Glossary

4th Year College(s) – A 4th Year College is a community of scholars both faculty and students organized to provide career advising and mentoring.  The main components of each college are choices of designated selectives, a longitudinal experience, dinner seminars and a creative project.  Fourth year students are required to enroll and complete the requirements of one of the following colleges: Acute Care College, Applied Anatomy College, Medical Leadership College, Medical Specialties College, Primary Care College or Urban Underserved College.

AAMC (Association of American of American Medical Colleges) – http://www.aamc.org/.  The Association of American Medical Colleges is a non-profit association founded in 1876 to work for reform in medical education.  The Association consist of the 125 accredited U.S. medical schools, the 16 accredited Canadian medical schools, 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, 90 academic and professional societies representing nearly 100,000 faculty members, and the nation's medical students and residents.

• Advanced Clinical Electives – One of the four categories of electives in the Handbook of Courses.  Advanced Clinical Electives allow students to utilize and build upon the fundamental information and skills acquired during required specialty clerkships of the third year in a practical approach, rather than relying largely on textbooks and theoretical skills alone. 

Application Fee - A $100 charge, per elective, for non-UCLA students to participate in electives at UCLA and/or affiliated hospitals.  (UCLA, Drew/UCLA, and UCR/UCLA students DO NOT pay this fee or complete the application.)

 

B1-Visa - This is the appropriate visa for all international medical students who take clinical electives with us.  This information is sent from the Student Affairs Office to all eligible candidates with their application materials.  Foreign students must consult their local American Embassy or Consulate office to obtain a visa.

 

Calendar of Weeks –Academic calendar (with corresponding week numbers) for third and fourth year medical students.

 

Clerkship – Generic term for a clinical course in the third or fourth year.

Clinical Foundations – A required seven-day course for third year medical students before they start clinical rotations. 

 

College Foundations – A five to six-day required course for fourth year medical students.  Each college has its own college foundations course.  See 4th Year Colleges.

 

Core Clerkship - (see Required Clerkship)

 

Course Chair  - A physician who holds a UCLA faculty appointment and has the ultimate responsibility for the teaching of an elective or required clerkship and the grading/evaluating a student’s performance.

 

Course Evaluation - In order to improve overall quality improvement of the medical school curriculum, the MEC (Medical Education Committee) requires that all medical students must complete evaluations of all basic science courses, required and elective clerkships.  Students will be notified of the evaluations they must complete through the on-line, web-based evaluation system.  In addition to courses, students are also required to evaluate all medical student instructors, small group tutors and laboratory assistants.

 

Course Profile – Elective page in the Handbook of Courses for Fourth Year Students that describes the elective clerkship in detail.  Course profiles are updated annually by the course chair and reviewed by the college chairs (Subcommittee on Electives). 

 

CPX (Clinical Performance Examination) – An examination that students take at the end of their third year.  The exam consists of eight clinical cases portrayed by standardized patients.  Each case requires a focused work up and is followed by a written exercise.  Performance is observed by a clinical faculty member and taped.  Individual feedback is provided for purposes of improving history taking, physical examination, counseling, and patient/doctor relationship skills.  Poor performance requires remediation.

 

Curriculum Vitae - A short account of one's career and qualifications prepared typically by an applicant for a position.  Another word(s) for resume.

 

Early Match – “Early Match” specialties are specialties that announce residency match results earlier than the specialties that use the NRMP and ERAS.  The Early Match specialties are Neurology, Neurosurgery, Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, and Urology.  The application to the “Early Match” specialties is somewhat earlier than the process through the NRMP.

 

Elective Clerkship – A clerkship that third and fourth year medical students elect to do.  Students are required to complete 30 weeks of electives before they graduate. There are four types of electives listed in our Handbook of Courses (In-Depth, Advanced Clinical Clerkship, Subinternship (Sub-I), and Inpatient/Subinternship.)

 

Elective Drop/Add Form – Form used by UCLA, Drew/UCLA, and UCR/UCLA medical students to drop and/or add electives to or from their schedule.  Elective Drop/Add Forms are due in the Student Affairs Office one-month prior to the start date of the rotation.  The forms must be signed by the course chair, before they are submitted to the SAO to be added to the student’s schedule.  Drop/Add Forms can be found in the Student Affairs Office or on the medical student web site at: http://www.medstudent.ucla.edu/sao/clinical/dropadd.pdf

 

Elective Renewal – Active electives are renewed annually, in October.  Elective renewal packets are sent to all course chairs of active electives and must be renewed to be included in the Handbook for the upcoming academic year.

 

ERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service) - ERAS requires students to complete ONE common application form and allows students to send their application materials to multiple residency programs via the internet.

 

ESS (Electronic Scheduling System) – The computer software used by the Student Affairs Office, to schedule medical students into their required and elective clerkships.  The software is also used by faculty and residents to submit student performance evaluations to the Student Affairs Office.  (http://ess.medstudent.ucla.edu)

 

Extern (Visiting Student) – A non-UCLA in student in their final year at another medical school.  Only currently enrolled, regularly matriculated students, PRIOR to the award of the M.D. degree may participate in this program.  The only clerkships available to externs are advanced clinical electives.  No "core clerkships" are offered to externs.  We have NO PROGRAMS for foreign medical graduates.  Interested students may be referred to the following website: www.medstudent.ucla.edu/visitingstudents.

 

Faculty/Resident Evaluation of Medical Student – An interim evaluation form used by “attending” faculty, house staff and fellows to evaluate a student’s performance.  The form is submitted to the student coordinator, not the Student Affairs Office.  The student coordinator of the clerkship will compile the data from all of the evaluations, onto a Medical Student Summative Evaluation Form (Required or Elective depending on the course.) 

 

FEC – (Faculty Executive Committee) - The FEC is the highest level elected representative body of the faculty of the School of Medicine. It functions as an arm of the Academic Senate and has specific responsibilities for the design and conduct of the academic program of courses and curriculum within the Medical School. In addition the Faculty, through the FEC, authorizes the promotion and graduation of students in the School and serves to advise the administration and the UCLA Academic Senate on questions of faculty welfare, academic priorities, and planning and budget allocations within the School of Medicine.

 

FMG - Foreign Medical Graduate.  We offer no programs, clinical or otherwise, for individuals who have received the M.D. degree outside of the United States.

 

FREIDA (Fellowship & Residency Electronic Interactive Database) - FREIDA is the on-line directory of ALL residency programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.   This is extremely helpful to students trying to decide where they want to apply for residency.  FREIDA allows students to narrow their search by specialty, by location, even by program size.  FREIDA can be viewed online at www.ama-assn.org/freida.  A paper version of this information (commonly known as “The Green Book”) is kept in the Student Affairs Office.

 

Handbook of Courses for Fourth Year Medical Students - Handbook given to rising UCLA, UCR/UCLA, and Drew/UCLA fourth year medial students.  The handbook lists all of the requirements for of the third and fourth year and policies and procedures for the third and fourth years.  It also contains course descriptions of the required clerkships and course profiles of the electives offered at UCLA and UCLA Affiliated electives.  The handbook is available online http://www.medstudent.ucla.edu/offices/sao/clinical/pdf/4yhdbk0506/002_Tablcont%204.pdf

 

Handbook of Courses for Third Year Medical Students - Handbook given to rising UCLA and UCR/UCLA third year medical students.  The handbook lists all of the requirements of the third and forth years, policies and procedures for the third and fourth years.  It also contains course descriptions of the required clerkships and course profiles of electives available to third year medical students. The handbook is available online

Health Clearance/Immunization - All UCLA medical students enrolled through the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA have met the following requirements and documentation of which they are on file in the School of Medicine Student Affairs Office.

• Vaccination Record and Proof of Immunity to Measles, Rubella, Hepatitis and Varicella
• TB Skin Test
• Vaccination for Tetanus
• TB and Blood Born Pathogen Training
• Fire and Safety Training

HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act) - As of April 2003, health care providers, health plans and health care clearinghouses must be in compliance with The Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information (the Privacy Rule).  The HIPPA Privacy Rule provides the first comprehensive federal protection for the privacy of health information.  All UCLA, UCR/UCLA, and Drew/UCLA students must be in compliance with HIPPA before seeing patients on the wards.  You may verify which students have met the HIIPPA Compliance on the following web site http://www.medstudent.ucla.edu/sao/faculty_resources/hipaa/hipaa.cfm.

 

HOC (Hippocratic Oath Ceremony) – M.D. Graduation Ceremony for the UCLA School of Medicine.

 

Holidays - Each institution observes different holidays.  Students are responsible for contacting the student coordinator regarding which holidays are observed by the institution through which they are rotating.

 

In-Depth Elective
One of the four categories of electives offered in the Handbook of Courses.  In-depth electives explore the basic sciences as well as the clinical aspects of an organ system and its disease states or focus on a particular field of study.

 

Internship/Residency (a.k.a. Post-Graduate Training)
The continuation of medical education in a specific specialty after the completion of medical school.  Physicians must complete one year of postgraduate training to be eligible for a license to practice in California.

JCAHO - Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations.

 

LCME – Liaison Committee on Medical Education (accrediting body for medical schools)

 

Letter of Distinction - The Letter of Distinction is an opportunity for faculty members to distinguish a student who has demonstrated extraordinary performance in any of the required clerkships.  Only truly remarkable performance will be recognized; merely performing ahead of peers and being the best competitor should not suffice.

 

Malpractice/Risk Management Fee - This is a per-week fee for all eligible foreign students participating in electives at UCLA and affiliated hospitals.  (Most LCME approved American medical schools provide this coverage for visiting students …those that don't, designate this on the Externship Application.  Students not covered by their home schools, are assessed this fee.)

 

Match Day - Held in late March of each year, Match Day is the day when most of the graduating seniors find out where they will be going for their internship/residency.   Except for the “early match” applicants, ALL students at ALL schools across the country open envelopes at the exact same time (9:00 a.m. Pacific time, 12:00 noon on the east coast) to learn their results.

 

Medical Education Committee (MEC) - The Regents of the University have vested the Faculty of the School of Medicine with the responsibility to authorize and supervise all courses and curricula offered in pursuit of the degree of Doctor of Medicine (Regent Standing Order 105.2b).  The Medical Education Committee is a standing subcommittee of the Faculty of the School of Medicine, is subject to its Bylaws, and reports directly to its Faculty Executive Committee (FEC).  The Medical Education Committee is charged to formulate and periodically review the mission statement for undergraduate medical education; to review and recommend revisions of the Medical School curricula, including scheduling of courses; and to evaluate existing courses and clerkships.  (http://www.medsch.ucla.edu/public/faculty/mec/ ).

 

Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE) 
(formally known as the Dean’s Letter) - A letter written on each student’s behalf by Dr. Neil Parker, an Assistant Dean, or a College Chair, to support students in the residency application process.  The letter includes excerpts (direct quotes) from required and elective evaluations and a short “biography” of a student’s various accomplishments.

 

Medical Student Summative Evaluation Form (Required Clerkship) – A compilation of all of a student’s Faculty/Resident Evaluation of Medical Student.  This form is submitted to Linda Cuesta in the Student Affairs Office and is quoted in the student’s Dean’s Letter.

 

NRMP (National Residency Matching Program)
– www.nrmp.aamc.org The NRMP is a national computerized system that administers all aspects of the residency match, including on-line registration and monitoring of student’s “program rank lists”.  By completing an “NRMP Agreement Form”, a student is, in effect, signing a contract agreeing to accept the results of the residency match.

 

Physicianship Form
A form completed by a faculty member to report to a course chair or site director concerns of unprofessional behavior(s) by a medical student.

Prerequisites
The required clerkships that must be met before a medical student can start an elective.  Each elective has its own prerequisite(s) that is (are) listed on the profile.

Rank List – After students complete the residency application and interview process, they are required to submit, on-line, a list of the programs to which they would like to match.   They rank these programs according to their own preferences.  The order is entirely up to the student.  Detailed explanations are available on the NRMP website.

Required Clerkship – A clerkship required by all UCLA and UCR/UCLA medical students in order to meet graduation requirements.  The required clinical clerkships are Inpatient Internal Medicine (8 weeks), Psychiatry/Neurology (Psychiatry (5 weeks) and Neurology (3 weeks)), Family Medicine (4 weeks), Ambulatory Internal Medicine (4 weeks), Surgery (12 weeks), Obstetrics and Gynecology (6 weeks), Pediatrics (6 weeks), Radiology (Longitudinal), Doctoring 3 (longitudinal), and Longitudinal Preceptorship.  These are also known as "core clerkships."

Roster
List of UCLA medical students enrolled for each starting date of a rotation in an academic year.  Rosters for the upcoming academic year are mailed in June and are available on the web through ESS (http://ess.mednet.ucla.edu)

 

Site Director (required clerkships) – A course chair of a particular site for a required  clerkship.  For example, the required clerkship, Obstetrics/Gynecology, is taught at CHS, Harbor-UCLA, Cedars-Sinai and Olive View.  The site director is the UCLA faculty member at the site, who is responsible for the teaching and the evaluating of students at that particular site.  There is a course chair (of the clerkship) who has overall responsibility for the teaching at all sites (of the clerkship).

 

Student Coordinator – An administrative support person for elective/required clerkships.  This person is readily available to students and is responsible for maintaining the course rosters, monitoring enrollment and student participation, collecting and submitting student evaluations, and soliciting course evaluations.  (See page 2-3 for required clerkships and 3-4 for elective clerkships)

 

Sub-Internship (Elective) – Electives that are inpatient, emergency, or outpatient clerkships that give students increased responsibility for decisions made for the total care of the patient.  In general, students will be expected to function more nearly as an intern than as a fourth‑year student.  UCLA students are required to take 6 weeks of Subinternship clerkships to meet graduation requirements. 

 

Sub-Internship/Inpatient Elective – One of the four categories of electives offered in our Handbook of Courses.  A Subinternship/Inpatient elective is a special category of subinternship clerkships in which all of the criteria for a regular Subinternship (sub-I) applies, except that the clerkships must be at least 90% or above inpatient experiences.  Students are required to complete at least 3 weeks of a Subinternship/Inpatient elective. 

 

Visiting Medical Student – See extern.

 

Visiting Medical Student Website (www.medstudent.ucla.edu/visitingstudents).  Please refer ALL inquiries from potential visiting students to this website.

Week Numbers – Numbers are assigned to each week in the third and fourth academic year.  The first week in the academic year is assigned as “week 1.”