Evaluation, Review and Remediation 

The following weighting is assigned to the different components of evaluation:

• Clinical evaluations from the ward (40%)

• Multiple Choice Question Examination (30%) 

• Objective Structured Clinical Examination (30%) 

Student interns must pass the clinical, MCQ, and OSCE components to achieve a passing grade in MED 546. The Department of Medicine’s Undergraduate Medical Education Committee reserves the right to review the records of all students who do not achieve a passing grade in each of these three assessment components (including the MCQ examination), and to prescribe remedial action as appropriate.

CLINICAL: WARD COMPONENT

• Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) - Students should attempt 2-3 per week, at least 1 needs to be completed by the attending physician.  During the clerkship, a minimum of 16 EPAs need to be completed.  At least two of these should be of EPA 1a (observed history), at least 2  of these should be EPA1b (observed physical) and at least 1 should be an Allied Health EPA Narrative Form.  At least one of the EPA1a (observed history) and one of the EPA1b (observed physical exam) needs to be completed by a preceptor.  The other EPA1a (observed history) and EPA1b (observed physical exam) can be completed by either a preceptor or a resident.  A minimum of 16 completed EPAs are required for this clerkship.

Although the minimum requirement is 16 completed EPAs for the clerkship, it is strongly recommended students try to obtain more than this for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, it provides students with additional opportunities for feedback on their performance.  Secondly, if there are any delays in a preceptor completing an EPA and the student has only requested the minimum of 16 EPAs, this will result in a delay in the final evaluation form being completed by the clerkship coordinator until the 16 EPAs are completed.   

• Preceptor evaluations and feedback should be sought and completed using the MDPA form.  This is usually at the end of a week working with same preceptor.  If you work with the same preceptor for 2 consecutive weeks, you can get one MDPA form completed at the end of the 2 weeks.  If you work with the same preceptor but on non-consecutive weeks (e.g. weeks 2 and 5), you should get a MDPA form completed at the end of each week.  If you work with a preceptor for less than a week (e.g. due to flex day/sickness etc.) you should still get a MDPA form completed by your preceptor.  Preceptors will receive evaluation forms through the Cally (use waffle menu to navigate). Students are expected to consistently be achieving "3s" ("at expected level for end of clerkship") across all domains of the MDPA form by the last 3 weeks of the clerkship.  Please note that weekly evaluation forms should NOT be completed by a resident or fellow.

• Patient encounters - Students need to log the 9 mandatory patient encounters - see "Patient Encounters" page for further details.

• Students must also meet the call requirements for the clerkship - see page on "Call Requirements" for further details.

A student’s status will be reviewed by the Department of Medicine Undergraduate Committee if they:

1. Receives an unsatisfactory grade on the final ward assessment, or 

2. Fails three or more stations on the OSCE examination, or 

3. Fails the first and second attempt of the multiple-choice examination. 

4. Fails to achieve sufficient attendance on any component of the rotation. 

5. Demonstrates unprofessional behaviour as outlined in the University of Alberta Code of Student Behaviour and the Canadian Medical Association Code of Ethics. 

6. Fails to submit required documentation (e.g. EPAs, MDPA forms, patient encounters).

A decision will be made by the Department of Medicine Undergraduate committee as to whether or not to recommend remedial weeks for the student. The committee’s recommendation is forwarded to the Academic Standings Committee of the Faculty of Medicine for final action.

If remediation is deemed appropriate by the Faculty of Medicine, attempts will be made to schedule this remedial at a convenient time for both the student and staff concerned, and in the case of clinical remedials, at a site other than the one where the student had taken that rotation. The remedial must be completed consecutively. Elective time completed does NOT qualify for remedial weeks.