The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) is the nationally recognized accrediting authority for medical education programs leading to the MD degree in the United States and Canada. The LCME is sponsored jointly by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the American Medical Association (AMA) with each organization providing an LCME Secretary. Current Secretaries are Barbara Barzansky, PhD for the AMA and Veronica Catanese, MD for the AAMC. The accreditation status of medical schools is publicly available on the LCME Directory of Accredited MD Programs in the United States.
In determining accreditation status, the LCME conducts periodic accreditation site visits. The LCME conducted its most recent accreditation visit at UNM School of Medicine in February 2018. This site visit resulted in continued full accreditation of the SOM. Our next site visit is February 23-25, 2026.
For more details, visit the LCME website or contact them via email at lcme@aamc.org.
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UNM LCME 2024-2026 LCME Accreditation Review Timeline |
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November - December 2024 |
Student ISA begins and LCME Self Study kick off |
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February 2025 |
DCI first draft and finalized ISA report |
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March 31-April 1, 2025 |
Gap analysis to assess strengths and opportunities |
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August 2025 |
Self-study sub-committee reports and revised DCI finalized |
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September 2026 |
LCME Self-study Task Force finalizes Self-study Summary Report |
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October 20-22, 2025 |
Mock site visit to prepare UNM SOM community for site visit activities |
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November 17, 2025 |
Submit survey package (DCI, ISA, and Self-study Summary Report) to LCME |
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January 23, 2026 |
Deadline for submitting updated data |
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February 23-25, 2026 |
Accreditation Site Visit |
In between site visits, the SOM Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) committee, chaired by Dr. Rebecca Hartley monitors our compliance with the twelve accreditation standards. This committee is divided into six subcommittees, each of which monitors one, two, or three of the accreditation standards and the associated elements.
The six subcommittees are charged by the CQI committee with the task of reviewing all the standards/elements, gathering data, and writing periodic reports about specific areas of medical education at UNM.
Chairs: Betty Chang, MD and Bill Shuttleworth, PhD
1. Mission, Planning, Organization, and Integrity
2. Leadership and Administration
Chairs: Donna Sigl, MD and Diana Martinez, DrPH Candidate
3. Academic and Learning Environments
4. Faculty Preparation, Productivity, Participation and Policies
Chairs: Melissa Rethlefsen, MSLS, AHIP and Jonathan Eldredge, PhD
5. Educational Resources and Infrastructure
Chair: Patrick Rendon, MD
6. Competencies, Curricular Objectives and Curricular Design
7. Curricular Content
Chairs: Jacob Imber, MD and Ann Morrison, MD
8. Curriculum Management, Evaluation and Enhancement
9. Teaching, Supervision, Assessment and Student and Patient Safety
Chairs: Alfonso Belmonte, MD and Teresa Vigil-Baca, MD
10. Medical Student Selection, Assignment and Progres
11. Medical Student Academic Support, Career Advising and Educational Records
12 .Medical Student Health Series, Personal Counseling and Financial Aid Services
The CQI Subcommittee Chairs form the core of our Self-Study Taskforce. The subcommittees are expanding to include junior and senior faculty, administrators, staff and students as they begin writing the accreditation self-study (termed DCI for Data Collection Instrument). That process involves answering in-depth questions posed by the LCME regarding every component of our medical education program as outlined in the 12 Accreditation Standards.
The self-study provides the SOM with the opportunity for self-evaluation and improvement as well as certification that the SOM is meeting the educational standards for accreditation. After completing the DCI questions, each committee will write a brief report on their topics and these will be integrated into an institutional self-study and the resulting summary that accompanies the DCI.
Also accompanying the DCI will be a report from the Independent Student Analysis (ISA) subcommittee. This subcommittee will conduct a survey of our medical students' experiences and opinions to develop a comprehensive picture of how students perceive the medical school, the medical education program, student services, learning environment and adequacy of educational resources.
The entire report will be submitted to the LCME On November 17, 2025. Updates on progress in implementing the improvement plan resulting from our self-study can be submitted before January 24, 2026.
For more information on the LCME accreditation process and how you can participate, please contact your Faculty Accreditation Lead Rebecca Hartley, rhartley@salud.unm.edu and copy Elizabeth Sanchez, easanchez@salud.unm.edu Survey Visit Coordinator.