GW Med School on Probation

After a bombshell report last week by an accrediting body placing the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences on probation, school officials appeared before the Board of Trustees on Friday to offer explanations.

Among the findings of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, it was revealed that the school failed to maintain acceptable methods of curriculum management, internal administrative processes, and failed to provide adequate study space for students. The school has a period of two years to satisfy the committee’s recommendations.

In a recent Washington Post article it was noted that of the 130 US and 17 Medical Schools the LCME oversees, GW is one of only five to receive probation since 1994 and the only school to be sanctioned as of late.

The SMHS has announced the formation of a corrective action plan to be submitted by January 2^nd. The committee is in collaboration with both the school and outside consultants in attempts to resolve the issues.

The only question remaining is why the medical school has declined to release the actual LCME report and its complete findings, which may both spur unnecessary panic and fuel concerns about the severity of the school’s violations.

- Jared Pliner