The Liaison Committee on Medical Education — the accreditor for MD-granting medical education programs in the U.S. and Canada, recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and sponsored by the AAMC and AMA. It sets the 12 accreditation standards and judges schools against them through peer review.

Technically the process is voluntary — but in practice it's essential. Without it, a school's students can't sit for the USMLE, its graduates can't enter ACGME residencies, and the school can't access key federal funding. Every MD school in the U.S. and Canada you'd consider attending is LCME-accredited.

A standard is a broad expectation (e.g., Standard 8: the curriculum is well managed and continuously improved). An element is a specific, auditable requirement under a standard (e.g., Element 8.5). Findings and citations attach to elements, not standards. The March 2026 edition has 12 standards and 83 elements.

The Data Collection Instrument — a long, structured questionnaire from the LCME that the school completes as part of its self-study. It asks for the school's evidence of compliance with every element, backed by an appendix of supporting documents. Think of it as the school's written case, in the LCME's format.

The Independent Student Analysis is a survey of the student body — designed, administered, analyzed, and reported by students themselves, with required core questions plus topics students choose. It exists so the survey team hears an unfiltered student perspective, independent of the administration's narrative.

Typically on an eight-year cycle for established programs. The LCME can schedule a visit sooner if it has questions about a program's quality or sustainability, and it can require follow-up (reports, limited visits) between full surveys.

An ad hoc team of peer reviewers — faculty and administrators from other medical schools, plus students — spends about two and a half days on site. They interview school leadership, faculty, staff, and students, review facilities, and probe the areas flagged in the survey package. Afterwards they write a report for the LCME, which makes the accreditation decision.

The LCME can grant or continue accreditation (including preliminary or provisional status for newer programs), continue accreditation with a specified term, place a program on warning or probation while it addresses problems — or, in the most serious cases, deny or withdraw accreditation. The details are in the LCME's Rules of Procedure.

It means the survey team found one or more elements unsatisfactory — the school isn't meeting that requirement. Citations aren't the end of the world; they're the mechanism by which the LCME says "fix this and show us." The school typically responds with corrective-action plans and follow-up status reports, and the LCME monitors progress.

Both mean the program keeps its accreditation while the LCME has significant concerns — but probation is the more serious public designation, signaling deeper or more persistent problems. Either way, the school must demonstrate correction on a timeline the LCME sets. For the exact definitions, see the Rules of Procedure on lcme.org.

New programs move through staged statuses — preliminary accreditation, then provisional accreditation — as they grow toward enrolling students and graduating a class, before reaching full accreditation. Each stage has its own survey milestones. If you're building a new school, the LCME's publications for developing programs are your starting point.

Start at lcme.org: the standards and rules, the publications hub (DCI, ISA checklist, self-study guides), the glossary, and the secretariat webinars. This site's accreditation toolkit links straight to each of them.