SoM colleagues submit self-study summary in preparation for Jan. 12-15, 2020, accreditation site visit

Contained in the Oct. 21 submission of the school’s complete survey package to the Liaison Committee on Medical Education is the story of a strong undergraduate medical education program made all the stronger by improvements inspired by the accrediting body’s upcoming visit.

“On behalf of Dr. Tracy Bumsted* and the entire school, we thank all the people involved in the LCME committees and all medical students for their very hard work, as well as the many people across the university who provided facts and data for our self-study summary,” said George Mejicano, M.D., M.S., senior associate dean for education, OHSU School of Medicine. “We have more work ahead, but we could not have gotten this far without the collective efforts of our team.”

The survey package submission comes after months of preparation and hundreds of faculty, students and staff who sought to “see the ‘me’ in LCME.” It includes 200 documents and answers thousands of questions about how the school fulfills each of the 12 LCME standards and 93 associated elements for medical education. Highlights include a 35-page self-study report, results of the independent student analysis, and the Data Collection Instrument, or DCI.

LCME self-study: a continual improvement process

The self-study summary includes strengths of the YOUR M.D. curriculum, as well as numerous improvements made as a part of the LCME preparation process. It also includes challenges and how the school recommends improving in these areas.

One of the changes medical students said they needed was more quiet study space. A corner of the Robertson Life Sciences Building, 1N004, is now available by badge access for all medical students. The space includes 28 individual study carrels, lounge seating, an open study area, and a built-in counter that can be used as sitting or standing study space. This is one example of changes the school has made in response to student needs (read this February 2019 article (OHSU login required) for other examples).

No time to read the self-study summary? Here are the highlights:

Strengths of the School of Medicine

• Faculty excellence: The success of the YOUR M.D. curriculum transformation would not have been possible without the school’s faculty embracing, actively engaging in, and championing the innovations
• Service learning opportunities: Medical students have tremendous opportunities to participate and meaningfully engage in service-learning and community service activities
• Scientific method training and research opportunities: Medical students complete a scholarly project and receive training in the scientific method while getting exposure to world-renowned scientists and research
• Commitment to solving society’s most pressing challenges through medical education: The innovative, student-led structural competency series is an example of the unique opportunities to create and deliver socially-relevant content
• Customization and individualization of medical school experience: Medical students have exceptional flexibility for completing many curricular requirements; the “one size fits all” model of undergraduate medical education is a thing of the past at OHSU

Challenges and plans to improve

• Responsiveness to student concerns: The associate dean for undergraduate medical education and assistant deans for student affairs are focusing on communication with students and have created new staff positions to better support students
• Diversity: The school will continue its many diversity initiatives, including working with student groups so that diverse students feel personally and academically supported
• Mistreatment: The school will continue educational efforts, as well as partner with the Office of Graduate Medical Education and university colleagues in human resources, affirmative action/equal opportunity, to prevent and reduce mistreatment incidents
• Student study space and secure storage: In addition to the RLSB space mentioned above, the school is renovating the medical student lounge and call room at OHSU Hospital
• Fairness of grades and clarity of graduation requirements: The school will study data regarding faculty and resident evaluations and tiered grade assessments, and made graduation requirements more clear in the Medical Student Handbook
• Academic and career advising: The school will ask students twice a year what they think of these services, as well as increase coordination between faculty who support student career advising
• Medical education debt: The school will continue aggressive fundraising and philanthropic efforts for scholarships, and work with OHSU government relations staff to explore other options

*Tracy Bumsted, M.D., M.P.H., FAAP, is professor of pediatrics, OHSU School of Medicine and LCME faculty accreditation lead

This is part of a series of LCME updates. You can visit www.ohsu.edu/lcme or the LCME O2 page (OHSU login required) for more information.

Pictured, above:

Shhh, we’re studying: M.D. students Kevin Paternostro, Rita Somogyi, Holden Richards, Emily Weinstein, Mary Earp and Tom Hoang (l to r) in the new RLSB quiet study space.