Graduation Requirements

Purpose

To outline the Unit and Clinical requirements that need to be fulfilled to successfully participate in the School of Medicine Commencement. 

Related LCME Standards

10.3 Policies Regarding Student Selection/Progress and Their Dissemination

Principles

Foundations 2 Principles

  • There is one set of requirements for Foundations 2 (F2). All students will have the same required amount of dedicated time 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 4 has been created to support students in special programs on a case-by-case basis. Students will not be allowed to enter clerkships at any other time points during F2.
  • All students will have one day/week away from assigned block clerkships and CIExes; the longitudinal FCM clerkship and FCM Seminar/ADR and FS seminar will be scheduled during those days. All students will have flexibility to schedule CIExes and vacation during otherwise unassigned time occurring in their Neurology, Psychiatry, Obstetrics/Gynecology and Pediatrics clerkships. CIExes will be scheduled in 2- or 4-week blocks. Vacation will be scheduled in 2-week blocks.
  • Credit-bearing activity for block rotations (ARCH/PI weeksand block clerkships, CIExes) is a full-time (minimum 40 hours per week) endeavor. Credit for weekly activities (longitudinal FCM, FCM Seminar/ADR/FS-in-F2 Day) is awarded by 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 should 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 or taking an extended curriculum or leave of absence. 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.

Foundations 2 Requirements in Weeks

Activity Number of Weeks/Sessions Number of Units

8 Core Clerkships

  • 7 Clerkships block format
  • 1 Clerkship longitudinally

FCM 110 (1 full clinic day every other week)

MED 110= 8 weeks

12

SURG 110= 8 weeks

12

PEDS 110=  6 weeks

9

OBGYN 110= 6 weeks

9

NEURO 110= 4 weeks

6

PSYCH 110= 4 weeks

6

ANES 110= 2 weeks

3

FCM 110= 22 full-day sessions* and FCM Seminar on FS-in-F2 Day

2 units (winter, spring, summer qtr.)

3 units (fall qtr.)

FCM Seminar/ADR/FS-in-F2 Day

(1 full day every-other week)

22 sessions*

1.5/qtr.

ARCH/PI Weeks 2 weeks 3

Clinical Immersion Experiences (CIExes)

6 weeks 9

Flex Time (may be used as vacation or for additional CIEx)

2 weeks

-----

Vacation 2 weeks -----
Total  50 weeks  

*Students are not required to attend FCM 110 or the FS-in-F2 Day during 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 more than 10 weeks of unscheduled time may be able to take a one- or two-quarter leave of absence (LOA) in their final year.
    • 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 encouraged to take Step 2 CK of the US Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) as soon as possible after completing Foundations 2. 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

    Activity

    No Prior Scholarly Work

    Prior Scholarly Work

    Late start to F2 (e.g. MSTP)

    Introduction to Career Launch/Designing Clinical Research

    4 weeks

    0*

    0*

    Clinical Requirements/Rotations

    24 weeks

    24 weeks

    24 weeks

    Inquiry Deep Explore**

    20 weeks

    0

    0

    ARCH/PI weeks

    2 weeks

    1-2 weeks***

    2 weeks

    Coda

    3 weeks

    3 weeks

    3 weeks

    Unscheduled

    8 weeks

    32-33 weeks***

    16 weeks

    TOTAL

    61 weeks

    61 weeks

    45 weeks

    SPAN

    16 ½ day sessions

    16 ½ day sessions

    16 ½ day sessions

    *Students will be required to either attend sessions or complete intersessions modules (~24 hours content) as independent study

    **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/PI week to unscheduled time.

    Career Launch 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

    Community Engagement 

    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 sub-internships (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.

    Unit and Clinical Requirements for Graduation: Pre-Bridges Students

    Students must complete a total of 239 units with a passing grade including all required courses prescribed in the curriculum of the UCSF School of Medicine, and must be registered in the quarter of graduation from the School of Medicine. Please refer to the tables below.

    TOTAL UNITS REQUIRED: 237.5

    Essential Core Clinical Core Advanced Studies
    Course Units Course/Clerkship Units Course Type Units
    Prologue 9 FCM 110 - 6 weeks 9 Tier 1A - 8 weeks 12
    Organs 16 MED 110 - 8 weeks 12 Tier 1B - 8 weeks 12
    M&N 10 NEURO 110 - 4 weeks 6 Tier 2 - 8 weeks 12
    BMB 12 PSYCH 110 - 4 weeks 6 Discretionary - 14 weeks* 21*
    FPC Year 1 7 OBGYN 110 - 6 weeks 9 Flex - 4 weeks 6
    I-3 11 SURG 110 - 8 weeks 12 Coda - 3 weeks 4.5
    M-3 10 PEDS 110 - 6 weeks 9    
    Epilogue 14 ANES 110 - 2 weeks 3    
    FPC Year 2 + Transitional Clerkship 8 IDS 112 Intersession 4    
        IDS 111 Longitudinal Clerkship Experience (LCE) 3    
    TOTAL 97 TOTAL 73 TOTAL 67.5

    Notes:

    • Tier 1A clerkships are 4-week advanced patient care rotations at UCSF or a few of its affiliated sites on services that have interns or a clear role for 4th years to manage patients directly. Tier 1B clerkships are 4- or 2-week clinical advanced patient care rotations at UCSF or a few of its affiliated sites on services in which the student has responsibility for patient management as a member of the primary or consultant team. Tier 2 courses and clerkships have clinical content but not necessarily patient care responsibility. All extramural clinical experiences are classified as Tier 2.
    • *14 weeks of discretionary work assumes that 6 elective units were taken during the Essential Core. Students who did no EC elective work will need to complete 18 weeks of discretionary work during the clinical years.
    • No more than 6 elective units from the Essential Core can be applied to the total required for graduation.
    • MSTP Students may apply up to 6 units (4 weeks) of MED 160.04 or MED 170.36 towards Clinical Core Tier 2 Requirements.
    • Medicine subinternships (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 if there are no other subI slots at the time the student is available; this is an unusual event and will be decided with the MSE staff based on lottery results.
    • Off-campus elective courses taken by a registered student may be approved for credit toward the M.D. degree from institutions with whom UCSF has documented Training Affiliation Agreement (TAA) in place or in progress. Students may take a maximum of 22 weeks of elective courses/clerkships at another institution.