Frequently Asked Questions

Accreditation is a voluntary, peer-reviewed quality-assurance process in which educational institutions/programs are evaluated to determine if applicable standards are met. If standards are met, accredited status is granted. For medical education, this process occurs every eight years. Accrediting bodies in the United States are third-party private organizations that grant medical schools the ability to award the MD degree.

The Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME) is the accrediting body for all medical schools in the United States and Canada. Programs are required to demonstrate that their graduates exhibit general professional competencies that are appropriate for entry to the next stage of their training and that serve as the foundation for lifelong learning and proficient medical care.

Accreditation by the LCME establishes eligibility for selected federal grants and programs, including Title VII funding administered by the U.S. Public Health Service. Graduates of LCME-accredited schools are eligible for residency programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

The Perelman School of Medicine's next full survey site visit is April 14-17, 2024, during the 2023-24 academic year.

The self-study is underway!

There are 12 Standards comprising 93 Elements that are reviewed for LCME accreditation. The language of each standard is a concise statement of the expectations of that standard. The elements within a standard specify the components that collectively constitute the standard; they identify the variables that need to be examined when determining compliance with the standard. The standards are organized to flow from the level of the institution to the level of the student.

• Standard 1: Mission, Planning, Organization, and Integrity
• Standard 2: Leadership and Administration
• Standard 3: Academic and Learning Environments
• Standard 4: Faculty Preparation, Productivity, Participation, and Policies
• Standard 5: Educational Resources and Infrastructure
• Standard 6: Competencies, Curricular Objectives, and Curricular Design
• Standard 7: Curricular Content
• Standard 8: Curricular Management, Evaluation, and Enhancement
• Standard 9: Teaching, Supervision, Assessment, and Student and Patient Safety
• Standard 10: Medical Student Selection, Assignment, and Progress
• Standard 11: Medical Student Academic Support, Career Advising, and Educational Records
• Standard 12: Medical Student Health Services, Personal Counseling, and Financial Aid Services

The Data Collection Instrument (DCI) is a document that provides a broad series of prompts related to each Standard and Element to collect the data and information necessary to perform the accreditation review. The prompts may solicit a narrative response, require information in a data table, or require documentation such as a written policy or procedure. Data collection for each Standard and Element may comprise one or all three types of prompts.

The Independent Student Analysis (ISA) is a process that consists of the creation and dissemination of a student opinion survey and the development of the ISA report that includes the survey results and an analysis and interpretation of the responses. Members of student government often initially organize the ISA process. Then students from all years in the curriculum are added to form a student committee with responsibility for designing and conducting the survey, analyzing response data, and preparing the data tables and the narrative of the ISA report. Although medical school officials can provide logistical support and technical advice to help the student committee conduct the survey and analyses, medical school officials must not participate in student survey development, survey data analysis, or ISA report preparation.

Email PSOM-LCME@upenn.edu.

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