Florida International University’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (HWCOM) has been awarded full accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) for the next eight years, the maximum possible term.
“This is an exciting and important milestone for our college of medicine,” said FIU president Mark B. Rosenberg. “It recognizes that we have an established and successful program that is preparing outstanding physicians.”
The LCME is the accrediting body for medical schools in the United States and Canada. Only graduates from LCME-accredited schools are eligible to apply for state licensing boards and most residency programs in the U.S. As a relatively new school, HWCOM previously was accredited for a period of five years. This was the first time it was eligible to be considered for the maximum review cycle of eight years.
South Florida’s first public medical school, HWCOM opened its doors to students in 2009 amid pressing community health concerns and a projected critical shortage of physicians nationwide.
The college graduated its inaugural class in 2013 and now has 378 alumni in 35 states and the District of Columbia. More than 100 of these alumni are performing their residency training in Florida. Four graduates of the inaugural class are already practicing physicians treating patients in South Florida.
“We are very proud of our students and the job our faculty and clinical affiliates are doing,” said Dr. John A. Rock, founding dean and senior vice president for health affairs. “Year after year, our students have been matching into great residency programs around the country, they are exceeding the national average score on licensing exams, and word is getting around.”
The college currently is interviewing candidates for the Class of 2022. It has received nearly 5,000 applications for 120 slots.
For more information about HWCOM, visit http://medicine.fiu.edu. For more information about FIU, visit www.fiu.edu/.
