Art education senior Melanie Gonzalez (left) and biomedical science senior Regina Lerma-Rodriguez write notes during their Anatomy and Physiology I course last Tuesday in the Life & Health Sciences Biology Wing on the Brownsville campus. Aura Velasquez/THE RIDER
UTRGV’s School of Medicine has completed the final stage to receive full accreditation required to increase the number of students it admits each academic year starting in Fall 2023.
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges accredited the School of Medicine to award future graduates pursuing their baccalaureate, master’s and doctorate degrees.
“The Rio Grande Valley is desperate for physicians,” said Dr. Michael B. Hocker, dean of the School of Medicine and senior vice president for UT Health Rio Grande Valley. “Our mission is to support physician development, medical school and residency programs.”
In 2015, the School of Medicine was granted initial accreditation and provisional accreditation in 2021. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education voted to grant full accreditation to the UTRGV School of Medicine during its June 13-15 meetings. After completing the final stage, enrollment will significantly increase to expand existing and future medical programs of UTRGV.
Hocker said the Liaison Committee on Medical Education sets some guidance on how to expand the class size. Currently, the school of medicine has 225 students enrolled.
“Our goal would probably be a 10% increase over the next couple of years,” he said. “We clearly would like to get to a school size probably somewhere in between 80 to 100 students within five to six years.”
To ensure full accreditation, the School of Medicine has engaged in retrieving and reviewing data through Continuous Quality Improvement teams and the Data Collection Instrument.
“It’s an internal review that we do,” said Muriel Warren, the assistant dean for Accreditation and survey visit coordinator for the School of Medicine. “We have a team of CQI members. The CQI teams are essentially responsible for gathering, analyzing and reporting the data on the DCI.”
The CQI teams are students at the School of Medicine who provide necessary content for the Liaison Committee on Medical Education process that is required for accreditation, according to Warren.
The committee is composed of 12 standards that determine if the School of Medicine meets the required fundamentals and principles.
Warren said the committee self-study CQI teams assess retrieved data.
“We began with essentially a SWOT analysis to determine … our strengths, weaknesses and achievements, and how we can mitigate opportunities of threats,” she said. “We don’t like to call them threats, but we like to call them opportunities of improvement.”
Crucial information is gathered for future improvements from students in each classification through the Independent Student Analysis, according to the School of Medicine’s accreditation website. A survey is conducted regarding various subjects where students can provide suggestions or general comments.
Student participation is highly desired.
“The LCME is expecting for students between 70 and 80% participation rate,” Warren said. “We have always exceeded that rate of participation … with students.”
Hocker said that the School of Medicine has remained in the 90th percentile. With the students’ willingness to recommend better solutions, there has been higher student satisfaction and improvement.
“This is a major milestone for the School of Medicine and for UTRGV,” Warren added. “It is a massive amount of work that is compiled by students, faculty and staff, including leadership within the institution.”
The UTRGV School of Medicine continues to follow and perform the core values to transform the future of medical programs in the Rio Grande Valley, according to the school’s website.
“We won’t stop here,” Hocker said. “We’ll continue to evolve and develop one of the top programs in Texas.”
Hocker also said that in December 2024, a Cancer and Surgery Center will be located on a new academic campus in McAllen. In January 2025, the first patient will be provided with outpatient cancer services offered by UTRGV.
