ACCREDITATION | LSUHS SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

SACSCOC Accreditation

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) is a regional accrediting body in the United States that oversees the accreditation of higher education institutions in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Latin America and other international sites approved by the Commission. SACSCOC evaluates colleges and universities to ensure compliance with specific standards related to academic quality, institutional effectiveness, and integrity, thereby safeguarding the interests of students and the public.  Information about the institution's SACSCOC accreditation status is available at https://www.lsuhs.edu/about/accreditations. 

LCME Accreditation

The United States Department of Education recognizes the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) as the responsible authority for the accreditation of medical education programs leading to the MD degree. The LCME's scope is limited to the accreditation of complete and independent medical education programs for which students are geographically located in the United States or Canada for their education and that are operated by universities or medical schools that are chartered in the United States or Canada. LCME accreditation focuses on ensuring medical education programs meet rigorous standards in areas such as admissions, administration and governance, assessment, continuous quality improvement, curriculum, educational environment, faculty, resources, and student and academic services.  Under usual circumstances, medical education programs are reviewed by the LCME every eight years.  Information about the School of Medicine’s LCME accreditation status is available at https://www.lsuhs.edu/about/accreditations. 

September 17, 2024

Dear LSU Health Shreveport Community:  

We write to provide an update on LCME accreditation.

At LSU Health Shreveport, we are proud of our long tradition of training physicians who have provided excellent medical care to their patients, largely in Louisiana. Many of our graduates have attained great recognition in their fields. Our graduates still have virtually 100% pass rates on licensing exams, and a high residency match rate (99% over the past five years) into excellent training programs in all fields.

On March 10, 2023, however, the School of Medicine at LSU Health Shreveport received official notice that our medical education program (leading to the M.D. degree) remained fully accredited but had been placed on probation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). This action was taken by the LCME following a virtual survey visit for full accreditation on April 25-27, 2022.  In addition to virtual interviews, the LCME assessment was based extensively on student surveys completed in the  Spring of 2021.

Soon after receiving the March, 2023 notice from LCME, we distributed a letter to the LSU Health Shreveport community regarding our planned response. This communication is an update on what has been accomplished and what comes next in the LCME review process.

The April, 2022 LCME review found several key areas of concern regarding curricular and non-curricular accreditation standards. As newcomers to LSUHS (the Chancellor and Senior Assoc Dean were appointed in January and February, 2023, respectively), our first action at that time was to undertake a full review and assessment of the medical education program and the Spring, 2021 student surveys upon which the LCME report was based.

Based on this review, we concurred that the LCME concerns were credible, and embraced the opportunity to provide a modern educational experience for our medical students that will prepare them to be highly skilled and compassionate physicians, and a strong foundation on which to build a future of life-long learning and professionalism.

Our goals were not only to achieve compliance with all LCME standards (and therefore remove the probationary status), but ultimately to create a national model of medical education, ensuring that our graduates are optimally prepared to pursue consequential medical careers of excellence. To achieve these goals, between February and July of 2023, we fundamentally restructured the administration, content, and learning methods of the medical school’s educational program, with re-alignment of faculty participation in concert with updated teaching methods. This new educational program was rolled out in July, 2023, but has (and will be) continually refined based on student and faculty feedback, and student performance. Reshaping the curriculum has been focused on presentation of curricular content – scientific knowledge, clinical skills, and other competencies such as communication skills, team-based practice, and evidence-based medicine – in a proportion and sequence that will best prepare graduates for the future. 

Since December, 2023, with the opening of our 155,000 sq. ft. Center for Medical Education, we have been able to upgrade substantially our active learning instructional strategies, clinical skills simulation, and healthcare technologies. In addition, the Center contains an extensive state-of-the-art fitness center and other spaces for student wellness and mindfulness.

These initiatives position us well to meet all accreditation standards and create an exciting and forward-looking medical educational program that will serve our graduates well throughout their medical careers. Our report to LCME was submitted on September 3, 2024, and we will have a virtual LCME visit on October 28-29. We are excited about this ongoing work, which will ultimately make us a stronger School of Medicine.

Aiming High,

David S. Guzick, MD, PhD
Chancellor, LSUHS
Dean, School of Medicine

Kelly Pagidas, MD
Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education and Administration
School of Medicine