Charlie Jiao, a first-year medical student at Upstate Medical University, received an email last week notifying him that the College of Medicine was on probation.

‘As you know, last fall the Liaison Committee on Medical Education had recommended that Upstate’s undergraduate medical education be accredited with probationary status,’ read the email, sent by Interim Dean David Duggan to students and staff. ‘The LCME has now notified us that it will move forward with its recommendation.’

Though Jiao said the news initially surprised him, he said he was reassured upon reading the remainder of the email, which stated that the program remained fully accredited.

‘They said they’re working to address the issues, which don’t seem all that huge,’ he said. ‘And so none of this really worries me.’

During the past month, Upstate has dealt with a slew of issues, mainly from the LCME’s poor review of the program. More recently, Michael Miller, former chairman of Upstate’s department of neuroscience and physiology, was the subject of a federal investigation for falsifying federally funded research results. Miller misrepresented data in at least four studies, according to a report from the Office of Research Integrity filed Monday.

Duggan said the university began solving the problems related to the LCME’s review immediately upon learning about them — and some have already been addressed. The university was granted 24 months to address these issues and submit a plan describing how by Aug. 15. The plan will be executed over the next few months, he said.

‘Once the LCME gets our plan and approves it, they will visit to validate it and see if it’s working,’ Duggan said. ‘Then we will hopefully get off probation.’

The LCME visited the university last March and decided that the medical school’s education program was not in compliance with 15 out of the 129 standards that needed to be fixed. Standards that failed to be met concerned the school’s curriculum and the administration of courses, Duggan said, so a new curriculum was written with updated agreements.

But the university still has some questions on how the LCME interprets its standards, Duggan said, so the two parties arranged a meeting in the spring to discuss the specific standards.

The LCME, a leading national authority in the accreditation of medical programs, consists of medical educators and administrators, public members, practicing physicians and medical students. They are sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Medical Association, according to their website.

The organization accredits 137 U.S. medical schools, and Upstate joins four other schools that are on probation, according to an LCME report.

After the 24-month window, the LCME has the authority to prolong the prohibition period, grant accreditation, grant accreditation with a short cycle or lift the accreditation entirely, Duggan said.

The probability of the school being shut down is remote, he said.

‘I believe LCME wants to make medical schools better. They’re not in the business of trying to close them,’ Duggan said. ‘It’s just the processes of educational programs need to be put in place, that’s all. And luckily those are very straightforward things to fix.’

Kenneth O’Brien, the president of the State University of New York’s University Faculty Senate, said it’s important to keep in mind that during the probation period, the medical school remains fully accredited. But he is confident in a change of status soon.

‘I do know my colleagues in SUNY administration, in UMU administration, and certainly on the faculty at UMU, are working together to make certain that the medical school’s probationary status becomes full accreditation as soon as possible,’ he said.

Duggan said he has not seen any changes in the number of applicants to the school or their credentials. He said there were no negative comments in the report regarding the students or the quality of faculty. Students continue to enter the school with excellent qualifications and score above average on standardized tests and residency applications upon graduation, he said.

The probation, Duggan said, has nothing to do with Upstate Medical University Hospital, which was placed on a watch list for a high frequency of safety concerns, complications and patient deaths in September.

Marianne Munson, a physical therapy student, said the probation causes people to view her program differently, even though physical therapy is not taught through the medical school.

‘People in the community think it’s the whole university on probation, not just the medical school,’ she said. ‘And so that affects their opinions of my own major.’

Medical students remain hopeful, though. Jiao, the first-year student, said he does not know the long-term consequences of the probation and thinks he may become more worried if he were closer to graduating.

Stephanie Grube, another student in the medical program, said she believes the university is well underway in addressing the issues in a timely manner.

‘The probation doesn’t really affect me all that much because I’ve got faith,’ she said. ‘They’ll make the changes they have to make.’

meltagou@syr.edu 

Published on February 28, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Marwa: meltagou@syr.edu | @marwaeltagouri