School of Medicine: Procedure for Application Phase Campus Assignment, Exemption, and Reassignment

This Procedure provides the requirements and guidelines for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (University) School of Medicine’s (SOM) Medical Doctorate Program in the assignment of students to clinical learning sites/campuses for the Application Phase. By implementing specific steps during this process, the SOM can ensure that students are appropriately assigned to clinical learning sites/campuses to obtain the clinical experience required by their curriculums.

Unit Procedure

Title

School of Medicine: Procedure for Application Phase Campus Assignment, Exemption, and Reassignment

Introduction

Purpose

This Procedure provides the requirements and guidelines for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (University) School of Medicine’s (SOM) Medical Doctorate Program in the assignment of students to clinical learning sites/campuses for the Application Phase. By implementing specific steps during this process, the SOM can ensure that students are appropriately assigned to clinical learning sites/campuses to obtain the clinical experience required by their curriculums.

Scope

This Procedure applies to all faculty and staff of the SOM responsible for, or involved in, facilitating the assignment of Medical Doctorate Program students to clinical learning sites/campuses and to all students requiring assignment to a clinical learning site for the Application Phase.

Procedure

1. In the spring of the first academic year, the Offices of Medical Student Education will open a Qualtrics form through which MS1 (first year of MD program curriculum) students can submit their rank order site preference, request for exemption with supporting documentation, and/or Pod request. Students in FIRST and Kenan Scholars will be automatically assigned to the campus corresponding to their program. MD/PhD students will be automatically assigned to Central Cross-Regional. Students in special programs may not be a part of a Pod.
2. A committee of Student Affairs staff and faculty will review the requests for exemptions and approve or deny them. Such students will be notified of the decision in advance of the computer assignment process.
3. The Senior Directors of Student Affairs and Curricular Affairs will use a computer program to optimize site placements for the best possible ranking for each student and optimize each site’s capacity. Students will be notified of their placements by early April of their first year.
4. The Student Affairs committee will review requests for MS2 (second year of MD program curriculum) assignments during the Neurons to Networks course and students will be notified of the decision in a timely manner. This committee may also review requests after the Neurons to Networks course is completed.

Definitions 

Foundation Phase: The first eighteen (18) months of the medical school curriculum comprised of:

• Nine (9) Medical Science courses (three per semester)
• Three (3) semesters of Patient Centered Care (PCC)
• Three (3) semesters of Social and Health Systems (SHS)

Application Phase: The 12-month phase of the medical school curriculum dedicated to core clinical experiences, beginning in March and ending in February of the following, year consisting of:

• Three (3) clinical courses:
  • Care of Specific Populations
  • Community Based Longitudinal Care
  • Hospital, Interventional, and Surgical Care
• One (1) longitudinal course:
  • Social and Health Systems 4

Individualization Phase: The final (fourteen) 14 months of the medical school curriculum dedicated to the completion of graduation requirements and electives tailored to a student’s career interest, beginning in March and ending in May of the following year consisting of:

• Two (2) Acting Internships
• One (1) Critical Care Selective
• One (1) Advanced Clinical Selective
• Four (4) Electives
• Two (2) longitudinal courses:
  • Science of Medicine
  • Social and Health Systems 5
• Transition to Residency (to be completed at the end of the phase

Central Cross-Regional Assignments: Assignments that may be to clinics at any location from Greensboro to east of Raleigh. These assignments may vary between and within each Application Phase course.

Pod: A group of two or three students that submit a single preference rank order form for all students within the group for the purpose of all students within the group being assigned to the same campus.

Related Requirements

External Regulations

• Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) Functions and Standards of a Medical School, Standard 10.9, Student Assignment

Unit Policies, Standards, and Procedures

• School of Medicine: Policy on Application Phase Campus Assignment, Exemption, and Reassignment

Contact Information

Primary Contact

Name: Mary Hauser

Email: mary_hauser@med.unc.edu

Other Contacts 

Name: Valerie Glassman

Email: Valerie_glassman@med.unc.edu