This online LCME Glossary was last updated in March 2026. It has been adapted from the “Glossary of Terms for LCME Accreditation Standards and Elements” previously located in various LCME publications.
The process available to all students between a medical student and an academic advisor of reviewing the services and policies of the institution, discussing educational plans, linking students to services such as tutoring to assist with knowledge gaps, providing students with resources, such as study and test-taking skills to support their academic success, and assisting students in making appropriate course selections.
The process available to students in academic difficulty or at risk of such difficulty between the medical student and an academic counselor of discussing and developing remedies for an individual student’s academic difficulties, including helping the medical student acquire more effective and efficient abilities in academic areas needing attention and support.
Medical student access, in both ambulatory and inpatient settings, to a sufficient number and mix of patients with a range of severity of illness and diagnoses and demographic characteristics (e.g., ages and genders) to meet medical educational program objectives and the learning objectives and specified clinical experiences of clerkships and other required clinical experiences.
A comprehensive listing of both objective and subjective criteria used for screening, selection, and admission of applicants to a medical education program.
The acceptance by a medical school and enrollment in the medical curriculum of an applicant (e.g., a doctoral student, a dental school graduate), typically as a second or third-year medical student, when that applicant had not previously been enrolled in a medical education program.
A formal document which describes the roles and responsibilities between a medical education program and its inpatient clinical affiliates.
The systematic use of relevant methods to collect, analyze, and use information to determine whether a medical student has met the objectives/acquired the competencies specified for that portion of the curriculum.
Tracking by institutional (e.g., decanal) level offices and/or committees (e.g., the curriculum committee) of desired and expected medical educational program academic (e.g., clinical experiences) and organizational (e.g., faculty appointments) outcomes.
The medical school official (e.g., dean, senior associate dean for medical education) with responsibility for ensuring the quality and sustainability of the medical education program.
Those institutions providing inpatient medical care that have formal agreements with a medical school to provide clinical experiences for the education of its medical students.
The conduct of medical research studies involving human subjects, the data from which are intended to facilitate application of the studies’ findings to medical practice in order to enhance the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of medical conditions.
The design of a complete medical education program, including its content and modes of presentation, to achieve its overall educational objectives. Coherence and coordination include the following characteristics: 1) the logical sequencing of curricular segments, 2) coordinated and integrated content within and across academic periods of study (i.e., horizontal and vertical integration), and 3) methods of instruction and student assessment appropriate to the student’s level of learning and to the achievement of the school’s medical education program objectives.
Activities designed to improve the quality of life for community residents or to solve particular problems related to their needs. Community service opportunities provided by the medical school complement and reinforce the medical student’s educational program.
Learning experiences that are sufficiently similar in content and desired outcomes so as to ensure that medical students are achieving the same learning objectives at all educational sites at which those experiences occur.
The provision by the LCME Secretariat of advice related to the meaning/interpretation of accreditation elements/LCME accreditation processes.
The required components of a medical curriculum, including all required courses/modules and clinical clerkships/rotations that all students must complete for graduation.
The academic and non-academic criteria and levels of performance defined by a medical education program and published in programmatic policies that must be met by all medical students on all medical school campuses at the conclusion of each academic year or curriculum phase for advancement to the next academic year/phase or at the conclusion of the medical education program for receipt of the MD degree and graduation.
The consideration, evaluation, and organization of evidence derived from appropriate sources and related rationales during the process of decision-making. The demonstration of critical thinking requires the following steps: 1) the collection of relevant evidence; 2) the evaluation of that evidence; 3) the organization of that evidence; 4) the presentation of appropriate evidence to support any conclusions; and 5) the coherent, logical, and organized presentation of any response.
An effective system of curriculum management exhibits the following characteristics: 1) evaluation of program effectiveness by outcomes analysis, using national norms of accomplishment, as available, as a frame of reference, 2) monitoring of content and workload within and across disciplines, including the identification of omissions and unplanned redundancies, and 3) review of the stated objectives of each individual curricular component and of methods of instruction and student assessment to ensure their linkage to and congruence with programmatic educational objectives.
The educational expenses of an enrolled medical student, including tuition, mandatory fees, books and supplies, travel to clinical sites, and a computer and other hardware and software, if required by the medical school.
Faculty involvement in institutional governance wherein faculty input to decisions is provided by the faculty members themselves or by individuals chosen as representatives of the faculty.
Multiple sources of predictable and sustainable revenues that include, but are not unduly dependent upon any one of the following: tuition, gifts, clinical revenue, governmental support, research grants, endowment.
Supported by evidence that the policy, practice, and/or process has sustainably produced the intended or expected result(s).
Receipt and maintenance of authority to grant the MD degree from the appropriate governmental agency and initial and continuing accreditation by one of the national institutional accrediting bodies.
The use of methods of medical student assessment that are as close to identical as possible across all educational sites at which core curricular activities take place within a given discipline, but which need not occur in the same timeframe.
The systematic use of a variety of methods to collect, analyze, and use information to determine whether a course, a phase of the curriculum, or the curriculum as a whole is meeting its objectives and achieving its goal(s).
The use of policies and procedures by any institutional body (e.g., student promotions committee) with responsibility for making decisions about the academic progress, continued enrollment, and/or graduation of a medical student in a manner that ensures that the student: 1) will be assessed by individuals who have not previously formed an opinion of the student’s abilities, professionalism, and/or suitability to become a physician; and 2) has received timely notice of the proceedings, information about the purpose of the proceedings, and any evidence to be presented at the proceedings; the right to participate in and provide information or otherwise respond to participants in the proceedings; and an opportunity to appeal any adverse decision resulting from the proceedings.
A criterion-based or normative determination, made as soon as possible after the conclusion of a curricular component (e.g., course/module, clinical clerkship/rotation) by individuals familiar with a medical student’s performance, regarding the extent to which the student has achieved the learning objective(s) for that component. The assessment methods used and how they will contribute to the final performance indicator (i.e., the grade) should be made clear to students. The LCME requires that final grades be available within six weeks.
Ensuring that the sole basis for selecting applicants for admission to the medical education program are the decisions made by the faculty committee charged with medical student selection in accordance with appropriately approved selection criteria.
Information on a student’s performance that is communicated to a medical student in a timely manner to improve subsequent learning and performance in the medical curriculum.
Full-time faculty includes all faculty members who are considered by the medical school to be full-time, whether funded by the medical school directly or supported by affiliated institutions and organizations. Reporting of full-time faculty members should include those who meet the preceding definition and who are based in affiliated hospitals or in schools of basic health sciences, or who are research faculty. Residents, clinical fellows, or faculty members who do not receive full-time remuneration from institutional sources (e.g., medical school, parent university, affiliated hospital, or healthcare organization) should not be included as full-time faculty.
Coordination of various components of the medical school and medical education program by means of policies, procedures, and practices that define and inform the relationships among them.
For purposes of committee membership, “general faculty” are individuals with faculty appointments in the medical school who do not hold dean-level titles or leadership roles within the area covered by a given committee (e.g., course/clerkship directors for the curriculum committee).
The bodies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education that accredit institutions of higher education in the U.S.: 1) Higher Learning Commission; 2) Middle States Commission on Higher Education; 3) New England Association of Schools and Colleges Commission on Institutions of Higher Education; 4) Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities; 5) Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges; and 6) Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission.
A spouse, life partner, child, parent, or sibling.
A statement of the specific, observable, and measurable expected outcomes (i.e., what the medical students will be able to do) of each specific component (e.g., course, module, clinical clerkship, rotation) of a medical education program that defines the content of the component and the assessment methodology and that is linked back to one or more of the medical education program objectives.
Statement, in measurable terms, of the knowledge, skills, behaviors, and attitudes (typically linked to a statement of expected competencies) that a medical student is expected to demonstrate by the time of program completion.
A range of diagnostic, therapeutic, and rehabilitative services used in treating mental disability or emotional disorders.
Written comments from faculty that assess student performance and achievement in meeting specific objectives of a course or clerkship, such as professionalism or clinical reasoning.
The LCME uses aggregate data on national norms of accomplishment in its review of student achievement in the following areas: USMLE performance, student attrition rates, and residency Match rate. Determination of medical education program performance in Element 8.4 (evaluation of educational program outcomes) includes whether medical education program performance in each year of the most recent two-year period, is below national performance data in any of the following areas:
- USMLE Step 1 first-time taker pass rate for each completed year that is 10% below the first-time taker national pass rate for that year
- USMLE Step 2 CK first-time taker pass rate for each completed year that is 10% below the first-time taker national pass rate for that year
- Total percent attrition during each of the last two academic years of 5% or greater per year
- Initial residency Match rate (prior to SOAP) that is 10% below the national Match rate for that year
The requirement, based in law, that information in a medical student’s educational record be provided only to those members of the medical school’s faculty or administration who have a legitimate reason to access that information in order to fulfill the responsibilities of their faculty or administrative position.
Descriptions of observable and measurable desired and expected outcomes of learning experiences in a medical curriculum.
A parallel program of study for a subset of the medical student body that requires participating students to complete specific programmatic objectives and related methods of assessment in addition to the medical educational program objectives required of all medical students.
Counseling on a small-group or individual basis for students experiencing difficulties dealing with relationships, personal concerns, or normal developmental tasks; this includes assisting students in identifying problems, causes, alternatives, and possible consequences to initiate appropriate action.
The curriculum year(s) before the start of required clinical clerkships.
The affirmation and acknowledgement, as specified in affiliation agreements with clinical partners, that faculty appointments and all decisions regarding the creation and implementation of educational policy and the teaching and assessment of medical students are the prerogative of the medical education program.
The administrator (principal academic officer) identified as the “campus dean” or the associate or assistant dean or site director for the campus who has primary responsibility for implementation, management, and evaluation of the components of the medical education program that occur at that campus. The campus principal academic officer reports to the dean or the dean’s designee who is the medical school chief academic officer.
The initial generation of hypotheses and the subsequent gathering of information to test those hypotheses.
Communicates in hard copy and/or online in a manner that is easily available to and accessible by the public.
A regional campus is an instructional site that is distinct from the central/administrative campus of the medical school where some students spend one or more complete curricular years.
Information communicated periodically and sufficiently often (based on institutional policy) to each faculty member to ensure that all faculty members are aware of the extent to which they are (or are not) meeting institutional expectations regarding retention and future promotion and/or tenure.
Includes all of the following components as a single unified sequence that occurs over a relatively short time: 1) the medical student’s identification and self-assessment of a gap in knowledge or understanding (i.e., the independent generation of a question to be answered); 2) the medical student’s independent identification, analysis, and synthesis of relevant information to address the question/knowledge gap; 3) the medical student’s appraisal of the credibility of information sources used to answer the question; and 4) the facilitator’s assessment of and feedback on the student’s information seeking skills.
People in academic leadership roles including, but not limited to, vice/associate/assistant deans, directors, academic department chairs, and people who oversee the operation of affiliated clinical facilities and other educational sites. Many, if not most, of these people also have faculty appointments and for tracking purposes should only be counted in one category.
Educational experiences that involve all of the following components: 1) medical students’ service to the community in activities that respond to community-identified concerns; 2) students’ preparation for their community engagement activity; and 3) students’ reflection on the relationships among their participation in the activity, their medical school curriculum, and their roles as citizens and medical professionals.
The “parent” entity (e.g., university, health system) associated with the functioning of the medical school, including degree-granting authority, Title IV funding eligibility, and fiscal responsibility.
Criteria used to measure a medical student’s attainment of relevant learning objectives and that contribute to a summative grade.
A standing committee is a permanent entity within an organization tasked with the ongoing responsibility for managing a defined key area (e.g., the curriculum, admission). The responsibilities of standing committees must be formally codified (e.g., in the bylaws)
A statement by a medical school of the criteria, in addition to academic credentials, which are essential for participation in the medical education program and fulfilling the graduation competencies. Such a statement: 1) specifies the functional and behavioral requirements of the educational program such as observation, communication, acquiring/integrating/interpreting information, and behavioral attributes; 2) identifies the process for students with disabilities to access institutional resources; and 3) provides for students’ acknowledgement that they have received and reviewed the standards and are able, with or without reasonable accommodation, to meet them.
The permanent withdrawal by a medical student from one medical school followed by that student’s enrollment (typically in the second or third year of the medical curriculum) in another medical school.
Translational research includes two areas of investigation. In the first, discoveries generated during research in the laboratory and in biomedical studies are applied to the development of trials and studies in humans. In the second, the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of prevention and treatment strategies are studied to accelerate adoption of best practices in communities and populations.
Students enrolled at one medical school who participate in graded clinical (typically elective) learning experiences sponsored by another medical school without transferring their enrollment from one school to the other.
An organized and coordinated set of activities designed to maintain or improve medical students’ physical, emotional and mental health and support their adjustment to medical school.