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First- and Second-Year Non-Credit Electives

General Information

One of the goals of our curriculum is to expose students to clinical settings from the first year of medical school. These courses are built into the required curriculum. However, if a first or second year medical student wants additional exposure to a field of medicine during the preclinical years, he or she may register for first and second year electives. These electives are usually offered in the evenings or on the weekends to accommodate the students' schedules. These courses appear on the official transcript as non-credit courses. A student cannot register retroactively for these electives . The procedure for enrollment in these courses is described below.

Enrollment Procedures

To enroll in a first or second year elective course, download or pick up a First and Second Year Add/Drop elective form from the Office of the Registrar. Return the completed form ("Add" section) to the Office of the Registrar at least one week prior to the start of the elective, if you want the elective to appear on your transcript. The form must be signed by the faculty preceptor, signifying approval to enroll in the elective. STUDENTS MAY NOT ENROLL IN AN ELECTIVE RETROACTIVELY.

The Office of the Registrar will mail the grade form directly to the faculty preceptor in December for fall semester electives, and in May for spring semester electives. The faculty preceptor should record the student's grade on the form and return the completed form directly to the Office of the Registrar, within two weeks of the end of the semester.

Grading Procedures

Grades for first and second year electives are limited to the following:

  • EH = Honors: outstanding work in the subject area far exceeding the requirements of the course
  • EP = Pass: successful completion of all requirements of the course
  • EF = Fail: failure to successfully complete the requirements for the course

To drop a first or second year elective course, download or pick up a First/Second Year Add/Drop elective form from the Office of the Registrar. Return the completed form ("Drop" section) to the Office of the Registrar. The form must be signed by the faculty preceptor, signifying approval to drop the elective.

Students have until Friday of the first week of the elective to drop it . After that Friday, students must withdraw from the elective, which will result in a “W” on their transcript. Students who have failed one or more courses in the first year, or who are on academic probation for the second year, are not permitted to enroll in first or second year electives.

(August, 1993, College of Medicine Curriculum Committee)

Career Exposure Electives (1st & 2nd Year)

The Committee on Education Policy and Curriculum, and the College of Medicine Executive Committee recently decided to create a new type of non-credit elective to accommodate very short exposure electives aimed at introducing first and second year students to clinical disciplines and subspecialties.

The new non-credit elective is termed a "Career Exposure Elective". These electives differ from the other Non-Credit Electives offered in MS1 and MS2 by having a short duration (4 to 10 hrs.) and they are not graded and do not appear on a student's transcript.

To register for a Career Exposure Elective, students do not need to fill out an add/drop form (as they would for other types of electives). Rather, they will directly contact the faculty member offering the Career Exposure Elective.