The Liaison Committee on Medical Education has moved the University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Medicine from "applicant" status to "candidate" status, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Here are six things to know about the medical school and its accreditation process.
1. The school's dean was pleased with the LCME's decision. "It's just great for the documents to be accepted and for us to be able to move on to the next step," said UNLV School of Medicine Dean Barbara Atkinson, MD, according to the report.
2. The school will likely receive a site visit from the LCME this summer. The site visit will likely occur in July. During the visit, an LCME team will meet with Dr. Atkinson, assess the schools financial status and inspect its facilities.
3. An excellent site visit will lead to "preliminary" accreditation. If the site visit goes well, the medical school will receive "preliminary" accreditation status, which means it can begin accepting applications. The UNLV School of Medicine plans to begin recruitment efforts in October.
4. UNLV School of Medicine hopes to welcome its first class of students to campus by July 2017. The school hopes to reach full accreditation status by 2021.
5. The medical school's first class will be made up of 60 students. Due to UNLV School of Medicine's Founding Scholarship campaign, each of these students will get full tuition scholarships. The campaign, which raised $13.5 million in under two months, will also cover full ride scholarships for 25 students in each of the next three classes.
6. UNLV School of Medicine wants to move campuses in the future. The school is currently housed on the UNLV School of Dental Medicine campus, but it's currently working to get land for a future campus on the former site of the Southern Nevada Health District.