UI COM Curricular Requirements | Class of 2027 and Beyond

  • Responsible: Office of Educational Affairs, Senior Associate and Associate Deans
  • Audience: Students, Faculty, Staff
  • Approved by: CCIA Approval Date: 10/8/2024
  • LCME Element: n/a

Overview: Students graduating from the University of Illinois College of Medicine must be in good academic standing, have successfully completed all phases of the curriculum and been promoted as outlined in the Student Academic Policies and Professional Standards to Earn a Doctor of Medicine(MD) Degree and graduate from the University of Illinois College of Medicine.All Phase 1 and Phase 2 courses listed below, and all sub-internships, are required to be completed at UI COM.The elective catalog will classify all courses as clinical or nonclinical courses. Furthermore, the Phase 3 clinical courses will be further designated in the catalog if they are sub-internship, acute care,physician-assessed patient facing. All sub-internships must occur at UI COM. External courses must have prior approval from the curricular dean or their designee.

Specific Requirements for Graduation

1. Successfully complete a minimum of 156 credit hours as follows:

a. Phase 1 (74 credit hours):

  1. Block Courses:
    1. Block 1: Body Systems & Homeostasis I (5 credits)
    2. Block 2: Pathogenesis (6 credits)
    3. Block 3: Skin Muscle & Movement (5 credits)
    4. Block 4: Circulation & Respiration (7 credits)
    5. Block 5: Digestion & Homeostasis II (5 credits)
    6. Block 6: Brain & Behavior (8 credits)
    7. Block 7: Regulation & Reproduction (4 credits)
  2. Synthesis Course:
    1. M1 Fall Synthesis (2 credits)
    2. M1 Spring Synthesis (1 credit)
    3. M1 Summer Synthesis (1 credit)
    4. M2 Fall Synthesis 6 (1 credit) Spring Block 8: Synthesis Capstone (9 credits)
  3. Doctoring and Clinical Skills 1 and 2:
    1. M1 Fall DoCS (4 credits)
    2. M1 Spring DoCS (4 credits)
    3. M1 Summer DoCS (2 credits)
    4. M2 Fall DoCS (4 credits)
    5. M2 Spring DoCS (1 credit)
  4. Medical Colloquia:
    1. M1 Fall Term (1 credit)
    2. M1 Spring Term (1 credit)
    3. M2 Fall Term (1 credit)
    4. Clinical Connections & Competencies I: Transition to Clerkships (2 credits)

b. Phase 2:

  1. Neurology Core Clerkship (4 credits)
  2. Internal Medicine Core Clerkship (8 credits)
  3. Pediatrics Core Clerkship (6 credits)
  4. Family Medicine Core Clerkship (6 credits)
  5. Surgery Core Clerkship (8 credits)
  6. Psychiatry Core Clerkship (6 credits)
  7. Obstetrics and Gynecology Core Clerkship (6 credits)
  8. Clinical Connection & Competencies II: Clinical Intersections (0 credit)

c. Phase 3 courses:

Each week of a course equals one credit hour unless otherwise noted in the elective catalog

  1. Sub-Internship (4 credits)
  2. Acute Care Course (ICU or EM) (4 credits)
  3. Physician-Assessed Patient-Facing Courses (12 credits)*
  4. Clinical Connections & Competencies III: Transition to Residency (2 credits)
  5. Open Electives (16 credits)*
    1. Completed across phase 2 and phase 3

2. Adhere to the following course and credit limits:

  1. Phase 2 Core Clerkships must be completed prior to a student taking sub-internship, acute care and Physician-Assessed- Patient- Facing selectives.
    1. An exception may be considered for students that are required for career readiness in any year they are participating in a match with prior approval from the curricular dean or their designee.
  2. External (“away”) courses: External courses may only be taken in Phase 3. A maximum of 12 credit hours of elective coursework completed at LCME-accredited institutions outside of the UI COM and approved by the curriculum dean or their designee may be applied toward the UI COM MD degree
    1. An exception may be considered for students that are required for career readiness in any year they are participating in a match with prior approval from the Student Affairs Dean.
  3. Shared credit: Effective starting with the class of 2027: A maximum of 12 shared credit hours for a master’s level dual- degree program may be applied towards the completion of the UI COM MD degree (Effective with the Class of 2027).
  4. Research credit limits
    1. An overall maximum of 6 credit hours of research coursework may be applied to the UI COM MD degree. Research completed as an individualized course or as a component of a Scholarly Concentration Program (SCP) or dual degree program will be counted toward the 6 credit maximum. Each program will delineate how many credit hours of their coursework, if any, are defined as research.
    2. There are two exceptions to the 6 credit hour limit:
      1. For students in the dual degree program leading to the MS in Clinical and Translational Science a maximum of 8 credit hours of research coursework completed as an individualized course or as a component of a dual degree program may be applied as shared credit to the UI COM MD degree.
      2. For students in the MSTP program, a maximum of 12 credit hours of research coursework completed as an individualized course or as a component of a terminal degree dual degree program may be applied to the UI COM MD degree.

*Students enrolled in the RMED program at the Rockford campus fulfill their Physician Assessed Patient Facing Electives and a portion of their Open Electives requirement through the required 16 weeks preceptorship and 2 weeks Community-Oriented Primary Care courses. These courses are graduation requirements for all RMED enrolled students.

Graduation Declaration/Filing to Graduate

Students declare their intent to graduate online using their my.UIC portal. Students who do not have access to my.UIC should contact the College of Medicine’s Office of Records & Registration Registrar to file the Intent to Graduate form. The deadline for submission to the Pending Degree List is the end of the third week (fall and spring) or second week (Summer Session 2) of the main campus academic calendar of the term in which graduation is sought. Failure to submit the request at this time may delay the awarding of the degree. A final review will be made following the close of the term. If a student has satisfactorily completed all the degree requirements, the student’s name will be placed on the official degree list.

The College of Medicine reserves the right to recommend the awarding of a degree once degree requirements have been fulfilled without prior request or approval of the student.