The George Washington University School of Medicine was placed on probation last week by their accreditation organization, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.
In response, GWU announced that they are developing a plan to meet the LCME’s standards in the areas of curriculum management, lounge and study space, and internal administrative processes.
All GWU School of Medicine programs will remain fully accredited during the probationary period, and the school has two years to fulfill the obligations specified by the LCME.
Five medical schools have been placed on probation in the past fourteen years, but GWU is the only school that is currently on probation.
“It’s all semantics, and most of the problems are administrative issues,” Doug McCaskill of the physician’s assistant program said. “Students had a 100 percent pass rate last year on the medical boards.”
Many GWU students noted that the school lacks adequate study space.
“Let me put it to you this way: there could be more,” medical student Nick Ambrosio said.
The school is in the process of remodeling the main medical building to provide greater study and lounge space, according to University spokesperson Deborah Hudson.
“It’s true that we have a small library,” a Georgetown graduate who is now a medical student at GWU said. She wished to remain anonymous because she has ties to the administration. “We’ve been assured that [the probation] won’t be a problem.”
Many third and fourth year medical students are concerned about their chances of matching with highly competitive residency programs. For now, it appears that new applicants have not been frightened by the accreditation concerns.
“That’s one of those where you just apply … you’ve got to give yourself all the chances you can to get in somewhere,” Dan Sheets (COL ‘09), who is applying to GWU, said.
Sheets said that he recently received an email informing all applicants that the LCME placed the school on probation.
Georgetown Dean Ali Whitmer wrote in an email that a majority of Georgetown premed students apply to GWU School of Medicine each year, and she estimated that ten students matriculate there each year from Georgetown.
Whitmer portrayed the probation as not very severe and wrote that the issues seemed “administrative and not programmatic.”
“The School is committed to academic excellence and to providing a superior education for its medical students,” GWU said in their public statement.
