The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accredits all medical schools in the U.S. and Canada every eight years. It is jointly sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges and the Council on Medical Education of the American Medical Association.
- For more information about the LCME, visit lcme.org.
- For general questions to the LCME, E-Mail lcme@aamc.org.
BCM School of Medicine Maintains Full Accreditation
Baylor College of Medicine School of Medicine has achieved the highest level of accreditation available to a medical school in the United States by the Liaison Committee of Medical Education (LCME), the U.S. Department of Education-recognized accrediting body for medical schools.
In a letter sent to BCM President Paul Klotman on March 1, 2022, the LCME notified BCM and the School of Medicine that it continued full accreditation of the medical education program for the maximum eight-year term. The School of Medicine will send a follow-up report to the LCME in the fall of 2024 on a small number of elements that require monitoring.
The School of Medicine completed a self-study process that began in the fall of 2019 and culminated with a virtual site visit from the LCME site survey team on Sept. 27 through 29, 2021. The process involved more than 200 faculty, staff, residents and students who participated in the self-study process, mock site visit and virtual survey visit. Despite the onset of the COVID pandemic, all involved worked diligently towards a successful site visit. We are so grateful to all involved.
The self-study process led to many changes and improvements to the medical education program. Some of the changes included renovations for learning community squads; hiring a director of student research; expanding debt management counseling; and increasing opportunities for service learning/community service.
Several areas of excellence were identified:
- Effective continuous quality improvement process
- Mechanisms for faculty participation
- Diverse medical student class
- Strong core of clerkship directors
- Well-organized process for evaluation of program objectives and curriculum
Our findings highlight so many areas in which changes were successful, and a few places where we can continue to improve, including: diversity of senior administrative staff (e.g. deans, chairs etc.); fairness of assessment; unscheduled time for self-directing learning; secure storage space and study space at affiliates; and career advising (electives). Work in these areas began prior to the site visit and we continue to work to achieve full compliance. BCM will submit a status report to LCME in August 2024.
This has been a college-wide effort led by dedicated faculty and staff in the School of Medicine all committed to our mission and vision.
Our next LCME full accreditation survey will be in the 2029-2030 academic year.
BCM’s School of Medicine is listed on the LCME directory website of accredited schools.