T1 Electives - Policies and Procedures

Tulane medical students are required to take ONE elective in their first two years. This requirement can also be fulfilled by coursework in the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. The elective may be taken in either the first or second year.

Tulane attracts a significant number of medical students with serious interest in research. While research is normally a part of all advanced degree programs, the elective program also provides additional research opportunities to medical students who are not participating in a combined degree program. The School of Medicine encourages independent and original investigations by medical students, primarily because they broaden the perspectives of the student involved and because significant contributions to knowledge have resulted from such starts. Moreover, students considering the more competitive residencies may improve their chances of success by establishing a research record.

Diversification of course offerings became essential as increased diversity in the premedical background of medical students became pronounced in the mid-sixties. Electives offered in addition to the standard curriculum increased the opportunities for students either to study certain topics in greater depth than they can be presented in the core curriculum or to fill in areas which they missed while pursuing premedical studies. The elective program also provides medical students with the opportunity for self-education and encourages independent study. In addition, students can receive an early introduction to clinical subjects through the elective program.

Probably the greatest value of the elective program lies in the opportunity that small courses provide for close personal communication between student and teacher. No profession deals more critically with human values than medicine, and it is hoped that our faculty can assist students in attaining mature and humane concepts of objectivity, compassion, responsibility, and ethics through the personal contact provided by many electives. The small classes or individual tutorials are also formulated to provide students with the information and technical skills essential to a career in medicine.

The elective program for medical students is based largely in the School of Medicine, the basic medical science departments of the Graduate School, and the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Courses from other divisions of the university may be counted as electives provided that they clearly relate to the student's professional education.

Graduate School: Most of the elective courses offered by the basic science departments (Anatomy, Biochemistry, Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Microbiology and Immunology, Parasitology, Pathology, Pharmacology, and Physiology) are graduate courses that carry credit toward the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees for students registered in the Graduate School. Combined degree programs leading to the M.S.-M.D. and the M.D.-Ph.D. degrees are available to qualified medical students. Students are advised to enter these programs as early as possible in their medical education. Retroactive graduate credit for graduate courses taken as medical school electives can sometimes be arranged but often only with difficulty. Students interested in a program of graduate study should contact the chairman of the department in which they are interested.

School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine: Courses taken at the SPHTM may be used for elective credit in the School of Medicine if they are taken during the regular academic year (not during the summer). Students with specific interests in public health and tropical medicine should consult the course list issued by the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Some apparent schedule conflicts may be resolved by conferring with the course instructor. Information regarding the School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine course schedules and combined degree programs leading to the M.P.H. and the M.D. degrees may be obtained by calling the SPHTM Office of Admissions at 588-5387.

Other Divisions of the University: A student may take courses from other divisions of the university if those courses clearly relate to the student's professional objectives. This most often means advanced courses, usually in mathematics or the sciences, though other subjects may be considered appropriate. For example, students whose professional work is expected to require the use of a foreign language may elect to take courses that prepare them to speak and read that language.

Requests for permission to take a course in another division of the university as a medical school elective must be submitted in writing to Dr. Kahn by using a form available in the Office of Student Affairs. Each request must state how the course is to bear on his/her professional objectives. Please note that scheduling may be a major obstacle in accommodating such requests since a student cannot take courses that interfere with those in the core curriculum of the medical school.

Research: All students are urged to engage in research, especially those who intend to teach on a medical school faculty or to seek one of the more competitive residencies. Medical students may elect research in either clinical or basic science areas without being in a combined degree program. However, academic credit cannot be granted for research if a student receives a financial stipend for the research work.

Some research opportunities are listed as elective courses. Others may be arranged with individual instructors and can be credited as elective work in the School of Medicine provided that the following criteria are met:

• The student files a brief typewritten prospectus of the proposed research with the Office of Student Affairs at the beginning of the semester in which the work is to be done.
• The prospectus includes the number of hours to be spent on the project each week and in what sessions the work will be done. If the research will last the full semester (2 sessions), then that will fulfill the elective course requirement.
• The prospectus must include the signed approvals of the instructor supervising the research and the chairman of the department in which the research is to be done.
• The prospectus is reviewed and approved by Dr. Kahn.
• The student submits a brief typewritten summary of the completed work to the Office of Student Affairs. The summary must show the instructor's rating of the research as "Pass" or "Fail" and must be signed by both the instructor and the chairman.

For elective courses, the academic year is divided into four sessions of approximately eight weeks each. Most electives are of two sessions duration, either Sessions 1 and 2, or Sessions 3 and 4. These conform approximately to the semesters of the Graduate School calendar, not to the quarters used in the Medical School core curriculum. No electives are offered in the summer. Students must be sure not to request electives which conflict in schedule with core (required) courses.

Elective time for freshmen (i.e., time which does not conflict with core courses) is summarized as follows: Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings in Sessions 3 and 4 only (Spring Semester). There are no elective courses scheduled for freshmen in Sessions 1 and 2.

For second year medical students, elective time (i.e., time which does not conflict with core courses) includes Wednesday and Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings in all sessions.

Elective assignments are made by the Office of Student Affairs and not by faculty members. When more students request an elective than can be accommodated, they will be assigned according to the date the registration form was received. For courses that require the instructor's permission to enroll, assignments are made in accordance with the list of approved students submitted by the instructor to the Office of Student Affairs. Students whose names do not appear on the instructor's list will not be enrolled in the class.

Students and faculty should note that if "Permission of Instructor" is specified in the elective course description, the instructor should fax the T1 & T2 elective coordinator at (504) 988-6462 in the office of Student Affairs a list of all students who have the instructor's permission to enroll in the class. Each student on the list will be assigned to that elective unless the instructor has approved more students than the maximum set for the class or the course conflicts with another elective that the student prefers. Only students whose names are on the instructor's list will be assigned to that elective.

A student may not drop an elective of one session's duration (8 weeks) after the second week of the course (i.e. before the third class meeting) or one of two sessions' duration (16 weeks) after the fourth week (i.e. before the fifth class meeting) without receiving a failing grade. A student must register for a new elective or an additional elective prior to the third meeting of the elective regardless of elective length. Students registered for electives in both the School of Medicine and the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine must change their schedules in both schools to avoid receiving a grade of "Fail."

Each department or teaching program shall determine the most appropriate method for evaluation of student achievement for each course based on the nature of the course objectives. The course director may employ such methods as written examinations, oral examinations, literature reports, case reports, problem solving, or other reasonable means by which the student may demonstrate his or her knowledge of the subject under consideration. At the first formal meeting of the elective, each Course Director shall present a written statement that describes course requirements, methods of evaluation, and the criteria for awarding specific grades.

A letter grade that describes the student's performance shall be awarded to each student enrolled in each course. Depending on the nature of the course, this grade may simply reflect the student's achievement on objective evaluation instruments or may also include evaluation of non-cognitive qualities and skills. The specific grade awarded to each student shall be based on the following criteria:

"P" (Pass) - Awarded to a student whose performance met or surpassed the standards required by the faculty.

"F" (Failure) - Assigned to a student whose performance has failed to meet academic standards.

T-1: Course open to Tulane medical freshmen.

Ses: Session(s). Each session is of seven or eight weeks duration, and there are two sessions per semester.Ses. 1 & 2 are in the fall and Ses. 3 & 4 are in the spring.

M: Monday
W: Wednesday
F: Friday
S: Saturday