In the School of Medicine (SOM) at St George’s University (SGU), students learn in a variety of social, didactic, small-group, and clinical settings. The learning environment, which includes the physical, social, psychological, and cultural environment surrounding learning, is a core component of students’ educational experiences. As detailed in SGU’s learning environment policy, the learning environment has an important influence on the effectiveness of SGU’s medical program and should be assessed, monitored, and altered accordingly. Furthermore, this is a specific LCME accreditation requirement:
LCME Standard 3.5 Learning Environment/Professionalism
A medical school ensures that the learning environment of its medical education program is conducive to the ongoing development of explicit and appropriate professional behaviors in its medical students, faculty, and staff at all locations and is one in which all individuals are treated with respect. The medical school and its clinical affiliates share the responsibility for periodic evaluation of the learning environment in order to identify positive and negative influences on the maintenance of professional standards, develop and conduct appropriate strategies to enhance positive and mitigate negative influences, and identify and promptly correct violations of professional standards.