Medical Student Enrollment Requirements

Policy Statement: In general, other than under specific exceptions for individual students as may be approved on a case-by-case basis by the school’s Committee on Student Grading and Promotion (GPC), or as specified in the educational program policy on Grading, Promotion, and Academic Standing (GPAS) in relation to the passing of Step 1 and the third year clerkships, partial enrollment in the M.D. program is not permitted.

Reason for Policy: This policy is intended to promote timely progression, preserve curricular integration, and to ensure appropriate stewardship of student financial aid and tuition funds.
Who Should Read this Policy: The registrar, associate and assistant deans of medical education, student affairs, and admissions, the director of student financial aid, and all medical students.
Resources: This policy is maintained by the Office of Medical Education and administered in direct coordination with the Office of Student Affairs, the Committee on Student Grading and Promotion, the Office of the Registrar, and the Office of Student Financial Aid.
Definitions:
- Enrollment (including full vs. partial): For the purposes of this policy, enrollment refers to registering and incurring tuition and fees as a student in order to attend classes for academic credit as part of an approved educational program. In the context of the PLFSOM M.D. degree program, full enrollment refers to registering for all intended components of a semester, in their approved order and course relationships, according to the degree plan as outlined in the PLFSOM academic catalog. Partial enrollment refers to anything less than full enrollment.
The Policy:
1. In general, other than under specific exceptions for individual students as may be approved on a case-by-case basis by the GPC, or as specified in the GPAS policy in relation to the passing of Step 1 and participation in the third year clerkships, partial enrollment in the M.D. program is not permitted.
  1. Due to the integrated nature of the PLFSOM curriculum, each semester of the pre- clerkship phase, each block of Year 3 of the clerkship phase, and the mixture of required and elective components of Year 4 leading to graduation and transition to residency, are designed to be taken in their entirety according to the standard degree plan (excepting the limited flexibility under the GPAS policy as referred to in section 1 above).
  2. Students engaging in research programs, additional degree or certificate programs, or other special experiences during which they are not participating in the school’s standard curriculum plan according to their assigned class (based on their year of matriculation, or as adjusted by the GPC) shall not be concurrently enrolled at PLFSOM. Such activities are to be managed under the PLFSOM educational program policy on student leaves of absence.
  3. The GPC shall otherwise permit partial enrollment only on a case-by-case basis and when justified by exceptional individual circumstances that meet both of the following criteria:
    1. Partial enrollment for a semester is required for a student to avoid dismissal based on the timeline constraints established by the GPAS policy (sections 13.c and 13.d).
    2. The proposed plan for partial enrollment is reviewed and approved by an ad hoc committee consisting of the associate dean for medical education (or their designee) and three regular/at-large members of the school’s committee on curriculum and educational policy (CEPC), as fair, educationally valid, and equivalent to the originally intended integrated curricular elements under the standard curriculum plan in fulfilling the school’s educational program goals and objectives.
2. A student may appeal determinations by the GPC in relation to this policy according to the appeal process outlined in the GPAS policy (section 14).