The committee on student promotions and professional standards, composed of faculty, students, and staff appointed by the dean, is responsible for monitoring the academic progress and professional development of students, and provides formal recommendations to the Dean on matters regarding student promotion and graduation.
The medical school faculty establish principles and methods for the evaluation of student achievement which employs a variety of measures of knowledge, competence, and relational variables, systematically and sequentially applied throughout medical school. Standards of academic achievement, clinical ability and professionalism are high; in keeping with the paramount importance of the welfare of patients, present and future. Committee members and those participating in committee proceedings are expected to keep this core principle in mind in all matters that arise for deliberation and decision.
The elemental tenets of due process and equitable treatment are to guide the committee’s activities, adhering to the principles that all substantially affected parties have the right to be heard, be it in writing or in person, if they so wish; and that appropriately comparable consideration be provided without prejudice to all persons.
Student members of the committee on student promotions and professional standards participate with equal term length, voting privileges and attendance privileges; equivalent to the status of voting faculty members. This informational privilege, i.e., to participate in confidential deliberations related to the student members’ classmates, is instituted with full recognition of the privacy issues at hand. However, the unique and invaluable nature of student input is considered to outweigh the inevitable privacy considerations; indeed, student participation is considered a cornerstone in assuring the quality of the committee’s discourse and decisions.
Courses in Years 1 and 2 are graded Pass/Fail. Clinical rotations are graded Honors/High Pass/Pass/Low Pass/Fail and are accompanied by a written narrative summary of the student’s performance in that clinical setting. All grades and narratives are subject to informal and formal appeal processes.
United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 and Step 2CK are required for graduation from the College, and three attempts are permitted for each of these exams.
In addition to appropriate provisions for periods of medical leave or accommodation, the College of Medicine provides up to two months, upon request, for maternity or paternity leave. This applies as well in the event of an adoption. Family medical leave, to assist in the care of an ill family member or after the loss of a family member, is granted unconditionally for the first request, for a period of up to two months. Variable with the timing of the above-described leaves, there may be unavoidable effects on curricular participation that may lead to the postponement of graduation or other scheduling consequences.
The College of Medicine provides detailed policies regarding substance/alcohol abuse, sexual harassment, privacy of student records; and these (as well as the full text of the by-laws of the committee on student promotions and professional standards) are posted on the College of Medicine web-site. These are subject to appropriate revision without prior notice.