UC Riverside School of Medicine gets OK to move forward
October 9, 2012 •
UC Riverside last week received notification that its planned medical school has received “preliminary accreditation” from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the national accrediting body for educational programs leading to the M.D. degree in U.S. and Canadian medical schools.
The UC Riverside School of Medicine will immediately begin recruiting students for its charter class entering in August 2013.
“This is a momentous decision for Inland Southern California and for UC Riverside,” said Chancellor Timothy P. White. “This medical school is critically needed to address our region’s physician shortage and stimulate the local economy. Our community has been superb in its support of this project, and on so many occasions community members have come together on this transformative and challenging effort. We simply could not have reached this point without that support.”
Dr. G. Richard Olds, vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the medical school, said the positive decision by the LCME is a testament to the determination of local elected officials, community supporters, UC and UCR leadership, donors and faculty and staff of the medical school to develop a new medical school with a public mission during an economic recession that hit California particularly hard.
“Working together, the community and the UCR campus simply persevered because expanding access to health care is one of the most pressing issues for Inland Southern California,” Olds said. “This milestone enables us to open the doors of the medical school and begin expanding and diversifying our region’s physician workforce.”
This was UC Riverside’s second try to gain accreditation for an independent, four-year medical school. The LCME withheld preliminary accreditation in summer 2011 due to a lack of recurring state funding support for the school.
After securing substantial new funding from a variety of non-state funding sources, the campus submitted a second accreditation application in April 2012, which was followed by an accreditation site visit in June.
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