Class of 2025 Catalog Administration Quick Links
Unified Competency Objectives of the MD Program
The civic and medical leaders who founded Eastern Virginia Medical School envisioned an institution that would champion improving the health of the region. Decades later the school celebrates its record of training physicians who are committed to knowledge and skill and doubly committed to the service of others.
Distinctive characteristics of the institution have evolved over its lifetime:
- Education is central to its mission, not peripheral to the research and clinical enterprises.
- Principles of humanism in medicine and the biopsychosocial model of disease and health are emphasized, promoting the values of altruism and duty.
- An ethic of community service moves students beyond formalized educational settings.
- The learning atmosphere emphasizes cooperation among students, faculty, other health care professionals, local and international care providers and policy makers.
- Lifelong learning and the practice of evidence based medicine are accepted as professional responsibilities.
- The environment promotes collaboration, creativity, leadership and service.
Within the context of this institutional philosophy and culture, the faculty have articulated the following Unified Competency Objectives as the goals and objectives of the curriculum: https://www.evms.edu/education/medical_programs/doctor_of_medicine/unified_competency_objectives/
Student Promotion
In order to graduate from Eastern Virginia Medical School with a M.D. degree, students must satisfactorily complete all elements of the prescribed four-year curriculum.
Requirements for Promotion to M4: Please refer to the Standards for Advancement and Graduation Policy in the MD Student Handbook.
The M4 Year
The M4 year is designed to promote a well-rounded educational experience (NOT a preliminary internship). A students M4 schedule is comprised of the following:
36 weeks of full-time, scheduled, supervised, and evaluated educational experiences are required for graduation. These 36 weeks consist of:
32 weeks of electives (Minimum of 16 weeks MUST be clinical rotations):
- Acting Internship (4 weeks)
- Ambulatory Care (4 weeks)
- Critical Care (4 weeks)
- The above requirements can overlap to meet graduation requirement
- Example: ERM400 meets the requirements of AI, AMB and CC. By taking that one 4-week course, all three requirements are met. The remaining weeks of electives would not need to meet specific category requirements.
- Maximum of 8 weeks of longitudinal electives
- Minimum of 4 weeks in clinical or non-clinical elective outside of specialty
- Minimum of 4 weeks in a live patient-care clinical elective in spring semester
4 weeks of required courses:
- Transition in Practice Series (TIPS): Residency (2 weeks; 1 week is in-person). Students can only enroll in this course if matched to a PGY-1 residency program.
- Students will attend one week of in-person activities (weeks are assigned by speciality) and one week of virtual/asynchronous activities.
- Unmatched students are not required to participate in TIPs Residency and can meet the requirement by successful completion of an additional Acting Internship elective.
- Clinical Skills/Ultrasound Capstone (2 weeks)
14 weeks of unscheduled time for professional development and personal use is built into the M4 year to be used for:
- Residency Preparation
- Interviews
- Vacations/Travel/Personal Time
Students are allowed to work with faculty to design clinical experiences other than those in this catalog. The process for creating an individualized experience or away rotation is described in detail below in the non-catalog course process. Please plan ahead as there are multiple onboarding requirements and deadlines that must be met.
Required Rotations
Many of the electives in the catalog meet the requirements of multiple categories. For example, SUR404 (Shock/ Trauma) meets the requirements of the Acting Internship (AI) requirement, the Critical Care requirement, and an elective rotation. One course can meet several graduation requirements on your schedule.
- An M4 rotation MAY NOT be used to remediate a failed M3 clerkship.
- Students may not schedule electives in which they will be directly supervised or graded by preceptors with whom they have any clinical, personal, or familial relationship, including providing health services. See the Non-Involvement of Student Healthcare Providers in Education Policy in the MD Student Handbook.
- Students should plan “full-time” electives based on four-week sessions whenever possible. Some electives have two-week options which can be scheduled anytime during a four-week session in coordination with the course coordinator. Electives may not be planned for less than two weeks in duration. (NOTE: Two-week rotations should include AT LEAST 10 scheduled work days.)
- Other electives that meet the definition of the listed course categories may be submitted for approval to fulfill a requirement using the M4 Non-Catalog Course Request Form.
ACTING INTERNSHIP (AI)
Must be completed at EVMS or an affiliated site.
Affiliated sites include:
- Bon Secours, Hampton Roads
- Chesapeake Regional Medical Center
- Children’s Hospital of The Kings Daughters
- Naval Medical Center Portsmouth
- Riverside Regional Medical Center, Newport News
- Sentara, Hampton Roads
- Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center, Hampton
The Acting Internship (AI) elective is designed to encourage senior medical students, regardless of desired future specialty, to assume patient care responsibilities similar to those of an intern (PGY-1 resident), including following the call schedule of an intern in that specialty. Acting interns should carry patients independently of interns and have similar duties, schedules, and didactic sessions as interns. They should take ownership of their patients and be the primary point person regarding their care. They should be increasingly (but safely) independent in their clinical practice but able to recognize when help is needed.
By the end of the acting internship, students should be proficient and efficient in handling the daily tasks of an intern, demonstrating expected behaviors for an entrustable learner including:
- Performing complete and accurate history and physical exams in an organized fashion (UCO 1.1)
- Prioritizing a differential diagnosis following a clinical encounter (UCO 1.2)
- Recommending and interpreting common diagnostic and screening tests (UCO 1.2)
- Entering and discussing orders and prescriptions (UCO 1.2)
- Documenting a clinical encounter accurately in the patient record (UCO 4.2)
- Presenting an oral presentation of a clinical encounter (UCO 4.2)
- Forming clinical questions and retrieving evidence to advance patient care (UCO 3.2)
- Giving or receiving a patient handover to transition care responsibly (UCO 4.2)
- Collaborating as a member of an interprofessional team (UCO 5.2)
AMBULATORY MEDICINE (AMB)
May be completed at any LCME-accredited school or under the supervision of a physician with an active faculty appointment at an LCME-accredited school.
The Ambulatory Medicine (AMB) elective is intended to allow senior medical students to participate in the evaluation and management of patients who present with a wide variety of disorders in an outpatient setting. A minimum of 5 half days per week (or 50% of the rotation averaged over the course of the elective) must be in an Ambulatory setting providing direct patient care (not in a shadowing role).
By the end of the ambulatory medicine elective, students should be proficient and efficient in the management of an outpatient in a clinic setting, demonstrating expected behaviors for an entrustable learner including:
- Performing complete and accurate history and physical exams in an organized fashion (UCO 1.1)
- Prioritizing a differential diagnosis following a clinical encounter (UCO 1.2)
- Recommending and interpreting common diagnostic and screening tests (UCO 1.2)
- Entering and discussing orders and prescriptions (UCO 1.2)
- Documenting a clinical encounter accurately in the patient record (UCO 4.2)
- Presenting an oral presentation of a clinical encounter (UCO 4.2)
- Forming clinical questions and retrieving evidence to advance patient care (UCO 3.2)
- Collaborating as a member of an interprofessional team (UCO 5.2)
CRITICAL CARE (CC)
May be completed at any LCME-accredited school or under the supervision of a physician with an active faculty appointment at an LCME-accredited school.
The Critical Care (CC) elective is intended to expose senior medical students to the evaluation and management of seriously ill patients, often in intensive-care settings, with the goal of learning how to appropriately evaluate the emergent patient. Students should be increasingly (but safely) independent in their clinical practice and able to recognize when help is needed. Students should work all shifts with their teams, including call. Students may complete virtual critical care modules to meet the objectives of this requirement.
By the end of the critical care elective, students should be able to develop a thorough, systematic approach to the rapid recognition, evaluation, treatment, and disposition of the critically ill or injured patient, demonstrating expected behaviors for an entrustable learner including:
- Recognizing a patient requiring urgent or emergent management (UCO 1.2)
- Prioritizing a differential diagnosis for a critically ill or injured patient (UCO 1.2)
- Recommending and interpreting common diagnostic and screening tests (UCO 1.2)
- Entering and discussing orders and prescriptions (UCO 1.2)
- Presenting an oral presentation of a clinical encounter (UCO 4.2)
- Forming clinical questions and retrieving evidence to advance patient care (UCO 3.2)
- Collaborating as a member of an interprofessional team (UCO 5.2)
- Obtaining informed consent for a test or a procedure (UCO 1.3)
- Performing general procedures of a physician (UCO 1.3)
Away Electives
Your critical care, ambulatory and elective courses may be completed at sites other than EVMS-affiliated institutions; however, your Acting Internship must be completed at an EVMS-affiliated institution listed previously.
In planning for away rotations, you should be aware of the following rules:
- Students may do a maximum of 16 weeks of away electives (xxx999 courses)
- Away rotations must be done at an LCME accredited U.S. Medical School or under the supervision of a physician holding a faculty appointment at an LCME accredited U.S. Medical School.
- If your desired rotation is described in the catalog of the host school, that description can be used to complete the EVMS Non-Catalog Course Request form. If the elective is not described in the host school’s catalog, students should follow the instructions for developing elective rotations below.
- The majority of U.S. medical schools now require that applications from visiting students be submitted through the Visiting Student Learning Opportunities service (VSLO) managed by the Associate of American Medical Schools (AAMC). Information is available from the VSLO Coordinator (Jill Haught) or directly from the AAMC. Some medical schools use their own individual applications. Information for each school can be obtained from the school’s website.
- Most schools accept applications from visiting students in early spring, but may not confirm your acceptance until late spring or early summer. Most schools, including EVMS, make every effort to accommodate their own students before accepting visiting students. Once you accept an away elective, please submit the EVMS Non Catalog Course Request for review and approval.
Creating Your Own Rotation or Away Elective
*Non-Catalog Course Requests should be submitted through the M4 Elective Catalog by selecting a 998/999 course for the relevant department**
- Identify the site. All non-VSLO away electives require an affiliation agreement between EVMS and the site. Obtaining agreements can be a lengthy process spanning several months. Please plan accordingly and have a back-up plan should the legal teams of EVMS and the proposed site not be able to agree on the terms of the agreement. VSLO electives do not require an affiliation agreement unless the school you are applying to requests one be executed.
- Consult with your advisor, the appropriate Department Chairman, Assistant Vice Dean for Clinical Education, or the Vice Dean for Academic Affairs regarding your goals and objectives.
- Complete a Non-Catalog Course Request by selecting a 998/999 course code in the M4 catalog.
- For VSLO rotations, you will need to upload a document describing the skills, knowledge or values/attitudes the student wishes to achieve along with documentation of your acceptance. If your desired rotation is described in the catalog of the host school, that description can be used to complete the EVMS Course Request documentation. If the elective is not described in the host school’s catalog, students should follow the instructions for developing elective rotations below.
- For all Create Your Own (998) or non-VSLO away rotations you must complete the Non-Catalog (non-VSLO) Experiential Learning Rotation Agreement. A copy of the completed agreement should be uploaded to your course request.
- Use the following links to help you write objectives: http://www.evms.edu/media/departments/medical_education/New_Blooms_Taxonomy3-7-14.pdf and https://learning-objectives.easygenerator.com/.
- Review the objectives with the proposed course director, who must be a board certified physician or other comparably credentialed individual and must hold a faculty appointment with EVMS or another LCME accredited institution.
- Once submitted the proposed elective will be routed for review. The affiliation agreement and faculty status will be verified during the review process.
- This process should be completed more than 30 days prior to the start of the elective when possible.
- An email notification of final approval must be received prior to participating in any non-catalog elective at EVMS or any other LCME accredited school. If you do not receive an approval for your elective, you may not receive credit for the experience and your graduation date could be affected.
The Non-Catalog Course Request is reviewed for the:
- faculty status of the preceptor
- status of the affiliation agreement with the site
- appropriateness of the course category to the course request (confirmation from the Course Director that the course meets the requirements of the selected course category may be required)
- scheduling approval from the course coordinator/course director
- course objectives/goals/description
- dates compared to the student’s personal schedule and the EVMS session schedule
Please note that submission of the non-catalog course request form is not automatic approval for you to receive credit for the experience. It is one step in a multi-step review and approval process.
Schedules
Submission and Approval
In reviewing a student’s proposed program, the Assistant Vice Dean of Clinical Education, Vice Dean for Academic Affairs, and the Medical Education Committee will use the following guidelines:
- The program shall be well conceived and consistent with respect to fulfillment of the educational needs of the student.
- The program shall be commensurate with the capabilities of the student.
- The educational opportunities selected shall be of a quality sufficient to justify the expenditure of time requested.
- The required rotations listed must be included in each student’s planned program.
Schedule Changes
- Drop requests must be submitted no less than 45 days in advance of the scheduled rotation start date unless there are extenuating circumstances approved by the Assistant Vice Dean for Clinical Education. Last minute drops are unprofessional as the preceptors may have made adjustments to their schedule to have you rotate with them. Last minute drops have also prevented another student from completing that elective.
- Courses dropped after the course has begun will receive an “I” for incomplete. The course will either need to be completed at a later date or the student will receive a “W” for withdrawn.
- Add requests (other than Sentara, which can accommodate a faster turn-around time) must be submitted at least 45 days in advance of the course start date. This allows time for the multi-step review and approval process as well as the student onboarding processes at our affiliated sites (which require their process to be COMPLETED 30 days in advance of your placement). Exceptions are made for short-notice VSLO acceptances with minimal compliance requirements.
- Do not begin an elective that has not been added to your official schedule. Credit for rotations will not be given to students who fail to follow the proper procedures for changing an elective.
- Requested changes are reviewed and approved or disapproved based on the:
- balance of the student’s schedule and requirements
- faculty status of the preceptor
- status of the affiliation agreement with the site
- appropriateness of the course category to the course request
- approval from the course coordinator/course director
If the request is approved, the student may then proceed to change the rotation. The student must forward confirmation that the elective supervisors for both the elective being dropped and the rotation being added have been notified. No changes to schedules will be allowed after December 13, 2024.
Grading
Please refer to the M4 Elective Phase Assessment and Grading Policy in the MD Student Handbook.
Clinical Education Site Compliance
All fourth year EVMS students will be required to complete pre-rotation compliance requirements for EVMS and Sentara facilities before February 4, 2024. Students will be communicated with via Blackboard to facilitate completion. For electives taking place at facilities other than Sentara, students are required to complete all site-specific requirements a minimum of 45 days prior to the start of the elective. An email announcement will be sent out through Blackboard when the compliance requirements are available for completion.
Any student who has not completed the required compliance activities will be prohibited from starting their elective year and will be required to formally address the dereliction. This delay may impact your ability to complete the scheduled electives and may impact your ability to graduate on time.
Elective Periods, Deadlines and Dates of Importance
| Elective Periods | Deadline for Drop/Add |
|---|
| Session 0 |
|
May 20 - May 31, 2024 |
|
|---|
| Session 1 |
|
June 3 - June 28, 2024 |
April 19, 2024 |
|---|
| Session 2 |
|
July 1 - July 26, 2024 |
May 17, 2024 |
|---|
| Session 3 |
|
July 29 - August 23, 2024 |
June 14, 2024 |
|---|
| Session 4 |
|
August 26 - September 20, 2024 |
July 12, 2024 |
|---|
| Session 5 |
|
September 23 - October 18, 2024 |
August 9, 2024 |
|---|
| Session 6 |
|
October 21 - November 15, 2024 |
September 6, 2024 |
|---|
| Session 7 |
|
November 18 - December 20, 2024* |
October 4, 2024 |
|---|
| Session 8 |
|
December 30 - January 24, 2025 |
November 15, 2024 |
|---|
| Session 9 |
|
January 27 - February 21, 2025 |
No changes allowed after December 13, 2024 |
|---|
| Session 10 |
|
February 24 - March 21, 2025 |
|
|---|
| Residency TIPs |
|
March 24 - May 2, 2025 (2 weeks)** |
Required Course |
|---|
| Administrative |
|
May 5 - May 16, 2025 |
Make-up/Remediation Only |
|---|
*Session 7 is five weeks to provide one week off (11/25/24-11/30/24) for Fall Break.
**TIPS: Students will attend one week of in-person activities (weeks are assigned by speciality) and one week of virtual/asynchronous activities.
DATES OF IMPORTANCE
SCHEDULES: No schedule changes are allowed after December 13, 2024 with the exception of extenuating circumstances approved in writing by the Assistant Vice Dean.
SCHEDULED TIME OFF:
- Thanksgiving Break: November 25-30, 2024
- Winter Break: December 23, 2024 - December 27, 2024
Please consult the leave policy in the MD Student Handbook when scheduling personal time off, interviews, and courses that overlap (example: a clinical course and a longitudinal course).
GRADUATION: May 17, 2025
Visiting Students
Fourth year visiting students are to apply for electives through VSLO. EVMS students hold first priority for all electives. Learn more about visiting student opportunities at EVMS.
M4 Administration Contacts
We look forward to working with each of you over the next year! Please don't ever hesitate to reach out if you have questions. The below directory is designed to assist you with whom to contact regarding your questions. You can also email m4@evms.edu with any inquiry.
|
Jill Haught
haughtjm@evms.edu | 757.446.5866
Graduation Requirements/Audits
VSLO/Away Application Assistance
Background Checks
HIPAA/OSHA Verification Letters
Letters of Good Standing
Malpractice Certificate of Coverage
Non-Catalog Course Approvals
Affiliation Agreements
Category Reviews
Faculty Appointment
|
Stephanie Outlaw
M4@evms.edu | 757.446.8906
Evaluations
General Scheduling Assistance
Add/Drop Requests & Questions
|
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M4 Student Onboarding
StudentOnboarding@evms.edu | 757.446.6166
Student Onboarding for Catalog Courses
|
Rebecca Hastings
hastinrs@evms.edu | 757.446.7111
Career Advising
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Registrar's Office
transcripts@evms.edu | 757.446.5806
Transcripts
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Occupational Health
occhealth@evms.edu | 757.446.5870
Blood/Bodily Fluids Exposures
Medical Clearance for Fit Testing
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Student Health Clinic
studenthealth@evms.edu | 757.446.5700
TB Tests
Drug Screens
Flu shots
Immunization Records
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Environmental Health & Safety
respiratorhelp@evms.edu | 757.446.7928
Respirator Mask Fit Testing
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Aileen Shafer
Director of Clinical Placements
shaferam@evms.edu
A. Brooke Hooper, MD
Assistant Vice Dean for Clinical Education
hooperab@evms.edu
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