While settling into its new home at the Medical Education Building downtown, the Alpert Medical School will also conduct a self-study over the next year to prepare for the upcoming Liaison Committee on Medical Education accreditation investigation in fall 2012. The committee, which requires participating medical schools to undergo a year-long self-study before evaluation, oversees accreditation processes for medical schools and determines eligibility for grants.
The self-study coincides with the Med School's ongoing curricular overhaul and relocation to its new building in the Jewelry District. "We've had (the committee's) accreditation standards in mind for every change we've made," said Philip Gruppuso, associate dean for medical education.
The move to the Medical Education Building will be key to (the committee's) approval, Guppuso said. "There are huge problems with medical students trying to find study space," he said.
Class size will increase from 75 students in each graduating class to about 120 after the new building opens. As a result, the Med School is introducing a new "academy model" for career and personal advising. Each class will be divided into three academies of 40 students.
"The new curriculum will focus on traditional clinical training in the core areas and expand to public health and medical ethics. There will also be a more robust program on advising students on what they should do in their fourth year, which is largely elective," Gruppuso said.
The new building will also provide more space for teaching, said Jeffrey Borkan, professor of family medicine, as well as group meeting rooms and simulation rooms, where students can work with simulated patients.
These changes have galvanized interest in the Med School. Applications increased more than 15 percent this year, Gruppuso said. He attributed the dramatic increase to the move to the new building and said he expects applications to continue to rise.
The Med School was "always known as an intimate medical school, so there was a concern that that familiarity and closeness might be lost" as the Med School expands, Borkan said.
The committee's accreditation standards are broad but ultimately determine the Med School's license, Borkan said. "As a first step, Brown tries to create innovation and advance medical education into an area of excitement and utilize the resources Rhode Island has to offer," he said.
Gruppuso said he is confident about the evaluation. "One of our responsibilities to our students and the institution is that we retain our accreditation, and I think we're in a good position to maintain (the committee's) accreditation for the next two years," he said.
