Student Evaluation of Courses & Clerkships
Overview
Active student participation in the process of course evaluation is one of the most important methods the School of Medicine has to assure that all aspects of its educational programs are of the highest quality. Over the last 3 to 4 years, significant curricular changes have been made in many courses as a result of this process. Active participation in the process of evaluating their educational experiences- courses, clerkships, and faculty- prepares medical students to fulfill similar duties that they will encounter as interns, residents, and practicing physicians. Interns and residents will be asked to evaluate attendings, and physicians are often asked to evaluate other staff and continuing education programs. Active participation in evaluation of educational experiences and programs is one of the rights and responsibilities that keep the medical profession strong and is an important part of being a medical professional. See Your Opinion Matters 2010
for examples of recent curricular modifications made based on student feedback.
Compliance
Effective July 1, 2002, the U of L School of Medicine requires all students to complete online evaluations for all required courses and clerkships. The Educational Policy Committee has endorsed this online course evaluation process (May, 2002). The Office of Medical Education expects all students to submit online course and clerkship evaluations as part of the School of Medicine's program-wide evaluation system. In 2004, these evaluations were extended to include the faculty for the basic science courses and the attending faculty for the clinical clerkships.
Confidentiality
Some students are worried about the confidentiality of their responses to the online questionnaires. The student’s name appears on a list of students who have completed the evaluation, so that we can track compliance, but we are unable to match individual responses to a name.
