Proposal Procedure for a New Elective or Integrated Life Science (ILS) Course

Proposal Procedure for a New Elective or Integrated Life Science (ILS) Course

The elective curriculum at UPSOM is designed so that students can pursue areas of interest that will deepen and broaden their education.  It is also a time for students to fill in any gaps in clinical knowledge or skills prior to the start of internship. 

The following procedure is necessary for a new elective to be added to the current menu and to be officially listed in the Elective Course Handbook.  

  1. The elective proposal form
  2. A document showing how the elective learning objectives support specific UPSOM Educational Program Objectives
  3. A brief e-mail of support from the chair of the department (not a division chief) in which the elective’s director has a faculty appointment must accompany the proposal. 

A sample elective proposal is attached.


ILS proposals additionally need to meet eight specific criteria.  The course must:

  • Revisit, synthesize, and expand on science material basic to the practice of medicine that grows out of core Foundations of Medicine (FOM) or Organ Systems Pathophysiology (OSP) courses 
  • Balance classroom-based activities with simulation or clinical experiences, but should not be primarily a clinical rotation 
  • Maintain a high level of intellectual sophistication in content, with goals/objectives clearly outlined, supporting UPSOM educational program objectives 
  • Foster critical analysis of evidence/science/research 
  • Seek to correlate science with student clinical experiences 
  • Call for a significant commitment of time on the part of learners (>15 hours weekly  of synchronous learning activities, which can include workshops, small groups, lectures, labs, etc., where attendance is required) 
  • Require a final synthetic and integrative scholarly product of some kind (paper, case report, oral presentation, etc.) 
  • Assess learners in a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory model 

Completed materials should be given to the chair of the UPSOM Curriculum Committee or Associate Dean for Medical Education for initial discussion at the Curriculum Committee Executive Committee.

The proposal, with modification as necessary, will then be presented to the UPSOM Curriculum Committee. Final approval by Curriculum Committee is required for implementation. 

The approved course information will be forwarded to the UPSOM Registrar who will assign a course number and create the course through both the University AMP-UP database as well as adding it to the SOM database and course catalog.