Graduation Requirements

Foundations 1

Principles

• There is one set of requirements for Foundations 1 (F1). All students will have the same core required coursework and same minimum unit requirement during F1 to develop foundational science knowledge and skills.
• There is a single entry point for F1, which is IDS 121A. The elements that comprise each course in F1 proceed in a longitudinal and developmental fashion, and students must complete them in order. Students receive a single grade for each course. In order to complete F1 and move on to the next phase of the curriculum, students must pass all eight F1 courses.
• The F1 curriculum is a full-time (minimum 40 hours per week) endeavor.

Requirements by Course

Foundations 2

Principles

• There is one set of requirements for Foundations 2 (F2). All students will have the same required coursework and same minimum unit requirement in F2 to advance their clinical and foundational science knowledge and skills.
• The primary entry point into F2 is at the beginning of block 1. A second entry point at the beginning of block 3 has been created to support students in special programs on a case-by-case basis. Students are also permitted to enter F2 at the start of block 5 with approval based on their educational needs. Students will not be allowed to enter clerkships at any other time points during F2 without explicit approval from the Associate Dean of Curriculum.
• All students will have one day/week away from assigned block clerkships and CIExes; the longitudinal FCM clerkship and FCM Seminar/ADT and FS seminar will be scheduled during those days. All block clerkship students will have flexibility to schedule CIExes and vacation during otherwise unassigned time occurring in their Surgery/Anesthesia Thematic Clinical Block (TCB) and Pediatrics/OBGYN TCB. CIExes will be scheduled in 2-week blocks. Vacation will be scheduled in 2-week blocks.
• Credit-bearing activity for block rotations (ARCH/PI Weeks and block clerkships, CIExes) is a full-time (minimum 40 hours per week) endeavor. Credit for weekly activities (longitudinal FCM, FCM Seminar/ADT/FS-in-F2 Day) is awarded by achieving expectations for required number of sessions with a minimum requirement of 22 sessions exclusive of scheduled vacation and University holidays.
• Full enrollment in a quarter is 12 units.
• All students must take Step 1 of the US Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) by the completion of the USMLE Step 1 Licensing Exam block and before beginning Career Launch unless they have an exceptional curriculum approval in place.Learn more about the School’s policy on USMLE Board Exams During Medical School. The UCSF School of Medicine requires students to pass two USMLE exams (Step 1 and Step 2 CK) in order to graduate.

Requirements in Weeks

*Students do not attend FCM 110 seminar or FS-in-F2during scheduled vacation or on University holidays.

Career Launch

Principles

• There are 2 sets of requirements; one set is applicable to students who have NOT done scholarly work sufficient to satisfy the Inquiry Deep Explore requirement since matriculating at medical school and the other set is applicable to those who HAVE done this scholarly work since matriculating at medical school. Examples of scholarly work sufficient to satisfy the Inquiry Deep Explore requirement include the MSTP biomedical or medical anthropology PhD; the JMP Master of Science; an MPH at UCB or another institution.
• All students will have the same required amount of dedicated time in Career Launch to advance their clinical skills.
• All students will have flexibility in the form of unscheduled time to accomplish other goals such as residency interviews and vacation, etc.
• Students have the option of enrolling during “Unscheduled” time to engage in credit-bearing activities such as intramural or extramural clinical rotations, research, teaching, or other 4th-year electives.
• Students with an excess of unscheduled time (>10wks) have a possibility of taking a Winter Quarter off, provided that all graduation requirements can be met easily within the other quarters of Career Launch.
• Students will schedule activities in 2- or 4-week blocks. Each credit-bearing activity is a full-time (minimum 40 hours per week) endeavor. That is, students can take only one course at a time, with the exception of the longitudinal SPAN and some MD/MAS program graduate courses.
• Full enrollment in a quarter is 12 units.
• Students are required to take and pass the Clinical Performance Exam (CPX) prior to graduation.
• Students are encouraged to take Step 2 CK of the US Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) as soon as possible after completing Foundations 2 and advised to take it by Aug 15 of the year they are applying for residency. Learn more about the School’s policy on USMLE Board Exams During Medical School. The UCSF School of Medicine requires students to pass two USMLE exams (Step 1 and Step 2 CK) in order to graduate.

Requirements in Weeks

**Minimum of 12 weeks within Inquiry Deep Explore must be for scholarly Inquiry Deep Explore project work. The additional 8 weeks can be used for clinical work, scholarly Inquiry Deep Explore project work, or other credit-bearing work such as teaching.

***Students who start Career Launch late will convert the first scheduled ARCH week to unscheduled time. 

Clinical Requirements/Rotation Categories

Advanced Core Skills: Meeting UCSF Milestones and entering ACGME specialty zero milestones (if applicable) while student is functioning as a primary caretaker in an intern role. 12 weeks total

• Advanced Medicine (Med 140.01/FCM 140.40) 4-week rotation; required of all students
• Acute/Urgent Care. 4-week rotation
• Advanced Specialty & Sub-Specialty. 4 weeks total

Elective Skills: 12 weeks total

Career Exploration

Notes:

• Students who complete non-clinical work may apply a maximum of 6 units (4 weeks) worth of credit to their 12 weeks Elective Skills graduation requirement. Additional credits earned will be reflected on the transcript, but will not count towards meeting graduation requirements.
• MSTP Students who take 2 MED 160.04s will meet a single CIEx Foundations 2 requirement OR one 2-week Electives Skills Career Launch requirement. MSTP Students who take a 3rd MED 160.04 and MED 170.36 will meet a second CIEx Foundations 2 requirement OR one 4-week Elective Skills Career Launch requirement.
• Medicine acting internship (MED 140.01) must be taken at a site other than where the student took the Medicine Core Clerkship (MED 110). Occasionally a student may be assigned to the same site twice for their Medicine rotations due to availability issues; this is an unusual event that will be managed on a case-by-case basis.
• Graduation requirements specific to each graduating class are posted in iROCKET.

For more details, please consult the full text of Section III of the Regulations of the Faculty of the School of Medicine, UCSF at http://senate.ucsf.edu/0-bylaws/somb.html#somreg.

Competency Requirements: Pre-Bridges Students

Upon graduation, students are required to have demonstrated competence in all of the MD Program Objectives. For each competency, a set of milestones defines the expected progress throughout medical school toward achieving competence.

Accountable Dean or Director: Associate Dean for Curriculum and Associate Dean for Assessment

Approval Date and Governing Body: August 1, 2017, CCEP

Last Updated: April 9, 2021