Liaison Committee on Medical Education sets accreditation standards
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Christopher C. Colenda, M.D., M.P.H., chancellor for health sciences at West Virginia University, has been selected to a one-year term as chair of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the federally-recognized accrediting body for programs in the United States and Canada offering the M.D. degree.
Dr. Colenda was appointed to the LCME by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). That group and the American Medical Association are the LCME’s two institutional sponsors.
"I'm extremely pleased to see Dr. Colenda recognized with this important leadership position in academic medicine," said WVU President Jim Clements. "He is a proven leader, with strong principles and ethics, as well as a deep commitment to quality in academics and health care. It is a real salute to all of our faculty, staff, and students for one of our own to hold responsibility for maintaining the highest standards in every medical school in the country."
Medical schools are reviewed every eight years and must maintain LCME accreditation for their students to remain eligible for licensing in most states and in Canada. Schools must perform a rigorous self-study to compare their education program to LCME standards. An on-site visit from a team of faculty members from other accredited schools is followed by a detailed review by the LCME members.
“This is about continuous quality improvement and raising the standards to ensure that all medical schools are providing the highest quality of medical education in the world,” said Colenda. “On a personal level, of all the professional and volunteer work I’ve done, this is one of the most gratifying positions I’ve ever held in academic medicine.”
Throughout his career as a medical educator, he participated in a dozen site visits to evaluate medical programs.
Colenda is an accomplished geriatric health services and clinical investigator and has published more than 110 articles and book chapters. He joined WVU as Chancellor for Health Sciences in 2009. He was named an LCME member in 2007 while serving as dean of the College of Medicine of Texas A&M Health Science Center.
He has held previous academic and administrative appointments at Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Medical College of Virginia of Virginia Commonwealth University.
Colenda will serve as chair for one year, with newly appointed chair-elect, Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., chancellor and executive vice president for biosciences and health affairs and dean of the College of Medicine at The University of Toledo, succeeding him in 2013. “I look forward to working closely with Dr. Colenda,” Dr. Gold said. “He is a highly respected scholar, and the new structure creates an opportunity for greater ease of transition between one leader and the next. It is a true honor to be asked to serve the LCME in this capacity.”