Vista Discovery Retests and Makeup

Focused retests

If a student fails a block, they might be offered a focused retest on Friday of the WIN week (only for eligible students).
All three criteria need to be met to qualify for a focused retest:
- Block grade is within 2 standard deviations of the mean (SDM)
- Score on the block final exam is within 2 SDM
- Score on the NBME exam is within 2 SDM
- If a student doesn’t meet the eligibility criteria or fail a focused retest, they will be offered a full retest for the block. Timing for the full retest will be determined by the school in collaboration with the student (see below).
A student might fail (or do not qualify for) up to two focused retests in a calendar year in discovery phase and still progress in the curriculum with incomplete grades for the failed blocks. A mandatory academic success plan will be implemented in such cases, which will include (but is not limited to) meetings with CAA and mentors.
If a student fails (or do not qualify for) a third focused retest in a calendar year in discovery phase, they will need to pause in the curriculum. They will carry ‘incomplete’ grades for all three failed blocks and remediate the following year. The deceleration plan in such cases will be determined by the academic evaluation board.
Focused retests will include only in-house exams (not NBMEs).
A student may request withdrawal from a block up to 24 hours prior to the focused retest.

Full Retests

Timing for full retests
- For 1st year blocks, full retests could be offered during the summer break.
- For 2nd year blocks, full retests could be offered following the endo-repro block, prior to taking step-1.
If a student fails a full retest, they will obtain an NCR grade for the block. They will need to remediate the following year and the deceleration plan will be determined by the academic evaluation board.
Full retests will include only in-house exams (not NBMEs).
A student may request withdrawal from a block up to 48 hours prior to the full retest.

Make-up for missed curricula

A student will have opportunity to make-up missed curricula in the discovery phase according to the following guidelines.

Students need to complete all first year Discovery blocks to advance to second year
For 1st year blocks, make-up could be scheduled during the summer break between the first and second years.
- 8 weeks of missed curricula could be made up during summer break
- For make-up purposes, each block will be counted as 1 week shorter than its original iteration (since ECL, pathways, etc. curricula are not offered, and live-participation sessions are offered in a modified way). Thus P1 will be counted as 5, BII as 6, NSB as 7, and each of P2, SMS, and GI will be counted as 4 weeks.
  - This implies a student will not be allowed to make up two 1st year blocks over summer break, if one of these are P1, BII, or NSB. In such cases they will need to delay:
    - start of the second year
    - taking step 1 (possibly), and
    - starting the exploration phase (possibly).
For 2nd year blocks, make-ups could be scheduled following the endo-repro block, prior to taking step-1
- For make-up purposes, each block will be counted as 1 week shorter than its original iteration (since ECL, pathways, etc. curricula are not offered, and live-participation sessions are offered in a modified way). Thus CVS will be counted as 4, Endo-Repro will be counted as 5, and each of respiratory and urinary blocks will be counted as 3 weeks.
  - This implies if a student needs to make-up one 2nd year block, they might still be able to take step-1 and start exploration phase with their peers
  - This also implies if a student needs to make up more than one 2nd year block, they will need to delay:
    - taking step 1, and
    - starting the exploration phase

Important Notes

Passing grade for all Vista blocks is 75%
Students need to complete all first year Discovery blocks to advance to second year
Students need to complete all Discovery phase curriculum to advance to Exploration phase

OCT 6 2022 | cjb