Evaluation Guidelines

Guidelines for evaluation of third-year clerks are based upon the following principles:

• Workup and care of assigned patients is a major responsibility of the third-year student.
• Clinical performance reflects attitudes, appearance, knowledge, application of information, problem solving skills, psychomotor skills, interrelationships with peers, paramedical personnel and faculty.
• Performance evaluations are achieved by using multiple evaluators who have sufficient exposure with the third-year student.
• Written objective tests measure only a sampling of knowledge or recall at a given time, but provide useful information regarding performance on assigned study materials.
• A 1–10 point grading system will be used for oral exams.
• Seminars and conferences are mandatory and will take priority over all other activities. Attendance at seminars will be taken, and absenteeism may be grounds for failure of the clerkship.

Patient-Focused Student Seminars

Each student will deliver at least one 30-minute patient-focused student seminar (20-minute presentation with 10-minute discussion). These will be scheduled beginning the second week of the rotation and will be held via video conference on Tuesdays at 4:00 p.m. Each student will select a surgical disease from a list of core topics and give a formal case presentation including appropriate imaging studies. If not utilizing and actual patient encounter, the student will review the current surgical literature regarding the clinical problem.  PowerPoint slides may be used.

• Core Topics for Student Seminars

Evaluation Scores

• Clinical evaluations by faculty (50%)
• Oral examination (10%)
• Blackboard exams (10%)
• NBME Shelf Exam (30%)
• Submission of case logs (mandatory to pass)

Student Clinical Evaluations

Surgical faculty will evaluate students in writing at the end of the rotation. A student must achieve an average score of 70 or better to pass the rotation. Faculty will consider all aspects of clinical performance on their written evaluations.

Only those faculty who have had sufficient exposure to the student to adequately evaluate performance will complete a written evaluation. Students on the Northeast and Southeast campuses will also be evaluated by the Chief Resident from the Surgical service to which they were assigned.

Any student who fails their clinical evaluation must repeat the clerkship.

Exams

End of Rotation Oral Exam

A 30-minute oral exam will be given near the end of the rotation. The content of the exam may be drawn from your patient encounters. The exam is graded and accounts for 10% of the final grade.

NBME Exam

This is a commercially produced multiple-choice exam that comprises 30% of the final grade. It is given on the last day of the rotation. Results are usually available within several days after the examination is given.

• The minimum passing score on the shelf exam is 60...which correlates to the 5th percentile for Academic Year norms.
• A student who has delayed the start of the third year, or taken a leave of absence during the third year, will have their NBME score normalized to the actual number of periods completed at the time of the exam.
• Any student who scores below a score of 60 must repeat the NBME shelf exam. If a student fails a second time, they will be required to remediate four weeks of the clerkship and then attempt the NBME shelf exam again.

Rotation Final Grade

To pass the rotation the students must

• Achieve a total of 70 points by combining
  • clinical evaluation (50%)
  • oral exam (10%)
  • Blackboard exams (10%)
  • NBME Shelf Exam (30%)
  • Submit case logs in a timely fashion

Points for each component are assigned as follows:

• • A) Clinical Evaluation: Points = Average Clinical Score x .50
  • B) Oral Exam: 1–10 point grading system
  • C) Blackboard exams: 1-10 points (see table):
  • D) NBME Shelf Exam (see table):

Remediation

Students must achieve a total of 70 points to pass the rotation, including a minimum average of 70% on the preceptor evaluations and a minimum of 60 on the shelf examination. There is no minimum passing score on the oral examination.

Students who fail solely as a result of achieving a score of < 60 on the shelf exam will be offered one opportunity to retake the exam and achieve a passing score. The student will meet with the Clerkship Site Director to discuss a study plan and will be required to take a practice exam prior to their official retake exam.  Student who fail to achieve a passing score on the retake will be required ot complete part or all of the rotation again. Students who fail to pass the 3rd attempt will be referred to the Medical Student Academic Performance Committee (MSAPC).

Students who do not achieve a total of 70 points may be offered remediation as follows:

If shortage of points is due to Blackboard quizzes, Oral exam and/or preceptor evaluations, student will remediate 4 weeks and retake the BB quizzes and oral exam with the goal of achieving the minimum points required.

Student score less the an average of 70% on preceptor evaluations will be required to repeat the entire 8-week rotation and achieve a passing score on that rotation.

Faculty reserve the right to modify remediation offerings based on individual circumstances.

Achieving Honors

In order for a student to achieve Honors, they must score above the 90th percentile on the NBME shelf exam, score 8 or higher on the oral exam and 90 or better on the preceptor evaluations.

Students with Learning Disabilities

If a student is aware of a disability which may influence his or her learning or clinical performance, it is the student's responsibility to notify the clerkship coordinator of this disability prior to the start of the clerkship. If the student fails to inform the clerkship coordinator of his or her disability, it will be assumed that the student has no disability and the clerkship will proceed as normal. All information will be kept confidential.

Clerkship Site

The clerkship must be completed at a designated third-year site.