Core Clinical Experiences: UMass Chan Students

Core Clinical Experiences (CCE) usually comprises the third and fourth years and consists of rotations through required core clinical clerkships and electives. This phase involves a greater responsibility for the care of patients under faculty supervision at the UMass Memorial Health Care (UMMHC), Medical School, affiliated hospitals and in ambulatory or community-based settings.

• Students are responsible for providing their own transportation for these educational experiences. Clinical sites are generally within one-hour commuting distance from the University Campus.
• Students in the clinical years must follow the holiday schedule at their clinical sites.
• Overnight call is expected of CCE and Advanced Studies students.  Students are expected to follow the call schedules assigned to them at their clinical sites ( see: Student Duty Hours Policy). An overnight On Call Center (OCC) is located at the UMass Memorial Medical Center University Campus in the hospital basement level A area. 

Prior to the first Clinical Clerkship student are required to:

• Attend the Transition to Core Clinical Orientation that includes Basic Life Support (BLS) Level C Recertification scheduled in May.  (See CCE Date Calendar date.)
• Complete the Blackboard Vista's Online HIPAA Privacy, Standard Precautions, and Information Security Training courses.
• Read and sign the UMMMC Confidentiality/User Agreement.

 Students are required to participate in the following:

• Three Thematic Section Orientations and all required Core Clerkships
• Nine required one-day (6-8 hours) threaded Interstitials Curriculum (ISC) courses between CCE clerkships.
• Four required Flexible Clinical Experiences
• Utilize a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). Hardware and software requirements can be found in the Lamar Soutter Library website. 
• Complete a web-based clinical log of patient encounters. The clinical years consist of a continuum of a minimum of 80 weeks.
• Fulfill "competency" performance standards on clinical skills assessment as a graduation requirement for UMass Chan. Comprehensive Core Clinical Assessment (CCCA).
• Additional information can be found in the Student Handbook.  

Core Clinical Experiences Enrollment: Initial assignments to required CCE Thematic Sections, and CCE clerkships will be made by the Office of Student Affairs using the E*Value Optimization Scheduling (EVOS) process. OSA will e-mail the rising 2nd year students a link to pre-register for EVOS. Whether students need one clerkship, one thematic section, or a full schedule, students must pre-register to participate.

After the Intro to CCE Meeting, OSA will e-mail students information on how to log on and access E*Value.  EVOS uses a complex mathematical program to assign the highest possible preferences for all registered students. Once students have saved their preferences, they can return to E*Value at any time while the preferences are open and review or edit their selections. While the computer tries to honor student's preferences, no guarantee can be made that a student's preferences will be reflected in the actual rotation assignments.

Once the E*Value Optimization Scheduling results are released, a short period of time will be allowed for students to make switches. Student Affairs will manage individual scheduling requests utilizing and application built into the E*Value software.  The process will allow students to enter their schedule change requests directly into the E*Value interface, then OSA will have the option to manage the request by Accepting or Rejecting the request.  After this period, E* Value Schedules will be considered final. Additional E*Value Optimization FAQ .

Please note, some CCE clerkships assign students further detailed clinical assignments following EVOS scheduling; students are responsible to monitor and answer their email promptly with regard to these assignments.

Some clinical site assignments require a Criminal Background check (CBC). If you are assigned to a site, which requires a CBC, the coordinators' administrative contact will e-mail you additional information.  Students are required to participate in any CBC process required by the clinical site.  Link to UMass Chan school's policy, instructions, and forms for Criminal Background Checks .

Changes to Core Clinical Experience Schedules: On rare occasion, a further change in clerkship assignments may be requested by a clerkship coordinator, the Clinical Science Academic Evaluation board (CSAEB) or by a student.  Any changes to clerkship assignments made after the E* Value Optimization Schedule results are final MUST be made through the Office of Student Affairs.  The EXCEPTION to this is in instances where only a site change within the same clerkship in involved; in this case, the change should be made by the clerkship coordinator and affected student. The Office of Student Affairs must be informed in writing of any changes made by the student and the clerkship coordinator.  See Student Handbook for additional information in Section THREE: Academic Policies and Regulations.

Early Clinical Electives are selected in the Advanced Studies E*Value Optimization Scheduling (EVOS) process.