The Unintended Consequences of Clarity

The 2002 reformatting of the standards enhanced the clarity of each standard and connected previously existing annotations to their standards. As a result of the reformatting, all documents and communications to schools were directly tied to specific standards. This has allowed the LCME to more easily identify areas of chronic noncompliance and to improve survey team training. The shift in patterns of standards out of compliance in the more recent time period is consistent with the effect of the reformatting. There may be other contributing factors for the increase in severe action decisions, but it is clear that the reformatting of standards has improved the LCME's ability to monitor medical education programs.