The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

EAA084 Commitment to Student Success Policy

Policy Number: EAA084
Policy Title: Commitment to Student Success Policy

Purpose

This policy sets forth the commitment of the UTRGV SOM to the success of our students.

Persons Affected

This policy covers all students participating in the UTRGV SOM curriculum.

Authority and Responsibilities

The Central Curricular Authority Committee (CCAC), the central authority responsible for the overall design, management, and evaluation of the curriculum through appropriate subcommittees, monitors and evaluates the effectiveness of the medical curriculum. The standards for student advancement are established and governed by the CCAC. The Medical Student Evaluation and Promotion Committee (MSEPC) reviews the academic progress and professional development of each student during all components of the four-year medical education program.

Policy

Admission to the SOM does not carry with it a guarantee of graduation. To graduate, students must fulfill all curricular requirements, as set forth in policy EAA018.

The UTRGV SOM is committed to assisting and supporting students in meeting graduation requirements. The SOM offers such services as:

  • Academic advising
  • Learning skills assessment
  • Faculty coaching
  • Peer tutoring
  • Counseling
  • Assessment and accommodations for disabilities
  • Career advising

These support services are provided to students without regard to race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, gender, or sexual orientation.

When sustained, coordinated support efforts are required, students will work with faculty to design remediation plans within a framework established by the CCAC and described in the Standard Operating Procedures associated with this policy.

Remediation plans will include learning and performance objectives, methods for measuring progress, and a timeline for achieving objectives.

A student who fails to successfully complete a remediation plan will be referred to the MSEPC for review and disciplinary action.

Appendices:

  1. Roles and Responsibilities
  2. Remediation Thresholds
  3. Remediation Plan for Student
  4. Standard 11.1 Academic Advising

Appendix A – Roles and Responsibilities

Roles and Responsibilities

The Assistant Deans for Medical Education Pre-Clerkship or Clerkship’s specific oversight responsibilities include:

  1. Determining students’ eligibility to remediate a module or clerkship and notifying students of their need to remediate.
  2. Collaborating with the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) and Academic Advising and Support Services, as deemed appropriate, to determine as accurately as possible why the module or clerkship was failed (e.g., test-taking skills, volume or nature of the material, personal issues, etc.) and to discuss any personal or study skills related issues that may impede the student's potential for a successful remediation.
  3. Collaborating with the Module Leads or Clerkship Directors and appropriate faculty to identify students’ academic deficiencies.
  4. Providing consultation to Module Leads and Clerkship Directors who are responsible for developing the individualized remediation plan and assuring its appropriateness and adequacy.
  5. Meeting with the Assistant Dean for Assessment, Evaluation, and Quality Improvement and Module Leads or Clerkship Directors to develop a plan for formative and summative assessments of students receiving remediation.
  6. Scheduling of and attended the preliminary meeting with Module Leads or Clerkship Directors and the remediating student to review the remediation plan, obtain student input, respond to questions, and confirm that both faculty and students have clear expectations and understanding of each other's role in the process.
  7. Periodic monitoring of the implementation of the remediation plan.
  8. Reporting of the individual student remediation plan results to the Associate Dean for Educational Affairs, the Associate Dean for Student Affairs, and the Chair of the MSEPC; and
  9. Participating in the evaluation of the remediation process to determine areas for improvement.

The Assistant Dean for Assessment, Evaluation, and Quality Improvement has the following responsibilities:

  1. Meeting with the Assistant Deans for Medical Education Pre-Clerkship and Clerkships to assist, as needed, with the development of formative assessments to help both faculty and students gauge progress throughout the remediation plan.
  2. Providing a secure, proctored testing environment and special accommodations if needed.
  3. Analyzing assessment results and reporting same to the Assistant Deans for Pre-Clerkship or Clerkships; and
  4. Guiding an assessment of the remediation process for the purpose of quality improvement.

The Module Co-Directors and Clerkship Directors have the following responsibilities in the remediation process:

  1. Meeting with the above-named individuals as outlined above.
  2. Developing and reviewing with the student an individualized remediation plan which:
    1. Outlines specific learning objectives.
    2. Provides resource recommendations (reference books, articles, videos, websites, etc.)
    3. Identifies and secures faculty to assist with the remediation process as needed.
    4. Prescribes the frequency of contacts to be made with the students and expectations for those meetings.
    5. Delineates the number and types of formative assessments that will occur.
    6. Sets an approximate date for the summative assessment to determine the outcome of the remediation process.
  3. Scheduling regular meetings to monitor, track and assess student progress toward remediation plan goals and objectives and report same to Assistant Deans for Pre-Clerkship or Clerkships.
  4. Referring students, as needed, to the Office of Advising and Support Services, Counseling, and/or Student Accessibility Services as indicated.
  5. Determining student's readiness for summative assessment and scheduling of exam; and
  6. Participating in the evaluation of the remediation process for the purpose of quality improvement.

Remediating Student’s responsibilities include:

  1. Attending all meetings described above.
  2. Actively engaging in the remediation process as evidenced by adhering to the remediation plan, placing focused attention on studying and meeting deadlines to assure success; utilizing a self-monitoring system designed for tracking study habits and learning objects; and
  3. Identifying to the appropriate party any factors, academic, personal, or otherwise, that may impede successful remediation.

 

Appendix B: Remediation Thresholds

 

Remediation Thresholds
Competency Threshold for concern or action
1. Medical knowledge Quiz scores <75% 2 or more per module
2. Clinical skills

Clinical exam or simulation scores <70%

Or

Poor rating in formative evaluation

OR

Specific comment indicating poor skills

OR

Procedural error

OR

Failure to participate or perform

3. Clinical reasoning and judgment

Clinical exam scores <70%

OR

Poor evaluation by preceptor

OR

Specific comment indicating poor clinical reasoning or judgment

OR

Clinical incident

4. Time management and organization

Violating work hours

OR

Not completing work on time

OR

Comment indicating poor time management or organization

5. Interpersonal skills

2 or more reported conflicts

OR

Comment indicating poor communication

OR

Complaint by patient

OR

Complaint by other health care professional

6. Communication

Comment indicating poor oral presentation skills

OR

Comment indicating poor note-writing skills

OR

Inappropriate use of email or social media

7. Professionalism

2 or more concern notes

OR

2 or more unexcused absences

OR

2 or more times arriving late

OR

Incomplete assignment

OR

Any egregious act of unprofessional behavior

8. Practice-based learning and improvement

Patient safety concern

OR

Not seeking help when needed

OR

Multiple comments indicating resistance to feedback

9. Systems-based practice

Faculty comments suggesting lack of agency (ability to get things done)

OR

Disrespectful interaction with other members of health care team

OR

Inability to, or lack of understanding, in arranging services for patients

10. Mental well-being

Inconsistent performance

OR

Not demonstrating improvement (resistant to feedback)

OR

Symptoms/signs of mental illness impacting performance

Based on Guerrasio, Remediation of the Struggling Medical Learner, pp. 194-195

 

Appendix C: Remediation Plan for Student

Remediation Plan for [student]

  • Faculty lead:
  • Other faculty and staff:
  • Deficiencies to be remediated (attach student's and faculty's statements of need):
    • Medical knowledge
    • Clinical skills
    • Clinical reasoning and judgment
    • Time management and organization
    • Communication and social interaction
    • Presentation (oral or written) skills
    • Professionalism
    • Practice-based learning and improvement
    • Systems-based practice
    • Mental well-being
    • Other
  • Learning and performance objectives:
    • obj
    • obj
    • obj
  • Progress will be measured by: (utilizing a self-monitoring system designed by the student and monitored on a weekly basis by all faculty and staff assigned to the students’ remediation plan)
    • item
    • item
    • item
  • Timeline, tasks, and expected completion date:
    • item
    • item
    • item

 

Appendix D: Standard 11.1 Academic Advising

Standard 11.1 Academic Advising

A medical school has an effective system of academic advising in place for medical students that integrates the efforts of faculty members, course and clerkship directors, and student affairs staff with its counseling and tutorial services and ensures that medical students can obtain academic counseling from individuals who have no role in making assessment or promotion decisions about them.


Dates Reviewed or Amended

Approved by the Chair, Central Curricular Authority Committee on June 28, 2022.

Approved by the Vice Dean for Educational Affairs on July 27, 2022.

Approved by the Dean, UTRGV School of Medicine on August 01, 2022.