MD Program
Accreditation
The Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine has full accreditation
About medical school accreditation
The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) governs allopathic medical schools in the U.S. The LCME requires licensee institutions to undergo a rigorous self-examination process. It ensures that each school has the infrastructure necessary to provide a quality education to students. The LCME granted full accreditation to WSU College of Medicine after conducting an extensive virtual site visit in October 2020 and evaluating the College of Medicine’s progress in meeting the LCME’s rigorous standards.
Office of Accreditation
The Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine’s Office of Accreditation oversees the medical school’s work to achieve and maintain LCME accreditation. The office is responsible for updating, maintaining and implementing the LCME Data Collection Instrument (DCI) and the Self Study document. It is charged with making sure the medical school is in continuous compliance with LCME standards while striving for excellence in medical education and patient care using standards based upon continuous quality leadership principles.
Officers
John Tomkowiak, MD, MOL
Founding Dean
john.tomkowiak@wsu.edu
509-358-7549 | PROFILE
Kenneth P. Roberts, PhD
Chair, Department of Translational Medicine and Physiology
(Liaison to the LCME)
kenroberts@wsu.edu
509-358-7516 | PROFILE
James Zimmerman
Vice Dean of Administration, Accreditation and Finance
james.zimmerman@wsu.edu
509-368-6778 | PROFILE
Accreditation Standards
Current LCME Data Collection Instrument (DCI) standards
The LCME sets forth 12 standards that a new medical school must meet.
| Current DCI | Standards |
|---|---|
| April 2019 | Standard 1: Mission, Planning, Organization, and Integrity |
| April 2019 | Standard 2: Leadership and Administration |
| April 2019 | Standard 3: Academic and Learning Environments |
| April 2019 | Standard 4: Faculty Preparation, Productivity, Participation, and Policies |
| April 2019 | Standard 5: Educational Resources and Infrastructure |
| April 2019 | Standard 6: Competencies, Curricular Objectives, and Curricular Design |
| April 2019 | Standard 7: Curricular Content |
| April 2019 | Standard 8: Curricular Management, Evaluation, and Enhancement |
| April 2019 | Standard 9: Teaching, Supervision, Assessment, and Student and Patient Safety |
| April 2019 | Standard 10: Medical Student Selection, Assignment, and Progress |
| April 2019 | Standard 11: Medical Student Academic Support, Career Advising, and Educational Records |
| April 2019 | Standard 12: Medical Student Health Services, Personal Counseling, and Financial Aid Services |
Institutional self-study for provisional accreditation
An institutional self‑study is a required component of the accreditation process. It identifies institutional strengths and develops plans to address areas of need.
The Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine united faculty, administrators, university leadership, legislators and staff, clinical affiliates, practicing clinicians, and community stakeholders to conduct an institutional self-study. It was conducted face-to-face, on all four of the WSU campuses (Spokane, Tri-Cities, Vancouver, and Everett). The Office of Accreditation created a summary report (pdf) based on feedback from the self-study events. A new study will be launched in the fall of 2019 to support full accreditation activities.
Standards Based Continuous Quality Leadership (SBCQL) program
A medical school engages in ongoing planning and continuous quality improvement processes that establish short and long-term programmatic goals, result in the achievement of measurable outcomes that are used to improve programmatic quality, and ensure effective monitoring of the medical education program’s compliance with accreditation standards.
The Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine aims to build a lasting infrastructure of human talent, information technology and continuous quality improvement processes that work together to achieve excellence in medical education and patient care. Core customers are medical students and clinical patients.
SBCQL program goals
- Real time compliance status and performance trends
- Identification of opportunities to achieve excellence at reasonable cost
- Adverse trends always addressed using CQI methods Model for Improvement, LEAN, Six Sigma, etc.
- DCI documents always current and available
- LCME ASSET database always current
Strategic plan
Achieving accreditation is one component of the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine strategic plan.