I. POLICY
It is a policy of New York Medical College School of Medicine (NYMC SOM) that parameters be defined with regard to the creation of the academic schedule in order to ensure the delivery of an organized curricular program. The policy will be reviewed annually.
II. PURPOSE
Deadlines will facilitate the completion of the annual schedule, and the uploading and mapping of related course objectives and content to the NYMC SOM learning management system.
III. SCOPE
This policy applies to medical student, faculty, staff and administrators who contribute to the SOM curricular program.
IV. DEFINITIONS
In this policy:
A. "Medical student" means person enrolled in a SOM course at NYMC
B. "Staff” means NYMC SOM personnel
C. "Faculty" means a person involved in the NYMC SOM teaching program, whether MD, PhD, nurse, allied health professional, resident, fellow or other
D. "Learning management system," means a web-based system for curriculum management
E. "Scheduled Hours" are defined as the amount of time an individual medical student is scheduled for educational activities; this calculation does not include examination hours or self-study
F. “Universal Design” in the context of education means intentional accessibility aimed at meeting the needs of varied students. It acknowledges that students learn in a variety of ways and seeks to meet diverse student needs by ensuring curricula include multiple means of representation, expression, and student engagement.
V. PROCEDURE
A. Module schedules will be initially prepared by Module Directors and finalized with the direct assistance of the Phase 1 Directors/Assistant Dean of Basic Sciences (ADBS). When creating the module schedule, Module Directors are expected to use framework (Master) calendar including holidays and projected NBME exam schedules prepared by the UME office.
B. Phase 1 Directors and the ADBS will review the schedule for compliance with:
1. Scheduled Hours
2. Pedagogy techniques
3. Horizontal integration and vertical integration
4. Campus holidays/early closure policy
5. Exam scheduling
C. Once finalized, the ADBS will present a summary of the schedule with an indication of compliance with policies, as well as a draft of the schedule to the Education and Curriculum Committee (ECC) for review and approval.
D. Schedule for Review and Approval of Classes and Examinations
1. Draft of the module schedule must be finalized by Module Directors and submitted to Phase Directors 3 months prior to the start of the module.
2. Final schedule must be submitted to the ECC for approval 2 months prior to the start of the module.
3. Once approved, a PDF version of the schedule will be released to relevant NYMC class of students via the LMS.
4. The full schedule will be posted on the LMS one month prior to the start of the module.
E. Schedule Guidelines
1. Educational activities should average no more than six (6) Scheduled Hours per day. In no case will a week have more than twenty-eight (28) Scheduled Hours.
a. The combination of scheduled events and mandatory pre-work shall not, on average, exceed 35 hours per week. Mandatory pre-work is defined as videos or readings that are required to be completed before and linked to a specific small group interactive session.
b. Students can expect to spend additional time in independent learning outside of those scheduled hours based on their own individual learning needs.
2. The schedule should clearly designate live, virtual, and educational activities with mandatory attendance.
3. The school day hours, in general, are 8:00am-5:00pm, with a one (1) hour lunch break. Exceptions to this (including evening and weekend hours), only with the prior approval of the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education, are for scheduling students to attend other required educational activities, including standardized patient examinations/ simulations or in the case of the need for accommodating inclement weather events or unforeseen events (e.g., power outages).
4. Students will be given at least one half-day free per full week of instruction time.
5. At least 50% of scheduled curricular hours will utilize active teaching techniques.
6. If the one-hour lecture sessions are scheduled back-to-back, then the duration of each lecture within one (1) hour of Scheduled Hours should not exceed fifty (50) minutes. Sessions scheduled for more than one (1) hour must be followed by a minimum of a ten (10) minute break.
7. Exam scheduling
a. Exam schedules should be created with attention to universal design in
education principles:
1. For any student, total examination time in a single day should not
exceed eight (8) hours.
b. Practical examinations should be given, whenever possible, on the same day as the interim, written examinations.
c. All major written examinations should be preceded by a free day for study, reflection, and integration of course material. This free day may include a weekend. Module faculty will be accessible to students during designated reflection and integration days prior to an examination.
d. In general, no mandatory in-person activities will be scheduled before 10 AM the day after an examination.
VI. REFERENCES
A. LCME Standard 6.3 - Self-Directed and Life-Long Learning: The faculty of a medical school ensure that the medical curriculum includes self-directed learning experiences and time for independent study to allow medical students to develop the skills of lifelong learning. Self-directed learning involves medical students' self-assessment of learning needs; independent identification, analysis, and synthesis of relevant information; and appraisal of the credibility of information sources.
B. LCME Standard 8.8 - Monitoring Student Workload: The medical school faculty committee responsible for the medical curriculum and the program's administration and leadership ensure the development and implementation of effective policies and procedures regarding the amount of time medical students spend in required activities, including the total number of hours medical students are required to spend in clinical and educational activities during clerkships.
VII. TYPE OF POLICY:
Curriculum
VIII. APPROVALS:
Education and Curriculum Committee
IX. POLICY AUTHOR(S)
A. Office of Undergraduate Medical Education
B. Office of Student Affairs
C. Phase 1 Directors
D. 1st and 2nd Year ECC subcommittee
X. RELATED POLICIES
A. Technical Standards for Admission and Continued Enrollment NYMC SOM
B. Policy of Student Accommodations and Accessibility
C. Electronic Exam Software Policy and Procedure
D. NYMC SOM Attendance and Absence Policy
E. NYMC SOM Policy on Exam scheduling
XI. EFFECTIVE DATE
This policy is effective immediately.
XII. POLICY MANAGEMENT
Responsible Executive: Dean, School of Medicine
Oversight Office: School of Medicine
