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Functions and Structure of a Medical School:
LCME Accreditation Standards


Accreditation is a voluntary, peer-review process designed to attest to the educational quality of new and
established educational programs. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accredits
complete and independent medical education programs in which medical students are geographically
located in the United States or Canada for their education and which are operated by universities or
medical schools that are chartered in the United States or Canada.

Accreditation of Canadian medical education programs is undertaken in cooperation with the Committee
on the Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS). By judging the compliance of medical education
programs with nationally accepted standards of educational quality, the LCME and the CACMS serve the interests
of the general public and of the medical students enrolled in those programs.

To achieve and maintain accreditation, a medical education program leading to the M.D. degree in the
U.S. and Canada must meet the standards contained in the following document. The accreditation process requires a
medical education program to provide assurances that its graduates exhibit general professional
competencies that are appropriate for entry to the next stage of their training and that serve as the
foundation for lifelong learning and proficient medical care. While recognizing the existence and
appropriateness of diverse institutional missions and educational objectives, the LCME subscribes to the
proposition that local circumstances do not justify accreditation of a substandard program of medical
education leading to the M.D. degree.

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