UofC

Exceptions and further information to Assessment, evaluations and appeals can be located in the following online documentation:

• Policy for Development and Maintenance of Student Evaluations
• Policy for Reappraisals and Appeals of Student Evaluations

ucalgary.ca/mdprogram/about-us/ume-policies-guidelines-forms-terms-reference

Examinations are scheduled within regular class time except in those special cases where prior approval has been obtained from the Associate Dean of the Undergraduate Medical Education Office (UME).

A system of grading which carries no weight in the determination of grade point averages is used by the Cumming School of Medicine for its MD Program.

CR – Completed Requirements
RM – Remedial Work Required
I – Incomplete
MT – Multi-Term
F – Fail

University policy requires that students’ grades in a course are reported according to the grading scheme of the faculty giving the course (regardless of the faculty in which a student is registered) and are so recorded on students’ transcripts of record.

A Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grading system will be used. Students cannot be declared Satisfactory overall based upon only some of the components of an evaluation. Students must be declared Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory in the complete (overall) evaluation.

To obtain credit for a course, a student must be certified as satisfactory on the course evaluation by achieving a score at or above the minimum performance level (MPL) for the examination.

Results from Year 1 and 2 will be reported as either “Satisfactory” or “Unsatisfactory”.

Results from Year 3 will be reported as “Satisfactory”, “Unsatisfactory”, or “Satisfactory with performance deficiency".

“Satisfactory” means that the faculty has determined that the student has met or exceeded the level of performance minimally acceptable for promotion. When a student receives a Satisfactory grade in the course concerned, the grade cannot be altered by any further changes made in the evaluation as a result of subsequent appeals.

“Unsatisfactory” means that the student has not met the minimum performance level for the evaluation. A student who is unsatisfactory may wish to review their result sheet with the examination key to aid in recognition of areas of deficiencies and assist in planning remedial studies or to identify an error in the marking. Should a student feel that an error has occurred in the marking of a non-multiple choice question (MCQ) they may submit a Request for Reappraisal. A students can also be deemed unsatisfactory in a situation where a serious professionalism breach has occurred.

“Satisfactory with performance deficiency” is used in Clerkship for the following situations.

1. Failure of one component of a clerkship evaluation with subsequent completion of required remedial work and satisfactory performance on rewrite of that component.
2. Overall rating of satisfactory performance in a clerkship rotation but with one or more specific areas of deficiency noted including professional and ethical behaviour.

The MPL for an examination is the sum of MPLs for each item on the examination. Members of the Exam Review Working Committee set the MPL for each item.

The overall examination MPL and student results will be rounded as per the follow policy document:

Policy for Development and Maintenance of Student Evaluations (ucalgary.ca/mdprogram/about-us/ume-policies-guidelines-forms-terms-reference).

Examination results will be distributed to each student via email to the student’s @ucalgary.ca address. Grades will be emailed only to an @ucalgary address. Paper copies of grades are not distributed to students. The emailed result will include the overall score and the examination minimum performance level. These results also indicate areas of strengths and weaknesses in each of the identifiable clinical presentations.

Examination results will be kept confidential. Individual student results will be made available to:

1. the student
2. the student’s permanent file
3. the student’s faculty advisor (this is accomplished by the student forwarding the emailed results to the advisor; any other distribution to the faculty advisor requires written consent of the student)
4. the office of the Associate Dean, UME
5. members of faculty committees responsible for student promotion and/or appeals
6. course chair and evaluation co-ordinator for relevant course or clerkship. Anonymized group evaluation results may be released to the course chair and evaluation co-ordinator for the relevant course and to faculty responsible for program evaluation in the Undergraduate Medical Education Program.

Individual student grades and class standings are not reported on student transcripts or provided as part of Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) applications.

Students should refer to the Student Evaluation Committee’s (SEC) Policy for Development and Maintenance of Student Evaluations for consequences of unsatisfactory performance in any given year of the MD Program. This policy is located online as follows:

ucalgary.ca/mdprogram/about-us/ume-policies-guidelines-forms-terms-reference.

The Office of Medical Education maintains a file for each student in the MD Program one academic file and one non-academic file. The file is a combination of Years 1 and 2 (Pre-clerkship) and Year 3 (Clerkship) academic documentation.

For further information regarding a student’s file, please refer to the online policy:
 ucalgary.ca/mdprogram/about-us/ume-policies-guidelines-forms-terms-reference.

On behalf of the Faculty Council, Student Academic Review Committee (SARC) determines whether or not students should be promoted to the next stage of the MD program, and ultimately receive the MD degree.

In accordance with The Terms of Reference for the Student Academic Review Committee, SARC is a delegated body of Faculty Council responsible for the review and ratification of undergraduate medical student performance. SARC makes recommendations to Faculty Council and the Dean concerning the promotion of students and discipline related to the academic performance (knowledge, skills and professional attitudes) of students who, by reason of unsatisfactory performance, cannot be promoted.

The Terms of Reference of the Student Academic Review Committee are located on the MD Programs website at: vp.ucalgary.ca/images/policies/aasarctormarch112015approvedbyfacultycouncilmarch112015ss. Students experiencing any academic difficulty should refer to this document and become fluent with the faculty rules regarding policies and procedure of promotion. Guidance regarding an appearance is available from Student Affairs, Faculty Advisors and the UME office.

Final decision for graduation is made by Faculty Council, under the advisement of SARC.