the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the organization responsible for the formal accreditation of medical education programs leading to the M.D. degree in the U.S. and Canada, to ensure the SOM meets the LCME’s specific standards. The maximum accreditation granted by the LCME is for eight years, which the SOM received in 2016. The SOM is now preparing for the LCME reaccreditation in 2024.

Accreditation by the LCME establishes eligibility for selected federal grants and programs, eligibility for students to take the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) and eligibility of graduates for residency programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Preparation

The SOM has conducted a thorough self-study and compiled a large database of information in preparation for the LCME site visit, which will take place April 7 to 10, 2024. Pamela Ludmer, M.D., M.M.E.L., dean for undergraduate medical education, is the Faculty Accreditation Lead for the SOM.

Over the last year, five working groups focusing on Educational Program, Educational Resources, Faculty Affairs, Governance and Medical Students and comprised of faculty, students and administrators completed an initial draft of the Data Collection Instrument, assessing strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for improvements. Medical students have also conducted an independent student analysis of the SOM and provided their results to the LCME. 

The LCME Self-Study Executive Committee, chaired by Tracey Milligan, M.D., chair of the Department of Neurology, and Lori Solomon, chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine, then collated the reports from the working groups into an Executive Summary, which was shared with the Dean of the School of Medicine Neil Schluger, M.D.  Work is ongoing to address opportunities for improvement. All required documents are due to the LCME by January 12, 2024.

Site Visit

Next April, an LCME Site Survey Team will visit the School to question faculty, administrators, staff and students about all aspects of the medical school program, resources and facilities. Additionally, they will meet with students privately and tour the school's facilities. At the end of the site visit, the survey team will report its major findings (areas of compliance with accreditation standards and areas of noncompliance) to Alan Kadish, M.D., president of New York Medical College and Touro University, and Edward Halperin, M.D., M.A., chancellor and CEO of New York Medical College.

Reaccreditation Decision

Within the next month, the survey team will compile an extensive report for submission to the full 19-member LCME Committee, who are chosen by the AAMC and the AMA and is comprised of medical educators and administrators, practicing physicians, students and members of the public. In June 2024, the LCME Committee will discuss the report and reach a decision about the type and length of accreditation to give the SOM.

Possible decisions include:

• Award full accreditation for eight years
• Award accreditation with monitoring
• Continue accreditation but with a threat of probation (the warning is not made public)
• Continue accreditation but place the program on probation (announced publicly)

In 2016, the SOM was granted the maximum accreditation by the LCME of eight years.

SOM Leadership Team for LCME Reaccreditation

Pamela Ludmer, M.D., M.M.E.L., Faculty Lead
Neil Schluger, M.D., Dean