Key dates to remember Mock site visit: Aug. 21-23, 2023 Documents submitted to LCME: Nov. 10, 2023 Official LCME site visit: Feb. 18-21, 2024

Update on LCME accreditation

Dear colleagues,

The School of Medicine’s M.D. program is up for reaccreditation in 2024 by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) – the national accrediting body for medical education programs. The reaccreditation process occurs every eight years, and all programs must demonstrate appropriate performance in a set of standards and elements in order to achieve and maintain an accredited status.

Reaccreditation is foundational to our success as a medical school and impacts all of us. Simply put, without it, we can’t exist. LCME is our top administrative priority, and I need and expect everyone in the School of Medicine to be connected and engaged in this effort.

Our preparations have been underway since April 2022. Luan Lawson, M.D., senior associate dean for medical education, is our point person on reaccreditation. The process at SOM currently includes an LCME task force and five subcommittees of faculty, staff and students. These committees are in charge of documenting our compliance and drafting our response to 12 separate standards of evaluation and the 102 elements contained within those standards.

I’m pleased with our progress to date, and I want to thank everyone involved for all the work put in so far. That said, we still have much work to do. Here’s how you can help:

• Educate yourself by visiting the LCME pages on the School of Medicine website
• Please read all LCME communications and be responsive to Dr. Lawson and to task force and committee members involved in helping us to prepare and successfully complete this process.
• Continue to contribute to our learning environment by modeling professionalism in everything you do.

In closing, thank you for all you do. Thank you for your time, your talent and your dedication – to this profession, to this school and to the thousands of lives we positively impact every day. Working together, we will again achieve reaccreditation and continue the important work at SOM to educate and train the next generation of physician leaders.

Kind regards,

Arturo P. Saavedra, M.D., Ph.D.
Dean, VCU School of Medicine
Executive vice president for medical affairs, VCU Health System