I. PURPOSE
The purpose of this policy is to provide guidelines to ensure compliance with the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) standards regarding the provision of Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE) letters, including (a) the release of these letters to align with Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS), Residency Central Application Service (ResidencyCAS) (or alternate service) residency application deadlines; (b) the identification of the individuals primarily responsible for preparing MSPE letters; and (c) the procedures by which students may request an alternative preparer if conflicts have been identified.
II. POLICY
It is the policy of the New York Medical College (NYMC) School of Medicine (SOM) that the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) will generate the MSPE letters in accordance with LCME guidelines.
MSPE Content
A. The MSPE is not a letter of recommendation letter but a comprehensive letter of evaluation and summary of the student’s academic record and performance through the first three years of medical school. The MSPE is uploaded into ERAS or, depending on the specialty, an alternate application service, e.g., ResidencyCAS. The MSPE is part of the residency application process and is released through ERAS (or alternate service) to all residency programs to which the student applies. The MSPE is intended to provide residency program directors with a summary of a student’s salient medical school experiences, attributes, and academic performance in comparison to other students within the student’s medical school cohort.
B. The MSPE is organized based on the recommendations of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), to include seven sections:
1. Identifying Information
2. Noteworthy Characteristics – students are responsible for drafting the noteworthy characteristics section of the MSPE, in consultation with an advisor
a. Date of initial matriculation
b. Date of expected graduation
c. Explanation of any extensions, leave(s) of absence, gap(s), or break(s) in the student’s education (if applicable)
d. Information about prior, current, or expected enrollment in, and expected graduation from dual, joint, or combined degree programs (if applicable)
e. Explanation of any requirement to repeat or remediate any coursework (if applicable)
f. Explanation of any adverse action(s) by the medical school or parent institution (if applicable)
3. Academic Progress – this section includes a statement regarding the student’s attainment of professional standards, as defined by NYMC in the SOM Policy on Medical Student Professional Behaviors in Academic and Clinical Settings, SOM Policy on Student Conduct, and the Graduation Competencies and Medical Education Program Objectives, and information from the student’s summative evaluations.
4. Professional Performance
a. Professionalism and conduct concerns and/or violations that are referred to the Student Advancement, Promotions, and Review Committee (SAPRC) and/or the Professionalism and Integrity Committee (PIC) may be included in this section of the MSPE.
b. SAPRC and/or PIC may make recommendations to the Dean of Students as to whether any professionalism and conduct concerns and/or violations reviewed by the SAPRC and/or PIC should be included in a student’s MSPE. Such recommendations will be based on criteria, including but not limited to, the following:
i. Severity of the professionalism and conduct concern(s) and/or violation(s);
ii. Prior, recurrent, or repeated unprofessional behavior;
iii. Failure to remediate professionalism and conduct concerns and/or violations;
c. Any inclusion of such professionalism and conduct concerns or violations in the MSPE is ultimately at the discretion of the Dean of Students.
5. Summary – a brief concluding paragraph that sums up the student’s overall performance, based upon the SOM’s evaluation systems and compares the student's performance in medical school relative to their medical school cohort.
6. Medical school information – a description and history of the medical school.
III. SCOPE
This policy applies to the Dean of Student Affairs, the Office of Student Affairs, and any faculty, staff, and administrators who contribute to the MSPE.
IV. PROCEDURES
A. Drafting the MSPE
1. At the end of Year 3 (Phase 2), the Dean of Students (or designee) presents information to students regarding the components of the MSPE and requests that students submit their Noteworthy Characteristics by a deadline date.
2. The Dean of Students (or designee) and the Registrar will collect the data and content needed for the MSPE for each student, including the student’s submission of the Noteworthy Characteristics section. The Dean of Students (or designee) will compile these data and compile a final version of the MSPE.
3. MSPEs are signed by the Dean of Students.
B. MSPE Student Review Process
1. Approximately two to three weeks prior to the anticipated upload date to the application service, the Dean of Students (or designee) will email a locked PDF copy of the MSPE to students to review.
2. Students will review their MSPE during the designated time frame prior to the final upload of the MSPE into ERAS (or alternate application service).
3. A timeline and due date for review will be released by the Dean of Students or designee on an annual basis and will provide students with no less than one (1) week to review their MSPE.
4. This review will be for factual information only, and requests for revision(s) will only be considered if there is a factual inaccuracy.
5. Requests for revisions to narrative comments from evaluations in the Clerkships will not be considered during this review. Students who wish to challenge or appeal narrative comments from evaluations must follow the process and established timelines in the Grade and Evaluation Appeal Policy.
6. The Dean of Students has full authority to edit a student’s MSPE when necessary to ensure the MSPE is a fair and accurate representation of the student’s medical school performance.
C. Challenges to MSPE Content
1. Any challenges to the content of the MSPE must be made prior to the Dean of Students or designee uploading the final document into the ERAS, ResidencyCAS, residency application (or alternate application) system.
2. Challenges to the MSPE can occur at various points in time in the student’s education using the following procedures:
a. The narrative comments associated with all courses and clinical experiences that will be contained within a student’s MSPE are finalized by the course/clerkship director or phase director, within six weeks of course completion.
i. Students have full, real-time access to these narrative comments through the online student learning management system.
ii. Students can challenge the grades and narratives submitted by the course or clerkship directors if they are felt to be unfair or misrepresentative in accordance with the Grade and Evaluation Appeals Policy. The course and clerkship directors have full authority to edit the narrative comments associated with the course or clerkship in accordance with that policy.
b. Students who have continued concerns about the content of their MSPE not resolved through the Grade and Evaluation Appeals Policy can discuss their concerns with one of the Deans of OSA and/or the Dean of Students. The Dean of Students has full authority to edit the narrative portions of a student’s MSPE when necessary to ensure the MSPE is a fair and accurate representation of the student’s medical school performance.
c. The Dean of SOM is the final arbitrator and judge for student MSPE challenges.
D. Requesting an Alternate MSPE Preparer
1. If, for any reason, a student believes that the Dean of Students, or any other Dean in the OSA, cannot prepare the MSPE in an unbiased matter, the student may request in writing to the Dean of SOM that the MSPE not be completed by any Dean of OSA.
2. The Dean of SOM or his/her designee will then designate an appropriate author at the dean level, outside of OSA, to complete the MSPE.
E. Provision of MSPE and Release
1. NYMC SOM follows all rules and regulations set forth by AAMC/ERAS, ResidencyCAS regarding the release of the MSPE.
2. As such, NYMC SOM does not release the MSPEs directly to programs or any other individual prior to the date set by AAMC/ERAS /ResidencyCAS (or alternative application service) when residency programs may begin reviewing students’ residency applications and MSPEs.
V. EFFECTIVE DATE
This policy is effective immediately.
VI. POLICY MANAGEMENT
Executive Stakeholder: Dean, School of Medicine
Oversight Office: Office of Student Affairs, School of Medicine
VII. RELATED LCME STANDARDS AND ELEMENTS
11.4 Provision of MSPE – a medical school provides a Medical Student Performance Evaluation required for residency application of a medical student to align with the AAMC/ERAS resident application timeline
11.6 Student Access to Educational Records – a medical school has policies and procedures in place that permit a medical student to review and to challenge the student’s educational records, including the Medical Student Performance Evaluation, if the student considers the information contained therein to be inaccurate, misleading or inappropriate.
