25 percent of developing medical colleges delay submitting their LCME application


Central Michigan University is not alone in delaying the College of Medicine by a year.

Dr. Dan Hunt, Liasion Committee on Medical Education co-secretary, said about 25 percent of developing medical colleges delay submitting their LCME application and subsequently opening their schools for various reasons.

CMU announced a year delay in opening the College of Medicine Feb. 15. University President George Ross said the delay was to “provide sufficient time to prepare for the stringent accrediting process” in an interview with CM Life.

Ross also said delayed medical school openings are “the norm and not the exception” during the Feb. 15 Academic Senate meeting.

Hunt said it is difficult to say why those 25 percent of developing schools delay because it is an extraordinary process to establish a medical school. He said LCME approves of any college requiring additional time to develop their schools.

“From our point of view, we encourage people to take all the time they need,” he said.

Hunt said LCME advises schools while developing their curriculum and helps them understand what LCME requires for accreditation.

“We are the school’s best and cheapest consultant,” Hunt said.

The LCME campus visit was postponed as a result of a delay.  A school may not begin recruiting or accepting its first class until the visit is complete. Schools are allowed to begin recruiting students once awarded preliminary accreditation, Hunt said, which is awarded after the campus visit when 129 LCME criteria are evaluated against the school’s developments.

Hunt said he helped develop the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, which was Canada’s first new medical college in 30 years at the time. The opening was delayed, he said, but it was the right thing for them to do in the situation they were in.

“From my own personal experience, (announcing the delay) was not easy to do but ... it was the right thing to do,” he said. “For us, it was the best thing we ever did, and at the time it was ugly and hardest thing we ever did, but it gave us the extra time.”

The most difficult part in developing a medical college is ensuring adequate resources, Hunt said, because while philanthropy is great, it does not last forever.

“(LCME) standards do not allow you to run a school on tuition collected from students,” he said. “You need to have the money and show the accrediting body 10 years from now you will have adequate operating costs.”

Steve Smith, director of public relations, confirmed CMU has raised $1,035,100 of its total $25 million goal as of March 23.

CMU has been awarded “applicant status” by the LCME with five other schools, including Western Michigan University.

Cheryl Rolland, WMU’s executive director of communications, said the plan for a medical college is moving forward.

“It’s quite a lengthy process,” Rolland said.

There is no opening date for WMU’s medical school. Rolland said that is contingent on the process of accreditation.

WMU President John M. Dunn told the Kalamazoo Gazette an endowment of $175 million to $300 million would be required to operate, which is higher than the overall university’s endowment of $160 million.

WMU hired a founding dean, Dr. Hal B. Jenson, and also have a committee developing curriculum and faculty developments.

Both Oakland University and WMU’s developing medical colleges will be privately funded through affiliate hospitals.

WMU received a record-breaking anonymous donation of $100 million on March 22.

At OU’s William Beaumont School of Medicine, the decision to create a medical school began in the 1970s, said Dr. Robert Folberg, founding dean of the college.

“Various options were explored,” Folberg said, “but they did not take root. (OU)’s school was announced March 2007.”

Folberg said in developing its medical school, OU also announced a delay in opening because they would have lost out on recruiting and been “off-cycle” with the applicant pool had the school rushed the process.

“The ideal situation is you have accreditation, and then take a full year to recruit a medical school class,” Folberg said. “The bottom line here is by waiting until we were absolutely ready and going for the full recruitment, we ended up with an accreditation report that showed no deficiencies.”

In a September 2009 interview with the Oakland Post, Folberg said he could have cut corners to submit the application on time, but wanted to make sure all of his and OU President Gary Russi’s goals were complete.

The decision to develop a medical college at OU is tied to existing biomedical science and nursing programs, Folberg said.

Wayne State University, the University of Michigan and Michigan State University also have medical schools.

Hunt said Michigan is not the only state with an increasing number of medical colleges. According to LCME's website, there are a total of 17 schools nationwide in the first three steps of accreditation — the statuses being "applicant school," "candidate school" and "preliminary accreditation."

CMU and WMU are both considered applicant schools, and OU has preliminary accreditation. Currently, four new schools are being developed in Florida and two in California. There are a total of 134 LCME-accredited medical programs in the U.S., including those with preliminary or probationary accreditation status.

According to Hunt, former LCME president Dr. Darrell Kirsch said workforce studies indicated a shortage of physicians in the near future, and since then, existing medical colleges have increased their enrollment and several universities decided to develop medical schools.

“We’re seeing a shortage of health care providers across the board," he said. "Eighty-five percent of existing schools have expanded enrollment. But new medical schools are motivated for different reasons. It’s all very individualized.”

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