SPOKANE, Wash.– When former WSU President Elson Floyd envisioned a Washington State University medical school, he had big dreams. He spoke about training more doctors in Washington to alleviate the state’s physician shortage and about using WSU’s stature as the state’s land-grant university to extend the new school’s influence into every county.
This week, the Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine achieved another significant milestone toward that goal when it was granted provisional accreditation.
“This accreditation is the culmination of thousands of hours of diligent work by faculty, staff and students, and speaks to the support and advocacy of our community,” said WSU Health Sciences Spokane Chancellor, Daryll DeWald. “I want to thank Dean John Tomkowiak for his leadership in helping us reach this point.”
Provisional accreditation is the third of four major milestones in the College of Medicine reaching full accreditation. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education granted the provisional accreditation after conducting an extensive site survey in February 2019 and evaluating the College of Medicine’s progress in meeting the standards.
“Achieving provisional accreditation is an important step in fulfilling our mission and commitment to the state of Washington and paves the way for us to take the final step toward achieving full accreditation,” said John Tomkowiak, founding dean of the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine.
Preparation will now begin for the last step in the accreditation process with a final site visit during the 2020-2021 academic year. Full accreditation is anticipated in 2021.
“This is a down payment on our commitment to fulfill our vision to improve the quality of life for Washingtonians, ensuring people statewide are cared for by some of the best and brightest who go through a collaborative training program that is responsive to the needs of every community in this state,” said WSU President Kirk Schulz. “We can be rightfully proud of what we have accomplished since we welcomed our inaugural class in 2017.”
