Pediatric Clerkship Grading and Evaluation Policy

To PASS the Pediatric Clerkship, a student must:

•  Pass the clinical portion of the clerkship
• • The grade on the clinical portion of the clerkship has two components, inpatient and outpatient.  The grade for the clinical portion is determined by combining the student's performance on her/his two, three-week rotations.  Students will be evaluated by interns, residents and attendings with whom they worked with during the rotation.  If a student fails any part of the clinical rotation (inpatient or outpatient), he/she will fail the clerkship.
• Pass the final exam
• Obtain a cumulative point total of greater than 60
• Complete the CLIPP CASE assignment by the designated deadlines

Components for determining your Final Grade

Clinical Performance and Evaluations (50 points)
Clinical evaluations account for 50% of your grade.  The impatient component of  your grade is determined by your attending and resident team in consultation with the clerkship director.  The outpatient portion of your clinical evaluation is determined by your community pediatrician in consultation with the clerkship director.

Final Exam (30 points)
The final examination for pediatrics is a National Board (NBME) subject exam.   This is a multiple choice exam comprised of 100 questions.  This will account for  30% of your grade.  The passing score for clerkship purposes is a subject  test score that is greater than the 10^th percentile of junior students in your national reference group.  If a student fails the final examination he/she may repeat the exam provided his/her commutative point total for the clerkship is in the passing range.  To be eligible to receive an Honors grade, the subject test score must be equal to or greater than the 80^th percentile of junior students in your national reference group.

Interactive Case Conference (10 points)
You will be evaluated by your faculty facilitator during your interactive case conference.  This will account for 10% of your grade.   Failure to contact the  faculty facilitator prior to the conference will automatically result in no points being awarded for the case conference.  You will be evaluated on the quality of your presentation as well as on the quality of your handouts.

Professionalism/Participation (10 points)
Each student must fill out tracking forms that document exposure to and participation in various pediatric health issues.  Students must also document all patient care encounters that they are involved in.  Students will also be required to document mid-course feedback.  Additionally, each student must be observed performing a history and physical exam.  This must be signed off on.  Students will receive full points for correctly completing the assigned tasks by the designated deadlines.  Lectures and interactive case conferences are considered  mandatory.  We will take attendance.  Failure to attend the required lectures and  interactive case conferences will also result in the loss of points.  Students may also lose professionalism/participation points due to unprofessional behavior. 

Grade Distribution

Final grades will be determined by the clerkship director and will be awarded based on the following distribution:

• Honors: Approximately the top 20% of students will receive honors.  However, a student must have scored an 80% or greater in their national reference group in order to receive the final grade of honors.
• High Pass: Students in the 60-79% of the class will receive a grade of high pass.
• Pass: Students in the 59% of the class and lower will receive a grade of pass.
• Fail: Students who have failed any portion of the clinical rotation (inpatient or outpatient) will fail the rotation.  Students who fail to complete the required CLIPP cases before the required deadline will also receive a failing grade for the rotation.  Students who have a cumulative point total of 60 or less will also receive a failing grade for the rotation and will be required to repeat the rotation.  If a student receives a failing grade on the National Board Subject Exam (final examination) he/she may repeat the examination if the student's cumulative point total is greater than 60.  If the student fails the re-take he/she will fail the clerkship and be required to repeat the clerkship.