MU School of Medicine students [reported over twice as many incidents of student mistreatment](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2016/9/16/school-medicine-accreditation-stake-report-finds-h/) than the national average in 2015.
According to the 2015 Association of American Medical Colleges Graduate Questionnaire, in the School of Medicine, 22.4 percent of students reported occasional public humiliation during their time of enrollment. The national average is 10.3 percent.
Fifteen and a half percent of students reported feeling occasionally subjected to offensive, sexist remarks and names, compared to a national average of 7.63 percent, and 8.62 percent reported occasionally denied opportunities for training or rewards based on gender compared to a national average of 3.23 percent.
Although the survey reports that slight improvements have been made since the 2014 AAMC GQ, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education reported that student mistreatment reports do not meet expectations. Student testimonies were not provided in the document.
The LCME determined the School of Medicine to be unsatisfactory in the area of student treatment as well as diversity/pipeline programs and partnerships, curricular management and affiliation agreements in a June 2016 report. If no progress is made within a year, the school could be put on probation; in two years, it could lose its accreditation.
The 2015 questionnaire reported progress in faculty diversity since the 2008 survey. The number of African-American faculty doubled to 2.3 percent and Hispanic faculty grew to 2 percent. Previously, there had been no Hispanic faculty members and only one African American faculty member, equaling 1 percent of the faculty population in that area.
In the School of Medicine, any student that identifies as African American, Hispanic, Native American, socioeconomically disadvantaged or rural is considered a minority student. Minorities comprised 10.5 percent of first-year students in 2013.
Teresa Snow, the MU health corporate director of strategic communications and media relations, said in an email that the School of Medicine has seen a “marked increase” in the number of minority applicants in the past year.
“A total of 2,167 applications were received in 2016 for 104 open spots,” Snow said in the email. “Of this class, 27 percent of students self-identified as an ethnic minority.”
Dean Patrick Delafontaine said in a statement that the school has assembled a taskforce comprised of faculty, staff and students to make improvements. Delafontaine will hold a press conference in October to further discuss specific improvements being made.
“In June 2016, the University of Missouri School of Medicine received full accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and we do not expect that to change,” Delafontaine said in the statement.
_Edited by Claire Mitzel | cmitzel@themaneater.com_
