Student Feedback in Action: How the Independent Student Analysis Is Shaping Medical Education at UCSF

Student feedback highlighted opportunities to improve the day-to-day learning environment, particularly during clinical training. The School has already taken action to address transportation, learning spaces, and clinical workspaces while continuing to partner with students on additional improvements.

Improving Transportation During Clerkships

What Students Told Us

Only 75.7% of clerkship students reported having adequate transportation compared to 89.7% during the pre-clerkship phase.

Students recommended expanding transportation options, piloting earlier UCSF shuttle service, increasing parking availability and affordability, and developing rotation-specific transportation guides to improve planning and equitable access to clinical training.

Actions Taken 
Over the past three years, the Student Experience Team has implemented several initiatives to improve transportation for clerkship students, including: 

• Promoting the UCSF Transportation Concierge service to help students identify efficient, cost-effective commuting options.
• Partnering with the UCSF Transportation Department to advocate for expanded shuttle routes and increased service frequency that better align with student schedules.
• Preserved student access to residential parking at the Mission Bay campus.
• Collaborated with the UCSF Police Department to increase patrols along key walking routes between public parking areas and campus during early morning hours in response to student safety concerns.
• Shared alternative commuting options, including public transit, carpool coordination, and active transportation (e.g., biking).

In Progress 

• Continuing to evaluate additional transportation and parking solutions with student input to improve equitable access to clinical training opportunities.
• Developing rotation-specific transportation guides.
• Identifying parking solutions for unique student circumstances when public transportation, UCSF shuttles, or off-site parking options are unavailable due to off-hours clinical duties.

Enhancing Learning Spaces

What Students Told Us

To encourage in-person attendance and foster a more collaborative learning environment, students requested improvements to educational facilities, including addressing construction-related noise, improving ventilation and air circulation, expanding the availability of electrical outlets, and ensuring adequate seating in lecture spaces.

Actions Taken

• The UCSF Kalmanovitz Library completed a five-year renovation, providing students with 24/7 access to the Hearst Room and Main Floor. 
• This summer, UCSF Campus Facilities made the following improvements to improve comfort and ventilation and circulation in the HSW lecture halls
  • Moved 40 additional chairs and 15 tables to HSW lecture halls to improve seating. 
  • HSW classrooms were deep-cleaned. 
  • Custodial schedules for HSW classrooms were increased.

In Progress

• Updated filtration systems will be installed by the end of August.
• HSW classroom renovations have been added to the campus’s 25-year capital improvement plan.
• Permanent outlet upgrades are being planned. 
• Additional updates on renovation timelines will be shared later this year.

Improving Clinical Workspaces

What Students Told Us

Students requested more consistent access to dedicated workspaces during clerkships to review patient information and complete clinical notes.

Actions Taken 

• In 2025-2026, concerns about workspace availability during a medicine clerkship at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital were addressed through collaboration between the clerkship site director and the Vice Dean at the affiliate. Three additional clinical workstations/computers were added at ZSFG Hospital.

In Progress

• Every six months, the Educational Evaluation and Continuous Quality Improvement team reviews clerkship evaluations to identify any concerns with workspaces, which are forwarded to clerkship directors.
• The Vice Dean for Education meets with the Vice Deans at our core affiliates if clinical space issues remain unresolved. 

Students also identified opportunities to strengthen communication, well-being resources, and academic support throughout medical school. Many of the changes below focus on making resources easier to access while expanding support where students identified additional needs.

Strengthening Mistreatment Reporting and Communication

What Students Told Us

Students recommended more consistent education about mistreatment policies and reporting procedures during clerkship orientations, increased transparency about actions taken in response to student concerns, and expanded outreach to students during their clinical years.

Actions Taken

• The Associate Dean for Students provides annual updates on student mistreatment efforts during school-wide governance meetings and all-student Bridges meetings.
• In June 2026, the SAFE reporting form was updated so that all individuals submitting a report—including anonymous reporters—automatically receive information about next steps.
• In August 2026, information about how student mistreatment was handled was incorporated into clerkship orientation materials.  Additionally, de-identified SAFE submission examples provided in the clerkship orientation materials, provide students with information on how SAFE reports are received, handled, and responded to.
• Additional reminders about reporting resources have been shared via Class Forum and email.

In Progress

• Launching a new Learning Environment Rounds, whose charge is to review de-identified SAFE reports and identify system improvement opportunities, faculty development, and well-being programming.
• Continuing to partner with students to strengthen awareness of reporting resources and identify opportunities for ongoing improvement.

Improving Access to Health Care and Well-Being Resources 

What Students Told Us

Students requested clearer policies regarding absences for routine health care appointments during clerkships, along with improved communication about available health care and mental health resources.

Actions Taken

• In March 2026, the Committee on Curriculum and Educational Policy (CCEP) approved revisions to the Foundations 2 attendance policy, clarifying that routine preventive and health care appointments lasting two or more hours qualify as excused absences.
• The Student Experience Team (SET) expanded communication during new student orientation to help students establish primary care and locate available Primary Care Providers (PCPs).

In Progress

• SET is working with clerkship directors to ensure students are reminded of attendance policies and ensure students know to seek assistance from SET if they receive pushback from a clinical team.
• The UCSF Medical Student Well-Being Program leads one-hour discussions with students rotating at KLIC East Bay, KLIC SF, Med110 at Parnassus, and PISCES. For more information, please visit the Medical Student Well-being webpage.

Expanding USMLE Advising and Support 

What Students Told Us

Students requested expanded Step-specific advising, longitudinal preparation for Step 1 and Step 2, and additional individualized academic support throughout their clinical training. Enhance outreach to MS3s and MS4s to ensure they have access to individualized tutoring, peer-to-peer support, and learning specialists during the clinical years, when new academic challenges may arise.

Actions Taken

Since 2024, SET has expanded academic support by:

• Creating a Learning Success Specialist position dedicated to licensing exam advising and early identification of students who may benefit from additional support. The specialist developed frameworks to enhance the identification and tracking of students at risk of delay and/or failure on Step 1 and collaborated with the Committee on Academic Progress to provide formal referrals to advising programs.
• Creating a PILLAR Co-Director faculty position to strengthen academic support for licensing examinations. PILLAR  is UCSF’s longitudinal academic support program that provides targeted Step 1 support during the dedicated study period.

During the 2025–2026 academic year, the School also:

• Convened a Licensing Exam and PILLAR Work Group consisting of faculty, staff, students, and campus partners.
• Based on feedback from the task force and the 2026 ISA, and other efforts, the School will be making the following interventions during the 2026-2027 academic year:
• Conducting a training for Peer Step Study Coaches – MS4s who provide study planning, goal setting, and accountability to MS3s before and during the Step 1 dedicated period.
• Integrating NBME-style multiple-choice questions into weekly Foundations 1 checkpoints.
• Enhancing Bridges Coach faculty development related to licensing exam advising and support for students preparing for licensing exams.
• Increasing communication about academic support programs through new student orientation and Class Forum posts.

In Progress

• Beginning in Fall 2026, the Committee on Academic Progress will begin reviewing August CBSE scores as an early indicator of students who may benefit from additional support.
• In Fall 2026, a new infographic will be published to help guide students through Step planning and timelines.
• A pilot academic support program for Step 2 is planned for Spring 2027.

Student feedback is also helping shape ongoing curriculum improvements. Faculty, staff, and students are working together to redesign curriculum elements while preparing learners for emerging areas of medicine.

Redesigning the Core Inquiry Curriculum 

What Students Told Us

Focus groups identified opportunities to strengthen the Core Inquiry Curriculum by better connecting course content to physician identity formation, simplifying complex material, and improving the small-group learning experience.

Actions Taken

• In fall 2025, a faculty-student task force was established to review the CIC course.
• The task force recommended changes to improve student engagement by focusing content on physician identity formation, adjusting the complexity and detail of the content, and changing the pedagogy.
• In June 2026, CCEP approved the task force’s revision of the new element objectives to meet students' learning needs and proposed updates to the course's organizational and pedagogical approaches.

In Progress

• Students entering the curriculum over the next academic year will begin experiencing the redesigned Core Inquiry Curriculum as implementation continues.

AI in Medicine

What Students Told Us

While the majority of students reported feeling prepared to use artificial intelligence (AI) appropriately and ethically in pre-clerkship and clerkship activities, students in their clinical years reported lower levels of preparedness. These findings highlighted opportunities for additional instruction on AI tools, ethics, and practical applications in patient care. These updates will help prepare students to navigate advancements in technology and evidence-based care throughout their training and clinical practice.

Actions Taken

Building on the UCSF AI in Medical Education Policy approved in December 2024, the School has:

• In 2025, convened a faculty-student task force to develop recommendations for integrating AI competencies throughout the curriculum.
• In January 2026, Medical Education revised its educational program objectives to better integrate AI competencies into the curriculum. The new program-level competencies will go into effect in fall 2027.
• Starting July 2026, a dedicated faculty educator, serving as the AI Curriculum Liaison, will support the integration of AI learning objectives and build AI assessments into the curriculum.

In Progress

• Course and clerkship objectives will continue to be revised as AI competencies are incorporated throughout the curriculum.