Stony Brook University School of Medicine Granted Full Accreditation Status

Stony Brook University School of Medicine Granted Full Accreditation Status

Stony Brook Receives Five Commendations Representing “Institutional Strengths”

STONY BROOK, N.Y., December 5, 2011 – Stony Brook University School of Medicine has been granted continued full accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the nationally recognized accrediting authority for medical education programs leading to the M.D. degree in the U.S. and Canada. An LCME survey team, which completed a site visit to the School of Medicine in April 2011, voted this fall for full reaccreditation and recognized Stony Brook with five commendations representing the School’s “institutional strengths.”

Stony Brook University School of Medicine has been granted continued full accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the nationally recognized accrediting authority for medical education programs.

The LCME is an accrediting body sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the American Medical Association. Medical schools nationwide must adhere to a process and LCME survey review every eight years for continued accreditation. Some schools receive only preliminary accreditation and other previously accredited schools can be placed on probation or a warning of probation. Stony Brook received reaccreditation with no term specified.

“Stony Brook did spectacularly well in our LCME review, a strong indication of our compliance and creativity in building our medical education program to be among the best in the nation,” says Kenneth Kaushansky, M.D., M.A.C.P., Senior Vice President for the Health Sciences, and Dean, School of Medicine.

The LCME detailed five commendations. These institutional strengths for Stony Brook, in summary, include:

• The bold and rapid actions taken by the newly appointed dean in addressing problems in the educational program and designed to improve the institution’s performance across all of its core mission areas, a move resonating strongly with faculty and students.

• Two first-year courses – Medical Physiology and Molecular Foundations of Medicine – have made creative and innovative use of the Objective Structured Clinical Examination as a strategy to integrate the clinical application of students’ basic science knowledge.

• The medical school has made a strong commitment to strengthening its emphasis on humanities, ethics, and professionalism and created a Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics.

• Medical student support has been greatly enhanced in the areas of learning and study skills advising and financial aid strategies.

• The medical school’s Information Technology Department has developed a remarkable electronic platform to capture and track curriculum information, class schedules, student grades and examination administration, clinical experiences logs, and other educational support functions.

According to the LCME, accreditation is “awarded to a program of medical education based on a judgment that there exists an appropriate balance between student enrollment and the total resources of the institution, including faculty, physical facilities, and the operating budget.”

About Stony Brook University School of Medicine
Established in 1971, the Stony Brook University School of Medicine includes 25 academic departments. The three missions of the School are to advance the understanding of the origins of human health and disease, train the next generation of committed, curious and highly capable physicians, and deliver word-class compassionate healthcare. As a member of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and a Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accredited medical school, Stony Brook is one of the foremost institutes of higher medical education in the country. Each year the School trains nearly 500 medical students and over 480 medical residents and fellows. Faculty research includes National Institutes of Health-sponsored programs in neurological diseases, cancer, cardiovascular disorders, biomedical imaging, regenerative medicine, infectious diseases, and many other topics. Physicians on the School of Medicine faculty deliver world class medical care through more than 30,000 inpatient, 80,000 emergency room, and approximately 350,000 outpatient visits annually at Stony Brook University Hospital and affiliated clinical programs, making its clinical services one of the largest and highest quality on Long Island, New York. To learn more, visit www.stonybrookmedicalcenter.org/som.