College of Medicine accreditation
Upholding the highest standards in the training of future physicians
Learn about the LCME accreditation process at NEOMED’s College of Medicine, ensuring quality education and continuous improvement in medical training.
Why accreditation matters
The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) is the nationally recognized accrediting authority for medical education programs leading to the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree in the United States and Canada. As the sole accreditor for these programs, the LCME ensures that medical schools meet rigorous educational standards essential for training competent physicians.
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LCME accreditation is critical to our medical school because it validates the quality and integrity of our medical education program. This accreditation ensures our graduates are eligible to take the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) and qualify for residency training programs. Without LCME accreditation, our students would be unable to practice medicine in the United States.
The accreditation process demonstrates our commitment to continuous improvement in medical education, ensuring we maintain the highest standards in curriculum, faculty qualifications, educational resources, and student support services. This rigorous oversight protects our students’ investment in their medical education and maintains our school’s reputation within the medical community.
For prospective students and their families, LCME accreditation provides assurance that our program meets national standards and will prepare graduates for successful medical careers.
From the dean
In the College of Medicine, our mission is to create transformational physician leaders and improve our patient’s health. This mission drives us to uphold the highest standards in every facet of our work, particularly in the training of future physicians.
Every eight years, we undergo a comprehensive accreditation process with the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the official accrediting body for medical schools granting M.D. degrees in the United States and Canada, to ensure that we meet these rigorous standards. Our last site visit in 2019 resulted in full accreditation, and we have now been notified that our next site visit will take place April 5-7, 2027.
As we prepare for this important review, we will engage in a thorough self-study process over the next one-and-a-half years. This will involve gathering and evaluating data and policies across key areas of our university’s operations, including infrastructure, curriculum management and the learning environment. Our goal is to ensure that we fully comply with the LCME’s 12 standards related to the function and structure of a medical school.
I encourage each of you — faculty, staff and students alike—to actively participate in this vital process. Your input and engagement are crucial to our successful reaccreditation. I will provide updates throughout this journey, and you can also stay informed by revisiting these pages.
Thank you all for your anticipated commitment and support. I am eager to see how this process will help us identify our strengths and opportunities for growth as we continue to build on NEOMED’s reputation as a leading institution in medical education. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
Marc D. Basson, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A.
Dean, College of Medicine
UH-NEOMED Faculty Scholar
Countdown to our full site visit
April 5-7, 2027
00 days, 00 hours, 00 minutes and 00 seconds
Timeline
Campus accreditation kick-off | Sept. 2, 2025
Event to give faculty, staff, students and constituents the opportunity to learn and understand the importance of the upcoming LCME site visit.
Student survey
An Independent Student Analysis Survey (ISA) is distributed to M1-M4 students.
Mock accreditation site visit | Oct. 27-28, 2025
All accreditation participants will conduct a first practice site visit.
Self-study kick-off | Jan. 2026
Self-study group members will convene to start self-study review process.
Self Study Report complete
Mock accreditation site visit | Oct. 26-27, 2026.
All accreditation participants will conduct a final practice site visit.
Reports shared with LCME
Final resurvey data, interventions and results sent to LCME.
Full LCME site visit | April 4-7, 2027 ⭐
LCME evaluators will be on campus.
Preliminary report
LCME evaluators a preliminary report sent to us.
👉 This timeline ensures thorough preparation and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to meeting accreditation standards through continuous quality improvement.
Answers to your questions
The LCME (Liaison Committee on Medical Education) is the responsible authority for the accreditation of allopathic medical schools (medical education programs leading to the M.D. degree) in the United States and Canada.
LCME accreditation occurs every eight years. NEOMED College of Medicine has been fully accredited since 1981 (44 years) when its first class graduated.
The LCME will be conducting an on-site visit to NEOMED April 5-7, 2027.
The ad hoc survey team that visits NEOMED will evaluate our performance on each of the 93 LCME elements according to the following criteria:
- Satisfactory: The policy, process, resource or system is in place and, there is evidence that it is effective
- Satisfactory with a Need for Monitoring (The policy, process, resource or system exists, but there is insufficient data to determine whether it is effective; alternatively, the element is presently satisfactory but anticipated circumstances could impact performance negatively)
- Unsatisfactory: One or more aspects of the policy, process, resource or system exists, but it is not meeting its intended purpose
The survey team will prepare a report of its findings regarding the elements. When the LCME reviews the report, it will review those findings and make a determination regarding compliance with each of the 12 accreditation standards that encompass those elements. The LCME determination about compliance with standards will be used to decide the college’s accreditation status.
The LCME’s obligation to the public is to ensure that accredited programs comply with all of its accreditation standards. Because the LCME has a very large number of elements that cover a broad range of issues, it is common for a school to be judged as less than fully compliant with a small number of standards after an accreditation review. In such cases, the school has a maximum of 24 months to achieve full compliance with all standards. Because accreditation is also a quality improvement process, a desirable outcome of an LCME survey visit is strong concurrence between the findings of the survey team and the institutional self-study (and the independent student analysis). The greater the congruence between the team and self-study findings, the more strongly the school’s achievements, challenges, goals, and priorities, as reflected in the self-study, will be validated by peer external experts looking at the same information.
Accreditation Committee
This group of faculty, administrators and students will help the college prepare for the LCME accreditation site visit in April 2027.
LCME Standards of Accreditation
See the 12 standards of accreditation set by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.
CONTACT
College of Medicine
Phone: 800.686.2511
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