Clinical Campus Site Assignment

Policy 518.00

Policy Statement

The Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at the University of Vermont offers two clinical campuses for clinical level training, during the admissions process, one in Vermont and one in Connecticut. After students interview at the Larner College of Medicine, they complete a form indicating their clinical campus preference and are accepted to one of these two clinical campuses. Students cannot request a change in clinical campus after acceptance and prior to matriculation. During the pre-clerkship training (Foundations Level), there is a process for a medical student to request a change of clinical campus when circumstances support a change. Note that all final decisions will be dependent on clinical capacity considerations. Thus, there is no guarantee that campus change requests will be accommodated.

Policy Elaboration

The Office of Medical Student Admissions will be responsible for clinical campus assignments prior to a student’s matriculation.

Formal requests for reassignment to an alternate campus will be considered by the Office of Medical Education (OME).

Temporary Clinical Campus Reassignment Requests

In cases where an unexpected issue arises during the Clerkship Level that would be mitigated through temporary reassignment to the other clinical campus, students have the option to request a temporary reassignment for an upcoming clerkship. To apply for a temporary reassignment, students will need to complete and submit the request form through OASIS. Note, if the temporary request is related to a disability, students must go through the Student Accessibility Services (SAS) Office for documentation as described below.

Clinical Campus Change Requests

To be considered for a clinical campus change, the student must file a Clinical Campus Change Request Form and submit it through OASIS between the first day of Foundations 2 and the second Friday of September, after the summer between the first and second year. All requests to change clinical campuses will be included in a lottery to determine which students are able to make a campus change, unless they meet one of the following categories:

  • When a student has a significant medical condition or disability that requires ongoing treatment in a specific location or limits their ability to travel to their current clinical campus and changing campuses would positively address the issue.
  • When a student’s ability to be placed at their current clinical campus is inhibited by a responsibility to provide care to a family member with a significant medical condition and where changing campuses would positively address the issue.
  • When a student is experiencing an articulable hardship, as determined in OME’s discretion, that makes it difficult to live within a reasonable distance of their current clinical campus and changing campuses would positively address the issue.

If the campus change request is based on a disability, students must contact the Office of Student Accessibility Services (SAS) prior to uploading the request form to OASIS. Students requesting a campus change as an accommodation should refer to the SAS website. An in-person or phone narrative and provision of documentation that meets the SAS guidelines is required. Note: this process may take up to 4 weeks.

IMPORTANT: Documentation to support a medical request should not include any medical information. When working with SAS, medical information should be submitted directly to SAS, and only the SAS accommodation letter should be uploaded to OASIS with the Clinical Campus Change Request Form. If space is not available, the student can meet with the Director of Student Support or the Associate/Assistant Dean for Students to discuss alternative options.

Upon receipt of the electronic request, including any supporting documents, the Office of Medical Education in conjunction with the Associate/Assistant Dean for Students or designee, will review and may reach out to the applicant for a meeting if additional details are needed to process the request.

Requests will be reviewed and approved or denied by the Clinical Campus Change Committee, the membership of which will include the following:

  • an Assistant/Associate Dean for Students
  • a student representative who is a third- or fourth-year member of student council assigned by that group,
  • an Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI) representative appointed by that office
  • a member of the admissions team appointed by the Associate Dean of Admissions

The committee will meet once per year, after the close of applications, and will render a decision no later than two weeks prior to the clerkship lottery. If a student has met one of the three categories listed above, but space is not available for the student to change clinical campuses, the student can meet with the Director of Student Support or the Associate/Assistant Dean for Students to discuss alternate options.

All requests not approved by the committee will be included in the lottery, provided there is availability to change based on the number of students requesting changes in either direction (CT to VT and VT to CT). If no availability for changes exists, the lottery will not be held.

Applicability of the Policy

Clerkship Level Students

Related Larner College of Medicine Policies

Related University of Vermont Policies

Not Applicable

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

10.9 Student Assignment

History

  • 2/18/2020 Policy Adopted/Affirmed [Medical Curriculum Committee]
  • 6/16/2020 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
  • 9/2/2021 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]

Policy Oversight

Associate Dean for Admissions prior to matriculation; Associate/Assistant Dean for Students with Clerkship Level Director of Clinical Curriculum

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