Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accreditation has had an important role in improving medical education as well as in verifying the quality of education in the nation's medical schools. In this manner, it also serves the interests of the public. Every eight years, medical schools undergo an accreditation process to determine whether they are in compliance with LCME standards. However, instead of resorting to cyclic episodes of compliance, medical schools should be in constant conformity with accreditation standards. This can be accomplished by establishing a formative accreditation process that ensures awareness of new standards or revisions and maintains ongoing compliance. (Contains 1 figure.)