The Alice L. Walton School of Medicine on Tuesday announced it has secured preliminary accreditation status from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), its program accrediting body.
The LCME is jointly sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Medical Association
In a news release, the School of Medicine said obtaining accreditation allows it to begin recruiting students to its new campus in Bentonville. The inaugural class will consist of 48 students with applications opening by early November.
Classes are set to begin in July for the school’s Doctor of Medicine degree program, which aims to pioneer a “whole health” approach to medicine. Students will be learn how to treat a patient’s mental, emotional and spiritual needs, in addition to their physical ones.
The school said it will waive tuition for its first five cohorts of students to ensure accessibility for a wide range of applicants. The school said it will use a “holistic approach” to evaluating experiences, personal attributes and academic preparation in selecting applicants.
“The School of Medicine will play a pivotal role in educating the next generation of physicians, equipping them to care for the whole person and making a lasting impact on health care in the Heartland and beyond,” Walton, who founded the school in 2021, said in a statement.
Accreditation through LCME is a voluntary, peer-reviewed process of quality assurance that determines whether a medical education program meets established standards while also fostering institutional and programmatic improvement.
Programs are required to demonstrate that graduates exhibit general professional competencies that are appropriate for entry to the next stage of training and serve as the foundation for lifelong learning and proficient medical care.
Accreditation by LCME also establishes eligibility for selected federal grants and programs, including Title VII funding administered by the U.S. Public Health Service, and eligibility to take the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination.
Most state boards of licensure require that programs be LCME-accredited as a condition for licensure of their graduates.
Graduates of LCME-accredited schools are eligible for residency programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
Construction on the 154,000 SF school began in March 2023 and is expected to be completed by the summer of 2025. The building features four stories and will include learning halls, a public gallery, library, clinical teaching spaces, administrative offices, a student lounge, covered bicycle parking and recreation and wellness areas.
Crossland Construction Inc. of Columbus, Kansas, is the general contractor. The building was designed by Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects of Little Rock, with rooftop park and landscape design by New York-based design studio Office of Strategy + Design.
Construction on a campus housing complex is scheduled to begin in early 2025.
The school announced last month that it will work with Mercy as a primary education partner under a 30-year, $700 million affiliation agreement that includes the Heartland Whole Health Institute. The agreement aims to expand access to health care, reduce costs and improve health outcomes in the region. Under the deal, a new cardiac care center will be built on Mercy’s campus in Rogers and a new outpatient center will be built in Bentonville.
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