University of Illinois College of Medicine Policy on Course Definition

Courses offered within the University of Illinois College of Medicine must follow the UIC Credit Hour Policy. This policy outlines the course definition and terminology for courses offered by the College of Medicine.

Lecture and related activities: Class sessions are devoted to lecture and/or discussion between faculty and students.

Laboratory and Clinical Practice: Students are engaged in independent creative work/ or the student performs substantive work in a clinical or practice setting.

Illinois Medicine Curriculum Heading link

Phase 1 (M1 and M2)

Coursework provides an integration of biomedical science and clinical practice application. There are four primary course structures over the 18 month curriculum. Block courses are discrete courses and are the primary vehicle of biomedical and clinical science integration. Doctoring and Clinical Skills, Medical Colloquia and Synthesis are all longitudinal courses throughout Phase 1. The coursework provides a foundation of knowledge, skills, and attitude that will be applied in the clinical setting during Phase 2 and 3. While active learning is the pedagogical basis of the curriculum structure, all courses are best categorized as a lecture/discussion course. Laboratory or clinical practice constitutes a minimal amount of
time in the course outline.

Phase 2 (M3)

Coursework is centered around the care of hospitalized and ambulatory patients while experiencing the time commitment and emotional demands of a physician’s life. Students build on and apply their biomedical science knowledge and clinical skills from Phase 1. There are seven core clerkships required that provide a foundation of knowledge, skills and attitude as a foundation for all students.

Phase 3 (M4)

Coursework comprises required selective courses, open electives and a capstone course that builds off of the core clerkship experiences in Phase 2. The selective coursework is focused on students taking an active role in patient care, recognizing and triaging acute care needs and choosing electives that expand their knowledge and prepare them for their specialized career goals.

Phase 2 and 3 Course Definitions:

Clinical Course: Clinical courses allow students to work directly with patients, preceptors, and clinical staff enhancing the student’s knowledge, skills and attitude toward the MD degree requirements.

A minimum of 50 hours of work per week with clinical work comprising 40 of those hours.

  1. Core Clerkships: A core clerkship is defined as a required clinical course.
  2. Clinical Selective: A clinical course that meets a specific requirement for the MD degree completion (i.e., Subinternship, Acute Care Course, or Physician-Assessed Patient-Facing Course)
    1. All clinical selectives are Physician-Assessed-Patient-Facing Course
      1. Minimum of 50% of the weight of the assessment is provided by a physician
  3. Clinical Elective: A clinical elective is not a required course but may be applied toward the open elective requirement for MD degree completion.

Nonclinical Course: Nonclinical courses do not meet the requisite clinical work to be considered a clinical elective; however, they still contribute to the students’ knowledge, skills and attitudes required for the MD degree. A minimum of 37.5 hours of work per week with a minimum of 12 hours of direct interaction with the faculty, staff or patients relevant to the course.

  1. Online courses must meet the criteria outlined in the credit hour policy and the non
    clinical course requirements listed above.

Individualized Course: Individualized courses may be clinical, non-clinical or research in structure but are not offered as a structured course in the course catalog. They may be done within UI COM and affiliated sites or outside of UI COM with the prior approval of the student’s local Phase 2/3 Curriculum Dean or Director. An affiliation agreement is required prior to starting the course.

  1. Clinical or nonclinical individualized courses should not exceed 4 weeks without prior approval of the Phase 2/3 Curriculum Dean or Director.
  2. Research individualized courses must meet the criteria outlined for the amount of credit requested. May not exceed the maximum amount of credit hours towards MD degree specified in the University of Illinois College of Medicine Curricular Graduation Requirements.
  3. Individualized courses may only be used to meet the open elective credit requirement.

CCIA approved 10/8/2024