Thank you for your interest in proposing a new School of Medicine
course. Below please find information about the course approval process.
Questions may be directed to the Electives Coordinator.
The Approval Process
All new elective clerkship proposals are reviewed by the Electives
Committee (EC). The EC meets regularly during the year. Please
submit all paperwork as early as possible (preferably five months in
advance of the quarter in which you wish to offer the course). You will
be notified if the course is approved. Upon approval, SOM staff will be
in contact with you to coordinate student enrollment in your course.
Note: Once approved, your course will be reviewed on a routine basis
(typically every three years) by the EC. You will be contacted when your
course is due for review.
Definition of a Senior Elective Clerkship
These are clerkships that students take in their fourth year of medical
school. Depending on the nature of the experience, the clerkship may be
designated as Direct Patient Care (DPC). A DPC clerkship is one in which
the student becomes part of a treating team, as opposed to providing
consultation to other physicians who are responsible for treatment. The
idea is that on a DPC clerkship, the student is part of the team that
makes decisions and executes those decisions in the management of
patients. DPC clerkships are further categorized as Inpatient,
Ambulatory Care/Outpatient, and Primary Care. For information on the
current DPC clerkship requirement, click here.
When planning your curriculum, please keep the following in mind:
- Elective clerkships are four weeks in length, and students receive
seven units credit upon successful completion of the course.
- Grading is Honors/Near Honors/Pass/Fail.
- Be sure the course schedule complies with UCSD School of Medicine's
policy on medical student work hours.
Required Paperwork
Please type all forms and submit via email to the Electives Coordinator.
Additional Information
Policy on Course Directors
The course director must have a UCSD School of Medicine faculty
appointment in the appropriate series. For example, instructional titles
in the appropriate series include: salaried UCSD School of Medicine
professors, professors in residence, professors of clinical _____ (e.g.,
medicine), clinical professors, adjunct professors. Faculty members who
hold instructional titles of any rank in the appropriate series can
direct courses. Voluntary clinical faculty members are not considered as
having the "appropriate instructional" titles to serve as sole course
directors of UCSD School of Medicine courses. Questions regarding this
UCSD policy may be directed to Denise LeStrange.
Resources for Course Development
The Office of Educational Development and Evaluation provides assistance
with evaluations and course and faculty development. For more
information, please visit the MedEDTechEval site.
For Reference
Current Medical Student Elective Requirement