Florida International University announced Thursday that full accreditation has been granted to its Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine.

FIU President Mark Rosenberg called the news “one of the most significant moments in the history of FIU.”

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education awarded full accreditation, the final step in a five-stage process that FIU has been working toward since it hired surgeon John Rock as dean of the school in 2006.

The news comes as the college gets set this spring to graduate its inaugural class of 33 students. The school is now in the midst of selecting its fifth class, which will consist of 120 candidates picked from 3,946 applicants.

“Accreditation allows our students to realize their dreams of becoming licensed medical doctors,” said Rock. “I’m proud of our faculty, our students, our clinical partners and what we have built together – a medical school that educates clinically and culturally competent 21st century physicians.”

The LCME is the accrediting authority for medical education programs leading to the M.D. degree in United States and Canadian medical schools. State licensing boards require graduation from an LCME-accredited school to be eligible for an M.D. license.