Message from Interim Dean Richard DiCarlo
Colleagues,
We are making progress on important initiatives. Demolition of MEB floors 5, 6, and 7 is well underway, and we are installing AV systems in the CALS classrooms after months of waiting for backordered equipment. We also hope to have good news about the walkway to the CALS building soon.
A very significant recent development was the signing of an agreement related to the LSU-LCMC Health Cancer Center (one of our Top Stories in this issue). LSUHSC, Tulane, the LCRC and LCMC all signed an agreement in October that LSU will lead the efforts to bring an NCI-designated cancer center to Louisiana. The agreement acknowledges that LSU is in the best position to achieve this important goal for the State and region. It ends years of confusion, which impeded progress and made recruitment challenging. The importance of this agreement was highlighted by the Governor’s visit and announcement that the four institutions have aligned with LSU as the leader and applicant for NCI designation. To facilitate this, Dr. Joe Ramos will become a full-time faculty member at LSU and the Director of the Cancer Center. Now that we have this agreement, we can roll up our sleeves to get the real work done over the next several years – this will be a major accomplishment for the school and a major benefit for the State of Louisiana.
In two years, the School of Medicine will undergo its reaccreditation visit by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). We undergo this review every eight years. We have been fortunate to do very well in these reviews in 2001-02, 2009-10, and 2017-18. This is an indication of the excellent education we provide to our medical students, and it acknowledges the academic environment we have created for our students and faculty. We anticipate that the LCME visit in 2025-26 will be equally successful.
The LCME reviewers will be thorough, examining every aspect of our school and program. They will review our bylaws and our relationship with the LSU System, our administrative staff, the sufficiency of our faculty and faculty bylaws, the relationship with our clinical partners, our finances, our physical facilities, campus safety, our network infrastructure, the adequacy of our clinical training sites and residency programs, and our research enterprise. They will examine our medical school curriculum and student support services such as career advising, student health, and financial aid services very closely. It is a rigorous review, and many schools are given a warning or placed on probation.
Although the visit is still many months away, we have already begun preparing. Dr. Robin English, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education, will lead the effort. Drs. Cathy Lazarus and Stephanie Taylor will also play leadership roles. We will form several committees early next year, and those committees will examine our processes and generate the reports that we will submit to the LCME in advance of their visit. Given the thoroughness of the review, we will have to submit thousands of pages of documents. Our students will play an important role in this process, and the LCME takes student feedback and opinion very seriously. Students are currently completing surveys that will help us identify problems to address before we compose the faculty committees. The goals of this process go beyond maintaining our accreditation. We want to also improve as an institution. That is why it is important for us to start our review early and why early student input is important. If we approach this monumental task in the spirit of working together to improve the school for our students, staff, and faculty, we will have a successful outcome and make this a better place for the future.
You will hear more about LCME accreditation over the next two years. For now, I want to make sure you know that we are beginning to work on this. I also want to express my sincere thanks to Drs. English, Lazarus, and Taylor, and to Alisa Roy in the UME Office for the administrative support she will provide. This is an important challenge for the School of Medicine.
Richard DiCarlo, MD