Policy Number: EC.08.02.220201
Applies to: WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine MD program
Date: 12/3/2024
1.0 Policy Statement
It is the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine policy that the medical education curriculum include comparable educational experiences and equivalent methods of assessment across all campus locations within courses in the pre-clerkship or clerkship curriculum so that all medical students have the opportunity to achieve medical education program objectives. The Office of Assessment, Evaluation, and Curriculum Management will be responsible for maintaining a central monitoring system of the education and assessment. Multiple scheduled reviews will take place throughout each academic year to identify and address any potential inconsistencies and will be conducted by the responsible course team.
2.0 Definitions
Comparable Educational Experiences
Assigned learning experiences that are sufficiently similar to ensure that medical students are achieving the same learning objectives and outcomes at all training sites at which those experiences occur.
Equivalent Methods of Assessment
The methods of student assessment and the instruments used for assessment are as close to identical as possible across all training sites at which core curricular activities take place.
Central Monitoring
Tracking by institutional level offices (Office of Assessment, Evaluation, and Curriculum Management, and Office of Curriculum) and the Undergraduate Medical Education Committee of desired and expected learning outcomes by students, as well as their completion of required learning experiences.
Training Sites
Locations where medical student learning occurs under the supervision of faculty.
Course Team
The leadership group for each individual course in the MD program.
3.0 Responsibility
Associate Dean for Assessment, Evaluation, and Curriculum Management
4.0 Procedures
The Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine uses ongoing assessment and evaluation metrics to monitor the learning environments to ensure comparable educational programming and outcomes across all training sites.
Comparability of education and assessment across all training sites will be ensured by:
- Undergraduate Medical Education Committee
- Vice Chairs
- Regional Deans
- Pre-Clerkship and Clerkship Co-Directors
- Course teams with support from the Associate Dean for Assessment, Evaluation, and Curriculum Management
Established core components in both the Pre-Clerkship and Clerkship phases of the curriculum include the following comparable educational elements:
- Learning Objectives: Course and clerkship specific objectives are centrally developed and used at all training sites and are made known to all medical students and those faculty members, residents, and others with teaching and assessment responsibilities in those required experiences.
- Required Clinical Experiences: Clerkship specific required encounters, including patient type and clinical condition, the skills to be performed by medical students, the appropriate clinical settings for these experiences, and the expected levels of medical student responsibility, are the same at all sites.
- Assessment Instruments and Criteria For Assessment: The instruments of assessment are as close as possible to the same at all sites. The criteria used for student assessment are the same at all sites. The procedure for determining final grades is the same at all sites.
- Instruction At Each Site: All faculty members, residents and others involved in teaching have a clear understanding of the core competencies, the developmental expectations, the learning objectives, and the methods for both formative and summative assessment. If more support for this is needed, this work is done in collaboration with the Office for Faculty Affairs and Continuing Professional Development.
- Student Experience: The instruments used to systematically collect student experience data are the same at all sites. Initiatives and opportunities for follow-up with students regarding site-specific aspects of student experience are the same at all sites.
Responsibility for oversight of comparability is assigned to the Office of Assessment, Evaluation, and Curriculum Management which will ensure appropriate metrics and an appropriate schedule are used to monitor components of comparability of education and assessment across all training sites. Monitoring will occur centrally through the curriculum management system and course team dashboards. The Office of Assessment, Evaluation, and Curriculum Management in conjunction with the Office of Curriculum, will provide biannual summaries of comparability to the relevant course teams three times per year and to the relevant subcommittees of the Undergraduate Medical Education Committee on a biannual basis. This may be done more frequently if needed.
Comparison data and evaluation mechanisms may include, but are not limited to the following:
- Clinical assessments
- Required clinical experiences: Clerkship-specific required encounters, including patient-type and clinical condition, the skills to be performed, the appropriate clinical settings, and expected levels of student responsibility, are the same at all sites
- NBME subject exam and/or NBME Comprehensive Clinical Science Exam data
- Student experience data: student satisfaction data including but not limited to satisfaction with the quality of the learning environment, quality of supervision, quality of teaching, and quality of feedback.
- Final grade data
The annual pre-clerkship and clerkship review process conducted by the Foundations of Medicine and the Clinical Experiences Subcommittees monitors the quality of the curriculum and provides the Undergraduate Medical Education Committee an appraisal of the following:
- Student experience data: student satisfaction data including but not limited to satisfaction with the quality of the learning environment, quality of supervision, quality of teaching, and quality of feedback.
- Learning objectives
- Educational activities and assessments
- Strengths and areas for improvement
- Outcome data related to comparability across instructional sites
If any inconsistencies are identified, the Vice Chairs will work to remediate these as needed, in conjunction with:
- Regional Deans,
- Assistant Deans Clerkships,
- Associate Dean for Curriculum, and
- Associate Dean for Assessment, Evaluation, and Curriculum Management
Any training site that is not able to meet the established core components of the specific curricula or are otherwise unable to provide a high-quality teaching and learning environment will not be utilized.
5.0 Related Policies
N/A
6.0 Key Search Words
Central Monitoring, Equivalent Methods of Assessment, Comparable Educational Experiences, Course Team.
7.0 Review and Revision History
Original Approval: 02/01/2022
Policy Number: EC.08.02.220201
Review/Revision: 12/3/2024