Medical Student Data Requests

Policy 1040.10

Policy Statement

The purpose of this policy is to manage requests for medical student educational data in a manner that protects learner confidentiality and adheres to directives regarding education data.

The Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine wishes to ensure confidentiality standards and respect the privacy of all learners in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) and in compliance with the University of Vermont FERPA Rights Disclosure Policy.

All requests for medical student data must designate a UVM faculty member to serve as a sponsor who agrees to oversee the project, regardless of Institutional Review Board (IRB) review requirements. Requests must be approved by the Medical Education Research Review Group.

Policy Elaboration

Definitions

For the purpose of educational data requests, data are classified into the following categories:

Learner Demographics: Includes descriptive data about learners (e.g., year in program, graduation data, age, Underrepresented Minority/Underrepresented in Medicine (URM/UIM) status, undergraduate institutions, etc.)

Learner Performance: Includes learner academic achievement prior to, during, and post training (e.g., admission data, internal and external examination scores, assessment of learner performance, learners’ summative portfolios, residency/fellowship director’s rating of intern performance.)

Program Performance: Data on satisfaction with the curriculum, programs, and faculty/non-faculty teaching (e.g., program, course, and faculty evaluations, Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Graduation Questionnaire data, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) annual surveys) and data from surveys and research conducted by LCOM faculty and learners that are not a part of routine program evaluation.

Learning Assessments: Examinations, quizzes, cases, Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE), Readiness Assurance Tests (iRAT and gRAT), laboratory practicals, and any other assessment of learning.

This policy pertains to data in the learner demographics, learner performance, program performance, and assessment of learning categories collected and managed by the Office of Medical Education (OME). It does not pertain to any data collected by students that are voluntarily provided by students.

Procedures

For UVM Faculty requests: The UVM faculty member sponsor requests the data. The UVM Non-Faculty Researcher Requirement defines non-faculty researchers. The Medical Education Research Review Group will review the request. Due to the importance of maintaining confidentiality, the group may restrict access to datasets that include any identifiable or potentially identifiable learner demographic and/or performance data. If the Group approves the request, de-identification or efforts to code data will be completed or arranged by the LCOM Director of Evaluation and Assessment prior to release of the dataset to the UVM faculty member sponsor.

 For all other requests:

Identify a UVM faculty member sponsor. Refer to procedure above for UVM Faculty.

All policies and procedures must be followed, including but not limited to Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, familiarity with FERPA policy, applying for access to the data (which may be approved or denied), and if approved, signing a Medical Education Data Use Memorandum of Understanding (MOU.)

Applicability of the Policy

All Researchers

Related Larner College of Medicine Policies

Not Applicable

Related University of Vermont Policies and Procedures


Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) Standard(s)

  • 3.2 Community of Scholars/Research Opportunities
  • 7.3 Scientific Method/Clinical/Translational Research

History

  • 12/18/2018 Policy Adopted/Affirmed [Medical Curriculum Committee]
  • 8/20/2019 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
  • 12/17/2019 Hyperlinks updated (UVM migration) [Medical Curriculum Committee]
  • 6/16/2020 Policy Edited [Medical Curriculum Committee]
  • 7/19/2022 Policy Edited [Medical Curriculum Committee]
  • 06/18/2024 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]

Policy Oversight

Assistant Dean for Medical Education (Director of Curriculum Evaluation and Assessment)

Previous | Next (University of Vermont Policies)