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Policies and Procedures for Year Three Option Periods |
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During the third year, each student has FOUR (4) weeks to take a break from routine clerkship duties to schedule additional vacation, perform needed remediations, conduct research, complete the 4‑week required Neurology Clerkship or take electives. The activities you can undertake during the Option Periods are somewhat dependent upon how your schedule is configured. If you have the Long Clerkships (Internal Medicine and Surgery) during the first semester, you will have TWO (2) weeks in the Fall and TWO (2) weeks in the Spring. If you take the short clerkships first, you will have all FOUR (4) weeks in the Spring.
What you do with these Option Periods is entirely your decision. Students are encouraged to thoughtfully consider their personal situations as they schedule these times. All of the time may be scheduled as extra vacation, or consider scheduling some vacation and some educational activities. There will be a limited number of students who will be able to take the required 4‑week Neurology Clerkship rotation, thus freeing that time during Year Four for interviewing and away electives. For any highly-subscribed electives (when more students request a course than there are openings available) a lottery system will be used to allow everyone an equal opportunity.
Electives taken during the Option Periods will count toward graduation requirements. The following information is provided to guide students interested in taking electives during the Year Three Option Periods.
1.0 PURPOSE OF THE ELECTIVE PROGRAM 2.0 REQUIREMENTS FOR GRADUATION 6.0 INDIVIDUALLY-DESIGNED ELECTIVES 9.0 ELECTIVE ENROLLMENT POLICIES 11.0 ELECTIVE ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES 12.0 SCHEDULE CHANGE (ADD/DROP) DURING YEAR THREE 13.0 ELECTIVE COURSE ATTENDANCE 14.0 EVALUATION OF STUDENT PERFORMANCE 16.0 MONITORING STUDENT LAPSES IN NON-COGNITIVE BEHAVIORS
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| 1.0 | PURPOSE OF THE ELECTIVE PROGRAM | ||||||||
| 1.1 | The purpose of the Elective Program is to provide students with a diverse range of experiences through which they can appropriately explore their various medical interests, strengthen areas of identified weakness in knowledge, clinical skills, and/or clinical reasoning, and broaden their preparation for postgraduate training and practice. For students who desire to do so, a limited amount of time in Year Three can be used to begin Elective experiences. | ||||||||
| 2.0 | REQUIREMENTS FOR GRADUATION | ||||||||
| 2.1 | Electives taken and successfully completed in Year Three will count toward the number of weeks required for Graduation; however, Year Three electives will not satisfy the Year Four requirement for an Intensive Clinical Elective. | ||||||||
| 2.2 | Students must complete 30 weeks of elective credit for graduation. | ||||||||
| 2.2.1 | Core Clinical Requirement: Students must have a minimum of FOUR (4) weeks each in THREE (3) of the following clinical departments: Family and Community Medicine, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Surgery. | ||||||||
| 2.2.2 | Requirement for Intensive Clinical Experience: A consecutive 4-week intensive clinical experience (on the order of a subinternship) must be completed during Year Four under the supervision of SIU faculty. The focus must be on the student functioning with increased responsibility for patient care; the faculty who is responsible for the continuity of teaching and assessment must remain the same during the entire 4-week experience. A list of approved courses is available in the Year Four Elective Catalog under the heading of "Intensive Clinical Electives." No Intensive Clinical Electives can be taken during Year Three. | ||||||||
| 2.2.3 | Requirement for Basic Science Electives (BSE): Students must complete at least FOUR (4) weeks of Basic Science Electives. Some of the Basic Science courses are available to Year Three students; a list of those BSE's approved for Year Three are in the Y3 Elective Catalog under the heading, Basic Science Electives. Courses in this category which are taken in Year Three will count toward the Basic Science Electives requirement for graduation. | ||||||||
| 2.2.4 | Residency Requirement: On-campus credit is awarded for electives in which the student's course activities are under the immediate direction and supervision of, and evaluation by, SIU faculty (full-time, part-time, or adjunct). At least 20 weeks of electives must be taken under the supervision of SIU School of Medicine faculty. Students with military obligations may petition to have their requirement reduced to 14 weeks if it creates undue difficulty. Petitions should be submitted to Nancy McCann-Stone, Years Three & Four Coordinator. | ||||||||
| 2.3 | All students must record a passing score on the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), Step 1 and record a score for Step 2 (Clinical Knowledge and Clinical Skills). | ||||||||
| 2.4 | It is the student's responsibility to make sure s/he meets graduation requirements by the end of Year Four. Students will not select an Academic Advisor until Year Four, however, they may find it helpful to seek counsel from the departmental Year Three Academic Advisors. | ||||||||
| 3.0 | GENERAL CREDIT POLICIES | ||||||||
| 3.1 | Elective courses can be full-time, half-time (mornings or afternoons), or in 5-week blocks of consecutive Thursday afternoons (extended electives). Only full-time and half-time electives from the approved Year Three Elective Catalog may be taken during the Option Periods in Year Three. No Extended Electives are available in Year Three. | ||||||||
| 3.2 | Credit hours are determined by the length of the course. One credit hour (1.0) is awarded for each week of full-time approved academic activity. One-half credit hour (0.5) is awarded for each week of half-time approved academic activity. | ||||||||
| 3.3 | During Year Three, electives will be ONE (1) or TWO (2) weeks in length. Electives offered to Year Three students during the Option Periods will not observe the Thursday afternoon release policy for participation in extended electives. | ||||||||
| 3.4 | Elective courses begin on Mondays and end on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays, at the discretion of the faculty. Holiday time falling during elective courses is also granted at the discretion of the faculty. | ||||||||
| 3.5 | Elective credit will not be awarded for any activities considered to be remediation and/or required for the satisfactory completion of a department's clerkship requirements. | ||||||||
| 3.6 | Students must meet the prerequisites of an elective in order to enroll in and receive credit for that elective. | ||||||||
| 3.7 | Except in special circumstances (special student status, leave of absence, or approved clerkship deferral), students may not defer third-year clerkships to take elective courses. Clerkships must be taken as scheduled in the regular rotation. Year Three students may take electives only during designated Year Three Option Periods. | ||||||||
| 3.8 |
The
following filing deadlines apply to the Year Three
elective program:
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| 3.9 | Students will not receive credit for an elective course unless they are officially enrolled before the starting date of the course. | ||||||||
| 3.10 | Students are not allowed to drop an elective after it has already begun. | ||||||||
| 3.11 | Requests for policy exceptions or special consideration must be submitted in writing to the Chair of the Year Four Curriculum Committee no later than TWO (2) weeks prior to its expected occurrence. | ||||||||
| 3.12 | Students may appeal decisions made by the Chair of the Year Four Curriculum Committee to the full Committee. Appeals must be submitted in writing no later than TWO (2) weeks prior to the meeting of the Committee. Contact: Nancy McCann-Stone, Years Three and Four Coordinator, Office of Education and Curriculum, if you are considering submission of an appeal. | ||||||||
| 4.0 | |||||||||
| 4.1 | No Extended Electives will be offered in Year Three. | ||||||||
| 5.0 | SPECIALTY PATHWAYS | ||||||||
| 5.1 | In Year Four students will have the opportunity to select from a variety of residency-preparation tracks or Specialty Pathways. These models were developed by the core clinical departments to assist in the student advisement process thus ensuring students have the appropriate knowledge and skill levels to begin residency programs in their fields of choice. Pathways are offered for students interested in: Family and Community Medicine, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Surgery (including subspecialties of General Surgery, Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Plastic Surgery, and Population Health & Preventive Medicine). | ||||||||
| 5.2 | While the decision to select a Pathway or 'Undeclared' program of study is not done until Year Four, students may find it helpful to review the courses designated among a Specialty Pathway if s/he is considering a career in that field. Except for Intensive Clinical experiences, elective coursework taken in Year Three will apply to the graduation requirements in Year Four. | ||||||||
| 6.0 | INDIVIDUALLY-DESIGNED ELECTIVES | ||||||||
| 6.1 | The Individually-Designed (ID) elective option is available to students who are interested in a course or topic for which a regular elective does not exist. | ||||||||
| 6.2 | You must submit a completed Approval Request for Individually-Designed Elective in Year Three form (blue) together with your proposal. The completed request and proposal must be turned in to the Years Three and Four Registrar AT LEAST FOUR (4) WEEKS prior to the start of the elective. ID Elective proposals are reviewed for approval on a case-by-case basis by the Chair of the Year Four Curriculum Committee, and are granted elective credit if approved. | ||||||||
| 6.3 | Approval Process: The signatures of the course faculty and department Elective Coordinator must be obtained before submitting the course proposal and signature page to Y3/4 Registrar. The faculty who will directly supervise and evaluate you must sign as responsible faculty. A list of the department Elective Coordinators is posted on the web-site. You must provide a complete course description to the faculty and the Elective Coordinator when requesting their approval. Correspondence via email directly from the faculty stating her/his approval to Y3/4 Registrar, Office of Education and Curriculum, will suffice. | ||||||||
| 6.4 |
The
following format should be used when preparing a proposal
for an Individually‑Designed elective. Students considering an
Individually-Designed Elective submission should talk with the
Years Three and Four Coordinator, Nancy McCann-Stone.
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| 6.5 | Individually-Designed electives with SIU faculty (full-time, part-time, or adjunct) will receive on‑campus credit. | ||||||||
| 6.6 | Individually-Designed research elective proposals must adhere to the Medical Student Research Policy revised January 2006 (See SIU/SOM Student Handbook). | ||||||||
| 6.7 | Students MUST adhere to the deadline in submitting the appropriate documentation. Lack of attention to this detail will result in denial or reduction of course credit. | ||||||||
| 7.0 | EXTRAMURAL ELECTIVES | ||||||||
| Extramural Electives can only be taken during Year Four. | |||||||||
| 8.0 | ACADEMIC ADVISORS | ||||||||
| An Elective Advisor will not be selected and a formal advising system does not go into effect until Year Four. However, students seeking counsel on matters of career choices and planning the best use of Year Three Option Periods may select an Academic Advisor from the list (in your packet and on the Year Three Website). You are not required to select an Academic Advisor and you are free to change at any time. This is an informal process available to Year Three students. | |||||||||
| 9.0 | ELECTIVE ENROLLMENT POLICIES | ||||||||
| 9.1 | Students must be officially enrolled in an elective course PRIOR to its starting date in order to receive elective credit. | ||||||||
| 9.2 | Under no circumstance will credit be awarded for activities completed prior to the official enrollment date. | ||||||||
| 9.3 | Students MUST follow elective enrollment policies and procedures, including completing required documentation and fulfilling course prerequisites. Lack of attention to this detail will result in denial or reduction of course credit. | ||||||||
| 9.4 | Students may appeal decisions made by the Chair of the Year Four Curriculum Committee to the full Committee. Appeals must be submitted in writing no later than TWO (2) weeks prior to the meeting of the Committee. Contact Nancy McCann-Stone, Years Three and Four Coordinator, Office of Education and Curriculum, for assistance. | ||||||||
| 10.0 | OPTION PERIODS | ||||||||
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For the Class of 2009, the Year Three Option Periods are as follows:
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| 11.0 | ELECTIVE ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES | ||||||||
| 11.1 |
Rising Year Three students will be given an opportunity to schedule their Option Periods prior to the start of the new Academic Year. This will allow students to reserve time for vacation or, if desired, register for an elective. The Year Three Catalog of Elective Offerings will be available for your review in early April. A paper scheduling request form will be distributed at an informational meeting held in March where the Policies and Procedures will be reviewed. This will also give students an opportunity to ask questions and obtain further information regarding specific areas of study. The Associate Dean for Student Affairs, Associate Dean for Education and Curriculum, the Year Three Curriculum Director, the Year Four Curriculum Director, and the Years Three and Four Curriculum Coordinator will be available to provide information and guidance. |
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| 11.2 | Students who wish to register for electives will be asked to indicate elective course choices IN ORDER OF PRIORITY. (Priority refers to the importance of the elective to the student, not the calendar order in which they will be taken.) Students will have the option of listing 4 courses in priority order. Many of the elective courses have maximum numbers of students that can be accommodated during each rotation, therefore, every student may not be able to enroll in their first choice. Where such an oversubscription occurs, students will be selected using a lottery-style system to afford all students an equal opportunity for that course. As required, students who did not receive their first priority course will be similarly considered for the remaining courses in order of priority. | ||||||||
| 11.3 | Students who are considering Neurology as a career will be given preference when requesting the Neurology Clerkship during the Year Three Option Periods. Interested students must contact the Neurology Clerkship office (Melissa Smock, 217-545-6957) to schedule an appointment with Dr. Elble and/or Dr. AbdelSalam to discuss their career plans. Appointments must be scheduled between March 19 and April 11, 2008. | ||||||||
| 11.4 | After the Open Enrollment Period ends, the Years Three and Four Registrar, Office of Education and Curriculum, will maintain a "Wait List" for over-requested electives and the Neurology clerkship. If you want to be added to the "Wait List" for a particular course, you must email Cherie Forsyth, with your request. If openings become available, students will be notified in the order in which their request was received. | ||||||||
| 11.5 | Students are encouraged to schedule vacation time or electives during the Option Periods, however, if a Clerkship remediation becomes necessary, students may be required to utilize the Option Period(s) for such remediation activities. | ||||||||
| 11.6 |
To avoid overlap of courses, uniform start times have been established for electives. Generally, the following will apply:
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| 11.7 |
Completed
scheduling request forms must be submitted to the Y3/4
Registrar
on
or before May 27, 2008. After schedules have been
generated, students will have an opportunity to address any specific
problems or concerns with the Y3/4
Registrar, Office of Education and Curriculum. After the enrollment period ends on June 16, 2008, all changes made to Option Period schedules will require the Add/Drop form and must be completed FOUR (4) weeks in advance of the start of the course (see below). |
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| 12.0 | SCHEDULE CHANGE (ADD/DROP) DURING YEAR THREE | ||||||||
| 12.1 | A Year Three student may make schedule changes to Option Periods if such revisions are educationally sound and consistent with the student's academic goals. | ||||||||
| 12.2 | The deadline for submitting the Add/Drop form is FOUR (4) weeks prior to the start date for the course. Out of consideration for faculty time and effort invested in preparation of the course and to allow a classmate the opportunity to fill that opening, it is strongly suggested that students begin any schedule change process as early as possible. | ||||||||
| 12.3 | Students may change their schedules by filing a signed Add/Drop form with the Y3/4 Registrar. The Add/Drop form requires the signed agreement of the course faculty for the course(s) being added and/or dropped. The student is responsible for collecting these signatures. An email approval from faculty will also suffice. | ||||||||
| 12.4 | A student is not officially enrolled in a course unless an Add/Drop form, complete with all required signatures or an e-mail approval from the faculty, is filed with the Y3/4 Registrar, Office of Education and Curriculum, FOUR (4) weeks prior to the elective start date. | ||||||||
| 12.5 | No credit will be awarded for elective courses in which the student was not officially enrolled (i.e., paperwork on file by the appropriate deadline). | ||||||||
| 12.6 | Students may not drop an elective after it has already begun. | ||||||||
| 13.0 | ELECTIVE COURSE ATTENDANCE | ||||||||
| 13.1 | Attendance is required at all scheduled course activities unless they are specifically designated as optional. The Policy for Student Work Hours DURING Electives shall apply to all electives taken in Year Three and Year Four. | ||||||||
| 13.2 | Elective course faculty may approve brief absences during their elective, but are not required to do so. Any request must be made in advance, and with as much notice as possible. Students may be required to make up any missed work in order to receive credit for the elective. | ||||||||
| 13.3 | Unexcused absences, excessive absences, or failure to complete required make-up work may result in an unsatisfactory grade or reduced credit for the course. | ||||||||
| 14.0 | EVALUATION OF STUDENT PERFORMANCE | ||||||||
| 14.1 | Faculty will evaluate the performance of each student enrolled in their elective course. | ||||||||
| 14.2 | The Office of Education and Curriculum distributes Student Performance Evaluation Forms to the responsible faculty during the final week of each elective. Faculty are expected to complete and return the evaluations to the Y3/4 Registrar within SIX (6) weeks after the end of the elective. The evaluations are recorded and then placed in the student's file in the Office of Student Affairs. | ||||||||
| 14.3 | Credit is given for all courses completed satisfactorily upon receipt of both the Student Performance Evaluation (from faculty) AND the Student Evaluation of Elective (from student). | ||||||||
| 14.4 | Any unsatisfactory grade in an elective course is referred to the Student Progress Committee for consideration. If a student disagrees with a performance evaluation submitted by the responsible faculty, s/he should, as a first step, discuss the matter with the faculty. The faculty member may submit a revised evaluation form as a result of that discussion; however, if a consensus is not reached, the student may follow the formal Grade Review Process. Students will be notified via email when an elective evaluation has been entered; this computer‑generated reminder will provide a link to the Grade Review Process which delineates the procedure to be followed if s/he chooses that course of action. | ||||||||
| 14.5 | Any student with an "Incomplete" must have course work finished no later than TWO (2) weeks following the end of the course. Any "Incompletes" that are not concluded in a timely manner will be changed to "Unsatisfactory" and reported to the Student Progress Committee. | ||||||||
| 14.6 | All elective courses taken are listed on the student's permanent transcript along with the appropriate performance evaluation: Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory. | ||||||||
| 15.0 | COURSE FEEDBACK | ||||||||
| 15.1 | Students must evaluate each elective course as a learning experience. A Student Performance Evaluation form for this purpose can be found on the Education and Curriculum (Year Three) website. Follow the directions given for submission. You will not receive credit for the course until your feedback is received. | ||||||||
| 15.2 | Elective feedback is compiled anonymously by the Office of Education and Curriculum. Faculty will not see the individual student feedback forms, nor will student names be released to faculty without a student's permission. | ||||||||
| 15.3 | Compiled feedback reports are sent to Elective Coordinators, responsible faculty, and Department Chairs at the end of the academic year for use in evaluating and revising their elective courses. | ||||||||
| 15.4 | A copy of the compiled student course feedback is kept on reserve at the circulation desk in the library and online (password protected) for use by students in planning their elective program. | ||||||||
| 16.0 | STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES | ||||||||
| While faculty members offering electives are responsible for planning course activities that will enable students to meet their educational objectives, Year Three students also have responsibilities in planning and executing their elective programs to avoid conflicts with the required Clerkship schedule. | |||||||||
| 16.1 | It is ultimately the student's responsibility to make sure s/he meets graduation requirements by the end of Year Four. Students are encouraged to seek counsel from Year Three Academic Advisors to ensure their decision for educational experiences during the Option Periods are academically sound. | ||||||||
| 16.2 | Students are expected to conduct themselves at all times according to the School of Medicine Honor Code. This code can be found in its entirety in the Student Progress System (SPS) Document. | ||||||||
| 16.3 | Students are responsible for attendance at all scheduled course activities. Attendance and effort should meet or exceed faculty expectations. Approval for any needed absences should be requested from course faculty in a timely manner. Faculty are not required to approve or award credit for periods of student absence. | ||||||||
| 16.4 | Students are responsible for filing all required forms and documentation by the appropriate deadlines according to the Year Three Policies and Procedures. Lack of attention to this detail will result in denial or reduction of course credit. | ||||||||
| 16.5 | Students wishing to petition the Year Four Curriculum Committee for special consideration or waiver of policy must do so in writing. Petitions should be submitted to Nancy McCann-Stone, Years Three and Four Coordinator, Office of Education and Curriculum, TWO (2) weeks PRIOR to the Committee meeting. | ||||||||
| 17.0 | MONITORING STUDENT LAPSES IN NON-COGNITIVE BEHAVIORS | ||||||||
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To track student performance in the area of non-cognitive behaviors during Electives taken in Years Three and Four, a system for Monitoring Student Lapses in Non-Cognitive Behaviors has been adopted by the Year Four Curriculum Committee. This system is fundamentally consistent with the process established in Years One, Two and Three. The complete Policy is available for review in this packet and on the Year Three website. This procedure will be followed if concerns regarding non-cognitive behaviors are observed during electives; therefore, students are encouraged to become familiar with the process as delineated in the comprehensive document and supporting forms. Please note that failure to follow the Policies and Procedures as outlined in this document may be cause for completion of an Early Concerns Note.
It is anticipated that instances requiring the implementation of an Early Concerns Note will be rare; however, if circumstances occur that merit such a level of intervention, this process is intended to identify and address these deficiencies. The overarching goal of this system will be that of assisting students to recognize and remedy areas of deficiencies in non‑cognitive behaviors observed during Electives taken in the Year Three Option Periods.
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Nancy McCann-Stone
(Curriculum Information)
Last Updated
Thursday, April 05, 2007
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