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UTHSC Medical School Retains Full Accreditation

UT Health Science Center

The UT Health Science Center's Medical School has corrected non-compliance issues that led to a two-year probation period imposed by the organization that accredits medical education programs for doctors in the U.S. and Canada.

While on probation with the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the school maintained its accreditation for students.

Dr. Francisco González-Scarano, dean of the UTHSC Medical School, said it’s unusual to be placed on probation, but it does happen.

“The reality is it was never meant to say that our students were not adequate doctors -- that was never a question," he said. "It was really about making sure that we are positioned to implement the changes that need to be put into place on a regular basis.”

González-Scarano said most of the ten conflicts identified for correction by the LCME stemmed from structural and organizational issues.

The first was that the dean did not have sufficient authority to implement the curriculum.

“The LCME did not like the separation between the basic science department's line of authority and the dean of the medical school," González-Scarano said. "So the biggest thing that happened was that we had those seven basic science departments fall into the School of Medicine.”

González-Scarano said secondary issues flowed from the first, such as the LCME criticism that the pre-clinical curriculum was thought to be too lecture-intensive. He said although the infrastructure of the medical school had been in place almost since the school was established 45 years ago, the changes have made it a better medical school overall.

Eileen Pace is a veteran radio and print journalist with a long history of investigative and feature reporting in San Antonio and Houston, earning more than 50 awards for investigative reporting, documentaries, long-form series, features, sports stories, outstanding anchoring and best use of sound.