College of Medicine

DEAN’S MESSAGE

We have just had our mock survey visit in preparation for the full survey visit in April 2019. I’ll share a few observations about the two days that Dr. Art Ross spent with us here at the FSU College of Medicine.  

First, thank you to so many people who made this visit go so smoothly. From scheduling to logistics to preparation of the materials in advance, it went very, very well. Thank you to each of the faculty, students and staff who came prepared and were open and candid with Dr. Ross in response to his questions and observations. We did a full debrief with him Tuesday evening, and here are some of his comments both during and upon conclusion of the visit:

• He very much enjoyed the visit and getting to know the FSU College of Medicine. Dr. Ross has been a good friend for over 20 years, we served on the LCME together and I looked forward to having him see what we’ve created here. He was very impressed. 
• He was very complimentary of our selfstudy and DCI materials. He described them as well-organized, coherent and with no conflicts from section to section. As a past member of the LCME (including chair), having reviewed multiple programs and made multiple site visits, he described our materials as the best he’s ever seen. So thank you for all those who wrote, edited, collated and organized our materials.
• He really enjoyed meeting with all of the faculty and staff and described our team as “stars.” When he does site visits, he always picks out a few people he “would like to take back home” with him. Many of you met that criterion for him in this visit – thank you!
• He enjoyed meeting with our students, as all of us do when we make site visits. If students are having a good experience, feel supported and have strong mentors and advisors, the school will likely have few problems with the visit. That was the case here.
• He appreciated the candor and openness of all those with whom he met. He both asked tough questions and provided guidance on what the LCME will be looking for. He thought you were wellprepared and open to suggestions. 

From my perspective, the visit accomplished exactly what was intended. It put a set of fresh eyes on our materials and program and gave each of us an opportunity to get familiar with the materials, review the requirements/elements and see how we measured up against those standards. In some cases, we validated our conclusions. In others, we identified areas for improvement or how to reframe issues and policies.  

We have a fairly short list of elements that will need further review in anticipation of the actual visit. We will use upcoming meetings (curriculum, faculty or clerkship directors) to further educate ourselves around some of these areas. We will work on better prep for some groups to be sure you have the information you need to answer the questions posed. We will make some process improvement recommendations for a couple. One word of caution: Dr. Ross did the work of a full LCME survey team (five experts). Each of them will be very focused in their area of expertise and may well have more detailed questions for us. Those of you who will meet with the survey team should continue to read and review relevant sections of the DCI.

I specifically thank Dr. Mike Overton for his tireless efforts as faculty accreditation lead in support of this visit and all during the self-study. He also was taking notes at each session this week. Thank you also to Dr. Littles and her staff (Cathy Bell and Rebecca Garside) for their amazing contributions over the past 15 months to bring this process to a great conclusion. To all of the faculty, staff and students who served on subcommittees, wrote draft portions of the self-study, did final edits or met with the mock site visitor, you have my deepest appreciation.

Thank you. This was great preparation for April!

Sincerely,  

J. Fogarty

Dean