The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) — the primary accreditation body for the School of Medicine and its educational programs — voted to continue full accreditation of UTMB’s medical education program for the maximum allowable eight-year term.

Dr. Danny O. Jacobs, executive vice president, provost and dean of the School of Medicine, said, “We are very proud to be reaccredited for the longest term allowed. Everyone worked very hard over many months in preparation for our site visit. Our success is a testament to those efforts and, equally importantly, reflects our dedication to providing outstanding training for our students.”

As part of the accreditation process, a review team conducted a site visit to the school in December 2014, an event preceded by an intense 18-month self-study involved examination of over 100 LCME standards by more than 110 faculty and staff, and extensive student input.

The LCME singled out our school for strength in the following areas:

  1. “The administration has successfully developed, implemented, and communicated a strategic plan and an education fund allocation system that effectively ties institutional goals with faculty participation in medical student education.” The Strategic Management Task Force and Faculty Compensation Committee deserve special recognition for their accomplishments.
  2. “The student diversity pipeline programs have proven to be particularly effective in creating a diverse academic environment.” Jeff Rabek, Ph.D., Lisa Cain, Ph.D., and Norma Perez, M.D., Dr.P.H., and their staff in the Office of Student Affairs, deserve special recognition for their work.

The LCME doesn’t award citations of “strength” lightly, noting that it reflects “a truly distinctive activity or characteristic ... worthy of emulation.”

Dr. Michael Ainsworth, professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and vice dean for Academic Affairs, said, “This is great news and a tribute to what we already know—we have an outstanding group of educators, staff and students in the School of Medicine. Congratulations to all who contributed to this effort!”