The problems that prompted a national accreditor to place George Washington University’s medical school on academic probation last fall were worse than the paperwork glitches, inadequate lounge space, and curriculum-management issues that the university cited at the time, The Washington Post reported today.

A confidential evaluation document obtained by the newspaper revealed that the Liaison Committee on Medical Education had criticized the medical school for failing to adequately monitor the time students spent with patients. The committee said the school had not ensured that students’ clinical experiences adequately related to what they were learning in the classroom.

The newspaper also reported that graduates of the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences face some of the highest debt burdens in the country.

The medical school is the only one of the 129 accredited by the liaison committee that is currently on academic probation, the newspaper noted. The committee said that problems it cited in 2001 still had not been dealt with when it put the school on probation.

George Washington officials defended the medical school, saying students’ national test scores and job placements attest to the strong education they are receiving. They said, in a statement on the school’s Web site, that the accreditor had accepted its plan to correct the deficiencies. —Katherine Mangan