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Student Life

All UMMS Students

Academic Support Services

Academic counseling Tutoring         Test-taking

Our goal is to help all learners in the School of Medicine, Graduate School of Nursing, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and Graduate Medical Education achieve the most comprehensive and meaningful educational experience possible.  We encourage you to access the resources of the Center for Academic Achievement.

The CAA is made up of the Center for Academic Achievement, as well as Academic Enrichment Programs which work together in order to provide comprehensive services to students, residents, and fellows.  Students seen for academic enrichment may be encouraged to receive clinical enrichment services and vice versa.

Clinical

Clinical students, residents, and fellows should contact Tracy Kedian, or Lisa Shay for the following concerns:

  • Clinical skills related to working on the wards
  • Clinical interviewing
  • Clinical problem solving and decision making
  • Patient communication
  • Patient oral presentation
  • Patient notes
  • Performance on OSCEs
  • CCE shelf exam performance
  • Step 2 CS, Step 2 CK, Step 3, COMLEX, NP, In-Training exams, or Board Certification exams- if concerns relate to clinical problem solving or fund of knowledge
  • Clinical Skills Electives
  • Independent Study Courses
  • Study skills as related to clinical work

Pre-Clinical

Pre-clinical students should contact Christine Woolf, Director of Academic Enrichment Programs for the following concerns:

  • Performance in courses
  • Test taking skills
  • Study skills
  • Time management
  • Error analysis of exams
  • Memorization
  • Organization
  • Reading comprehension
  • Note taking
  • Step 1, NCLEX, and MCAT preparation
  • Step 2 CK, Step 2 CS, Step 3, COMLEX, NP exams, In-Service Training exams, and Board Certification exams- if concerns relate to developing a study schedule or developing more efficient and effective ways to study

How we operate

We generally begin by meeting with the client in order to develop a needs assessment which lays the groundwork for the collaborative development of an individualized educational plan. We decide together how often to meet and how to proceed. Sometimes a few sessions is all that is needed and at other times a one month Clinical Skills Elective is chosen.

For more information about the Center for Academic Achievement, please go here.

Appropriate Treatment of Learners

The University of Massachusetts Medical School (“UMMS”) is committed to providing a supportive and respectful learning environment that fosters mutual trust and understanding between learners and the educational community.  Accordingly, UMMS has developed an Appropriate Treatment of Learners (“ATL”) policy to address concerns regarding the inappropriate treatment of learners by a member of the educational community. When the ATL standards are upheld, the educational environment supports optimal teaching, learning and professional development of learners. The Diversity and Inclusion Office (DIO) is responsible for the ongoing oversight and periodic review of this policy.

The ATL policy defines some behaviors that represent inappropriate treatment of learners.  It also describes the procedure for reporting complaints and the follow-up of such allegations.  UMMS is committed to conducting investigations thoroughly, promptly and impartially.  All students should expect to be treated with respect, and to learn and work in a safe environment. All individuals who interact with students are expected to behave in accordance with the ATL policy, which applies to all UMMS faculty, staff, residents, fellows, nurses, administrators and others who interact with learners.

Inappropriate treatment of learners occurs when behavior by a member of the learning community shows disrespect for the dignity of learners such that it interferes with their learning process.  Examples of such behaviors include, but are not limited, to the following:

  • Humiliation of learners
  • Verbal attacks towards learners
  • Inappropriate anger or harsh language when addressing a learner
  • Lack of communication with a learner
  • Requiring a learner to perform tasks that belittle the learner
  • Requiring a learner to perform personal services, e.g. babysitting, errands, shopping, etc.
  • Insulting conduct to a learner
  • Disregard for learner safety

The ATL policy does not address sexual harassment complaints, violence/hostility in the workplace, or discrimination. The reporting and investigation of these complaints are addressed in other policies, including the Title IX Incident policy, Violence and Hostility in the Workplace policy, and the Discrimination Complaint Policy and Procedure, respectively. Each of these policies can be found on the DIO website.

Learners who believe they have been subject to inappropriate treatment in the learning community are responsible for reporting their complaint to the DIO as soon as possible.  In addition, any member of the learning community who becomes aware of inappropriate treatment of a learner is strongly encouraged to report the issue to the DIO for further investigation.

For more information, including definitions, policies and procedures for reporting suspected inappropriate treatment, students are encouraged to contact the Diversity and Inclusion Office (DIO). Confidential consultation and assistance with reporting are also available in the Office of Student Affairs.

 (revised 03/2017)

 

Clery Act

Our campus complies with the federal Clery Act.  Prior to October 1st of each year, our campus publishes the Annual Security Report, which contains campus safety information.  The most recent report can be found on the following web page:

View Clery Act

Title IX

It is the policy of the University of Massachusetts Medical School (“UMMS”) [the University of Massachusetts Worcester (“UMW”)] to comply with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”), 20 U.S.C. §§ 1681 et seq., and its implementing regulations, 34 C.F.R. Part 106, which prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs or activities operated by recipients of Federal financial assistance.  Sexual harassment of students, which includes acts of sexual violence, is a form of sex discrimination prohibited by Title IX.  Sexual violence refers to physical sexual acts perpetrated against a person’s will or where a person is incapable of giving consent due to the victim’s use of drugs or alcohol or due to an intellectual or other disability.  A number of acts may fall into the category of sexual violence, including rape, sexual assault, sexual battery, non-consensual video or audio taping of sexual activity, domestic violence, dating violence, stalking incidents and sexual coercion.  All such acts of sexual violence are forms of sexual harassment covered under Title IX.

The language, terms and requirements of this Policy supersede and supplant any inconsistent or conflicting language in any other UMMS policy.  The UMMS employee to whom claims shall be reported under this Policy and who shall be responsible for administering this Policy is UMMS’ Title IX Coordinator – as designated by UMMS’ Provost.

Title IX Policy

CARE website: Campus Assault, Resource, and Education site (for sex discrimination and violence)

You can contact the Diversity and Inclusion Office by calling 508-856-2179.

SOM Students

Area Housing

The UMass Medical School campus does not have onsite housing facilities. However, most of our students find convenient housing in the local community. Students are encouraged to use the housing board located just outside of the student lounge (which advertises local listing for housing/roommates).

Employment Opportunities

Faculty mentors provide projects on which UMMS SOM students work for pay during an 8-week period in the summer before or after their first medical school year. Approximately 25 students participate annually. Students are required to prepare a professional poster that is presented at a fair in the fall of each year.  For more information about this program, please go here.

Graduate Achievements

Oath Reading

Graduate Matching lists:

Graduate Assessments on Quality of Medical Education

American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC)

Missions Management Tool (MMT)

 

Overall, I am satisfied with the quality of my medical education, by graduation year; % strongly agree/Agree

Graduation Year

UMass Chan Percentile

2020

97

2019

97

2018

100

 

Missions Management Tool (MMT); Percentiles

MMT:  Percent Graduates Becoming Faculty

Year

UMass Chan Percentile

2020

81

2019

95

2018

83

Missions Management Tool (MMT):  Prepared to Care for Different Backgrounds

Year

UMass Chan Percentile

2020

86

2019

76

2018

94

Missions Management Tool (MMT):  Experience in Cultural Awareness/Competence

Year

UMass Chan Percentile

2020

83

2019

82

2018

87

Missions Management Tool (MMT):  % Estimate to Practice Primary Care

Year

UMass Chan Percentile

2020

81

2019

95

2018

83

Passing Rates on United States Medical License (USMLE) Exam; Step 1 Exam

Exam Year

UMass Chan Pass Rate

National Average Pass Rate

2020

100%

98%

2019

100%

97%

2018

100%

96%

Passing Rates on USMLE Exam; Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) Exam

Exam Year

UMass Chan Pass Rate

National Average Pass Rate

2020

100%

98%

2019

98%

98%

2018

100%

97%

AAMC Graduation Questionnaire, by Year

I am confident that I have acquired the clinical skills required to begin a residency program; % Strongly Agree/Agree

Year

UMass Chan

All Medical Schools

2020

98%

90%

2019

97%

91%

2018

95%

91%

Residency Program Directors Rating of PGY1 Resident’s Preparation Relative to Non-UMass Chan Residents, by Year; % Much Above Average/Somewhat Above Average

Year

Percent

2019

78%

2018

60%

2017

61%

Graduation Rates                                            

Year

Percent

2021

99%

2020

98%

2019

98%

Average Time to Degree, Years

Year

Time

2021

4

2020

4

2019

4

Honor Code

As a community of scholars and future physicians, the honor code carries with it a responsibility to mutually assure the integrity of the community. This reflects the obligation of licensed physicians to maintain the ethics of the profession.

It is expected that each student will make a personal commitment to abide by the UMass Medical School Honor Code, which includes both self-monitoring and reporting violations. 

The Honor Code applies to all students at the School of Medicine. All students who are enrolled in a degree-granting program from the School of Medicine will be held to the Honor Code until they receive their final degree(s). The Honor Board consists of faculty and students with a chair named by the dean.  
 
Consequences of violations may include self-assessment and remediation; others may require course repeat, service work or even dismissal. Categories of violations are tiered and cumulative. 

Please see Honor Code policy in its entirety at Honor Code Policy.

Learning Communities

Beginning in academic year 2010-11, School of Medicine students are members of Learning Communities, established to allow more interclass interaction where students can learn from each other as they will when they are out in the real world. All entering first-year students are assigned to one of six houses, each with regionally significant names.  These social and academic homes are overseen by faculty mentors, who act as advisors, teachers and career development coaches.

All students are placed in one of the following houses: Blackstone, Brightwood, Burncoat, Kelley, Quinsigamond, and Tatnuck, represented by the following house seals.

Seal - Blackstonebrightwood sealSeal - BurncoatSeal - KelleySeal - QuinsigamondSeal - Tatnuck

Licensure Pass Rates

Step 1

Year National Pass Rate % SOM Pass Rate %
2020 98% 100%
2019 97% 100%
2018 96% 100%

   

Step 2 CS (Clinical Skills)                           

Academic Year National Pass Rate % SOM Pass Rate %
2020 95% 97%
2019 95% 97%
2018 95% 99%

   

Step 2 CK (Clinical Knowledge)

Academic Year National Pass Rate % SOM Pass Rate %
2020 98% 100%
2019 98% 98%
2018 97% 100%

Major Affiliate Sites

In addition to teaching affiliates with UMass Memorial Health Care hospitals at the University campus and Memorial campus, and our Regional campus at Baystate Health, the Medical School has teaching affiliations with St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester and with hospitals in western Massachusetts. Other Massachusetts hospitals support undergraduate medical education through provision of required clerkships and electives.

Students are required to travel to sites within a one-hour driving distance from UMass Medical School. Housing is provided for students doing required clerkships at sites that are more than an hour from UMass Medical School. These are currently Berkshire Medical Center, Cape Cod Hospital, and Holyoke Medical Center.

To view a list of our affiliates, please go here.

Non Academic Opportunities

Students have the opportunity to be involved in many nonacademic projects, such as optional enrichment electives or summer research programs. In addition to this, any additional opportunities that we become aware of are advertised twice a week in the Student Bulletin, which is managed by the Student Body Committee.

For more information on optional enrichment electives, please go here.

For more information on summer research opportunities, please go here.

Retention and Graduation Rates

Retention rates for students from the first to second year are 100% with graduation rates in the range of 97-98%.  The average time to graduation is the standard four years.

  AY1819 AY1920 AY2021
Retention rates first-to-second year 100% 100% 100%
Graduation rates 99% 98% TBD
Average time to degree (years) 4 4 4

Sensitive Medical and Counseling Care of Students by Faculty and Residents

Policy Statement: In order to ensure that there is no conflict of interest between the roles of faculty and resident physicians functioning as physicians or therapists and the roles of faculty and resident physicians in academic evaluation and promotion, the designated director of a course or health delivery service is responsible for a plan to ensure that health professionals who provide psychiatric/psychological counseling or other sensitive health services to a medical student must have no involvement in the academic assessment or promotion of the medical student receiving those services.

Definition: Sensitive medical care: Because any medical care may become sensitive, “sensitive medical care” is considered to be any medical care.

Exemptions: Emergency situations or other situations in which lack of involvement by physicians, residents or other healthcare professionals would compromise patient care are exempted from the above policy.

Enforcement: Under the leadership of the Associate Dean for Student Affairs, oversight for this policy will rest with the Office of Student Affairs. The policy will be stated in the handbook and disseminated to all affiliates.

Stress Reduction Program: The Center for Mindfulness and the Stress Reduction Clinic offers a reduction in regular tuition to active medical students of the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Medical Students can enroll in the 8-Week MBSR Stress Reduction Program at a tuition of $125 per cycle.  The CFM SRP accepts up to three students each cycle, a total of twelve per year. Should there be more than three per cycle, they will be accepted on a case-by-case basis.

Process:
-Call the Stress Reduction Program to enroll in an orientation and a class.
-Notify the staff that you are a Medical Student
-Attend Orientation
-Enroll in the program
-Pay your tuition fees

For additional information please contact the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Healthcare, and Society at 508-856-2656.

Applicability: All enrolled students
Date Revised: 2012

Student Complaint Procedures

Creating a positive learning environment for every learner on the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) campus is a top priority. The UMMS Director for a Positive Learning Environment is dedicated to ensuring a safe, secure and positive learning environment for all learners on campus, including students from the School of Medicine (SOM), Graduate School of Nursing (GSN), Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS), post-doctoral scholars and residents/fellows in Graduate Medical Education (GME) programs.

The Director serves as a confidential resource for all of our learners, offering guidance and support to learners who have experienced or witnessed mistreatment, and collaborating with other university offices including, but not limited to, the Diversity and Inclusion Office (DIO), the Title IX Officer, Human Resources (HR), the Associate Deans for each School, and Student Counseling Services to further advocate for and support our learners.

You may initiate confidential contact with the Director for a Positive Learning Environment through any of these means:

For more information about the Appropriate Treatment of Learners policy and other reporting options please visit:

To file a complaint and or for more information about sexual assault or harassment please visit:

Student Groups

The School of Medicne has a wide array of opportunities for students to participate in. These include interest groups, free clinics and educational experiences. A complete listing of all UMMS student groups/organizations can be found on the School of Medicine Student Organizations page.

Learn about the Student Body Committee (SBC) as the administrative arm of the student government here.

Withdrawal Procedures

Voluntary Withdrawal
A student may withdraw voluntarily from the School of Medicine at any time upon written application to the associate dean for student affairs. A student who is withdrawn is not guaranteed readmission. Application for reinstatement must be received in writing at least two months prior to the date of requested readmission and must be approved by the Committee on Admissions. The level of reinstatement within the curriculum will be determined by the appropriate academic evaluation board.

Administrative Withdrawal
A student may be administratively withdrawn from the University if, after due notice, the student fails to satisfy an overdue financial obligation to, or to comply with certain administrative requirements of, the campus of the University of Massachusetts at which the student is registered. Conditions warranting Administrative Withdrawal include failure to comply with administrative requirements such as failure by a student to satisfy an overdue financial obligation to the University, consisting of tuition, loans, fees, library (charges), or other student charges, including orientation, student activities, health services, failure to comply with other administrative requirements, such as the submission of health forms, etc., forgery, fraud, or falsification of information on any official University form or document, such as student grade report, recommendation, (transcripts), etc.  At the UMass Medical School, such failure is considered a violation of the Professionalism Policy.

The appropriate administrative official, including an assistant registrar, may recommend in writing to the registrar that a student be administratively withdrawn from the University. An attempt to resolve the matter must have been made by the administrative official by mailing to the student at his/her last known address a written notice of the proposed recommendation for withdrawal and the reasons therefore, such matter not having been successfully resolved with 14 calendar days of the mailing of said notice. If the registrar is satisfied that the conditions warranting administrative withdrawal have been satisfied, he/she shall send a certified letter to the student at his/her last known address setting forth the recommendation for withdrawal and the reasons therefore, and notifying said student that he/she may within 14 calendar days after said letter is mailed request a hearing on the matter. If the student does not request a hearing or take action satisfactory to the registrar to resolve the matter within the time allotted, the Registrar shall administratively withdraw the student from the University no sooner than the 15th calendar day following the mailing of the notice provided for. If the student requests a hearing, it will be held by an appointed subcommittee of the appropriate academic evaluation board.

Any student who has been administratively withdrawn may at any time during the semester in which the withdrawal was made make arrangements with the registrar for the resolution of the matter. Upon such a resolution satisfactory to the registrar, the registrar shall forthwith reinstate the student to active enrollment status.  Any student who has attempted to resolve the matter but has failed to satisfy the registrar may petition for reinstatement by mailing or delivering to the associate dean for student affairs a written statement on why the student believes he/she is entitled to reinstatement. This statement will be reviewed by a subcommittee of the appropriate academic evaluation board.  The determination of whether a reinstated student shall receive credit for the period for which he/she was withdrawn shall be made by the instructor for each course involved.