Offices of Medical Student Education: Policy on Electives and Scholarly Concentration Programs

Summary

This Policy identifies the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine Medical Doctorate degree program' requirements related to Electives for graduation and Scholarly Concentration Programs.

Body

Unit Policy

Title

School of Medicine: Offices of Medical Student Education: Policy on Electives and Scholarly Concentration Programs

Introduction

Purpose

This Policy identifies the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ("University") School of Medicine ("SOM") Medical Doctorate degree (MD) program's ("Program") requirements related to Electives for graduation and Scholarly Concentration Programs.

Scope

This Policy applies to all students in the Program ("Students").

Policy

Policy Statement

In support of Student academic success and timely curricular advancement, the Program is committed to ensuring that Students have clarity on the Program's curricular offerings, requirements, and progression criteria. In furtherance of this commitment, this Policy defines the Program's offering of, and provision of credit for Student's participation in, Electives and Scholarly Concentration Programs.

Class of 2027

Beginning with the Class of 2027 (i.e., graduating in 2027), and for each Class thereafter, Foundation Phase Electives will not count towards Students' MD degree graduation requirements.

Students can take one (1) Elective in the Spring 2024 semester or Summer 2024 semester. There will not be any Elective offerings in the Fall 2024 Foundation Phase Elective catalog, except the Comprehensive Advanced Medical Program of Spanish (CAMPOS) and Scholarly Concentration Program Electives.

Class of 2028 and Beyond

Beginning with the Class of 2028 (i.e., graduating in 2028), Foundation Phase Electives will only be offered to Students during the Summer between the first and second year of the Program. CAMPOS will continue to be offered in a three (3)-semester curriculum, beginning with the fall of the first year of the Program. Scholarly Concentration Program Electives will be offered to Students only during the Individualization Phase.

Definitions

Foundation Phase: The first eighteen (18) months of the Program's curriculum comprised of:

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

Individualization Phase: The final fourteen (14) months of the Program's 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) two-week Neurology Selective
  • Three (3) Electives
  • Transition to Residency (TTR) (to be completed at the end of the phase)
  • Two (2) longitudinal courses:
    • Science of Medicine
    • Social and Health Systems 5

Elective: Curricular experiences that allow Students to pursue their individualized learning interests, explore specialties or areas of medicine, and their deepen knowledge or skills.

Scholarly Concentration Program: Curricular experiences that allow Students to pursue learning in areas of individual interest.

Related Requirements

External Regulations

Unit Policies, Standards, and Procedures

Contact Information

Primary Contact

Name: Mary Hauser, Senior Director for Curricular Affairs
Email: mary_hauser@med.unc.edu

Publication Details

Issuing Officer: Heather Tarantino, Associate Dean for Curricular Affairs, heather_tarantino@med.unc.edu
Effective Date: November 1, 2023

 

Details

Details

Article ID: 165973
Created
Fri 10/30/26 10:37 AM
Modified
Fri 10/30/26 10:37 AM
Responsible Unit
School, Department, or other organizational unit issuing this document.
School of Medicine - OMSE
Issuing Officer
Name of the document Issuing Officer. This is the individual whose organizational authority covers the policy scope and who is primarily responsible for the policy.
Issuing Officer Title
Title of the person who is primarily responsible for issuing this policy.
Associate Dean for Curricular Affairs
Policy Contact
Person who handles document management. Best person to contact for information about this policy. In many cases this is not the Issuing Officer. It may be the Policy Liaison, or another staff member.
Next Review
Date on which the next document review is due.
10/30/2028 12:00 AM
Last Review
Date on which the most recent document review was completed.
10/30/2026 12:00 AM
Last Revised
Date on which the most recent changes to this document were approved.
10/30/2026 12:00 AM
Effective Date
If the date on which this document became/becomes enforceable differs from the Origination or Last Revision, this attribute reflects the date on which it is/was enforcable.
11/1/2023 12:00 AM
Origination
Date on which the original version of this document was first made official.
6/15/2026 12:00 AM