Medical School's Problems Were Worse Than Described

[MountainLaurel]

Knowing GW and its tendency to put the bottom line above education (which is what you get at a university run by Reagan accolytes), I can't say this surprises me in the least.

When the medical school at George Washington University was put on academic probation last fall, school officials said the reasons were mostly superficial matters, such as problems with administrative paperwork and student complaints about a shortage of lounge space.

In fact, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Washington Post, the school had deficiencies that were considerably more serious.

According to a confidential evaluation document and interviews, GWU has done an inadequate job of monitoring students' time with patients and ensuring that those clinical experiences relate to classroom learning. Student debt levels are among the highest in the country, according to the seven-page letter sent by the accrediting agency in June and later obtained by The Post. Students complained of mistreatment. Problems flagged as long ago as 2001 still had not been addressed when the school was put on probation.

The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences is the only one of 129 medical schools in the United States on academic probation. In the past 15 years, only five schools, including GWU's, have been singled out for problems that the country's medical school accrediting agency concluded "seriously compromised the quality of the medical education program."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/22/AR2009022202031.html