Clinical Site Review Policy

Effective 7/1/25

To whom this policy applies

Clinical Course, Clerkship, and Elective Directors

Definitions

Annual Site Meeting: An in-person or virtual meeting with clinical site once per year in order to conduct site review.

Triennial Site Visit: An in-person visit to the clinical site recurring every three years in order to conduct site review.

Clinical Course Leadership: Faculty members who oversee graded learning experiences including clinical experiences in any phase of the curriculum (i.e. preceptorship, clerkships, electives).

Purpose/background

The University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med) must assure compliance with LCME accreditation standards regarding the equivalence of learning experiences and adequacy of resources available across all sites. This policy helps clinical course leadership maintain and improve the quality of clinical learning experiences and assists the Medical Education Steering Committee (MESC) in fulfilling its responsibility to provide oversight for the medical education program and supporting all medical students to achieve the UNR Med medical education program objectives. The Relevant LCME Accreditation Elements are 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.11 and 8.7.

Policy

Required Annual Site Meetings

  1. Clinical course leadership will meet annually in person or virtually with each site for a data review to evaluate the comparability between educational experiences and plan changes needed during the current academic year and to prepare for the following year. In the case where a site is being used for clinical learning experiences taking place during multiple phases of the curriculum, clinical course leadership should coordinate a single annual meeting.

Data Review at Annual Meetings and Action Items

  1. Participants will review and discuss data related to student performance, clinical supervision, patient logs and course management as well as student feedback on the course, faculty, and residents. As appropriate, the annual site meeting will review:<
    • storage/ study space (in-patient only);
    • internet access and reliability;
    • access to changing rooms (in-patient only);
    • the status of faculty appointments and site agreements;
    • the status of Teacher-Learner Compacts (TLC);
    • the status of residents as educators;
    • faculty development needs.
  1. In reviewing site comparison data, any differences identified across clinical sites that impact the quality of the learning experience will be addressed by the start of the next academic year by the clinical course leadership.
  2. Changes impacting course structure, content and assessment methods will be proposed on the course change request form which is submitted to the MESC for approval before the start of the next academic year.

Annual Site Meeting Documentation

  1. Each annual site meeting will be documented using the annual site meeting form, which shall be submitted to the Associate Dean for Curricular Affairs and will be reviewed and approved by the curriculum committee annually

Required Triennial Site Visits

  1. Clinical course leadership will conduct an in-person visit to each clinical site once triennially at a minimum to directly assess preparation, resources and quality of the clinical experiences at all sites. The triennial site visit satisfies the annual site meeting requirement for that academic year.
  2. The review and completion of the site visit report form provides the structure for the meeting between the clinical course directors and site directors.
  3. If there are any deficits or concerns, those are noted on the form along with recommended actions to address the deficiencies.
  4. Clinical course leadership must submit the completed site visit forms should be submitted to the Associate Dean for Curricular Affairs and will be reviewed and approved by the curriculum committee annually.

Data Review at Triennial Visit and Action Items

  1. At the triennial site visit, participants will review and discuss data related to student performance, clinical supervision, patient logs and course management as well as student feedback on the course, faculty, and residents. As appropriate, the annual site meeting will review:
    • storage/ study space (in-patient only);
    • internet access and reliability;
    • access to changing rooms (in-patient only);
    • the status of faculty appointments and site agreements;
    • the status of Teacher-Learner Compacts (TLC);
    • the status of residents as educators;
    • faculty development needs.
  1. In reviewing site comparison data, any differences identified across clinical sites that impact the quality of the learning experience will be addressed by the start of the next academic year by the clinical course leadership.
  2. Changes impacting course structure, content and assessment methods will be proposed on the course change request form which is submitted to the MESC for approval before the start of the next academic year.

Triennial Site Visit Documentation

  1. Each triennial site visit will be documented using the annual site meeting form, which shall be submitted to the Associate Dean for Curricular Affairs and will be reviewed and approved by the curriculum committee annually.

Review

Approved by Medical Education Steering Committee, 03/27/2025