POMONA, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 11/02/12 -- The Council on Podiatric Medical Education has granted the College of Podiatric Medicine (CPM) at Western University of Health Sciences initial full accreditation through October 2016.

"A special thanks to the entire University, the Board of Trustees, CPM Dean's advisory council, administration, faculty, students and staff for their support and commitment to excellence in attaining this milestone," said CPM Founding Dean Lawrence Harkless, DPM, who received the notification Nov. 2. "We remain committed to excellence as we continue to develop and grow the College of Podiatric Medicine."

The Council on Podiatric Medical Education is an autonomous accrediting agency for podiatric medical education. Deriving its authority from the House of Delegates of the American Podiatric Medical Association, the Council is empowered to develop and adopt standards and policies as necessary for the implementation of all aspects of its accreditation, approval, and recognition purview, according to the Council's website http://www.cpme.org/about/content.cfm?ItemNumber=2427&navItemNumber=2239.

The accreditation committee conducted a site visit to Pomona in August, and reported no potential areas of noncompliance, with the eight standards, six commendations and 12 recommendations, at its meeting in New Orleans on Oct. 17, Harkless said.

The College of Podiatric Medicine will celebrate its first Commencement ceremony for its inaugural class in May 2013. These students were risk takers who wanted to be part of something new, creative, innovative and different, Harkless said.

"They had a different attitude and spirit about them. They are not people that can't deal with uncertainty," he said. "They had to have faith and hope, as I did, that what we wanted to do made sense, that we had a good plan and the appropriate people that were committed to that plan and willing to work hard and be patient, and allowed to grow and develop."

About Western University of Health Sciences

Western University of Health Sciences (www.westernu.edu), located in Pomona, Calif. and Lebanon, Ore., is an independent nonprofit health professions university, conferring degrees in biomedical sciences, dental medicine, health sciences, medical sciences, nursing, optometry, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, physician assistant studies, podiatric medicine and veterinary medicine. The Chronicle of Higher Education named WesternU a 2012 Great College to Work For.