OMED/OSA strive to be accessible, aware, and responsive. To meet that aim we maintain an active, updated list of items we work on based on your feedback. We will episodically report out on these items at class meetings and other venues. We look forward to ongoing student collaboration and thought partnership in making UPSOM the best medical school it can be.
Your voice matters! Student feedback is critically important to continuous quality improvement in all phases of our curriculum and every part of our school. Please feel free to submit a suggestion here.
Here’s how PittMed has responded to student suggestions and input:
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2025
FOUNDATIONS
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Suggestion
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Action(s) Taken
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Make LAP sessions more consistent in length across groups
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Will work with LEs to standardize—all groups should run between 90-120 minutes.
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Reduce e-mail volume
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We are trying to consolidate messaging to fewer, higher yield newsletters and reduce reminder e-mails.
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Clarify the Code of Professionalism to make it clear what specific behaviors (e.g., tardiness) constitute a "major lapse" and will lead to further action
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Revisions are in process to the Code to add more detail about how many of which behaviors at what level will constitute minor vs major lapses and will lead to which specific actions. These discussions have included student leaders, staff, and faculty in multiple offices. The revisions, if approved, will be discussed at future class meetings.
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Offer two-day option for students with accommodations who are taking Progress Test #3
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Done
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Arrange a quiet testing environment for Step 1 practice testing.
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Great suggestion! The testing center is now reserved twice a week for 5 hours so students can better simulate Step 1 conditions.
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Improve the quality of preclerkship immunology, microbiology, and other foundational science topics to better prepare students for clerkships.
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We’re taking a fresh look at the foundational science content across the curriculum and working closely with clerkship directors to identify the highest-yield topics that truly prepare you for the next phase. We’re also improving the way this content is mapped and organized so it’s clearer what you’re learning and why—and we’ll share these improved maps with MS2s to support Step preparation.
Over the coming months, we’ll be inviting randomly selected students to participate in focus groups about how foundational science is taught. Your feedback will directly shape upcoming curriculum updates.
Our goal is to keep strengthening and refining the curriculum all the time, and your insights are an important part of that ongoing improvement.
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Simplify Neuroscience
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We know Neuroscience is a challenging topic, and we’re working with senior students and faculty to review the course and find ways to make it clearer and more approachable. This may include simplifying prework, breaking down complex concepts, improving visuals, and focusing more on the most relevant material. Our goal is to keep making the learning experience better.
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Improve the workflows around the Professionalism Subcommittee and Committee on Student Promotion, to maximize student wellbeing during the difficult process
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We have made a number of changes based on student input, including altering the meeting location, instructions to students/supports, student flow, appearance timing windows, efficiency of the committee, and calendar timelines. We are continually improving the process as we proceed, and student input is always welcome.
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Make images accessible to colorblind students
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We are working to do this more consistently throughout the curricular resources, primarily using color-neutral labels (reference arrows, text annotations) and companion text. We are working with students on an individual basis by adjusting properties of images (e.g., brightness, contrast) and getting feedback on best practices for displays. See https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19347949/ for more info on best practices.
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Don't record patient panels
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We absolutely do not ever want to record patient panels. The only time that's happened is if a course lead has changed the sequence unexpectedly, in which case recordings may take place. We are working to prevent this by having a system between our curriculum coordinator and HSIT to identify schedule changes and immediately pull videos.
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Provide additional resources for concise presession learning that is integrated with the curriculum
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We’re excited to share that the School has purchased an institutional license to Bootcamp! Many of you already know and love this resource, and we’ve begun training faculty on how to integrate it seamlessly into your courses. For example, in Cardiology, Bootcamp videos will complement our faculty’s materials to give you a familiar, efficient, and high-quality pre-work option.
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CLERKSHIPS/BRIDGES
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Suggestion
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Action(s) Taken
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Improve readiness for prerounding and chart reviews.
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We have enhanced teaching of these skills in the PCC block and in the Preclerkship course, including an expanded near-peer “shadow” experience focusing on rounding-related skills.
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More time before graduation to prepare for transition to residency.
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We've added a two-week recess before Bootcamp to allow students to make necessary arrangements prior to returning to campus for their final experiences and graduation.
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More flex days
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We've doubled the number of flex days in from 2 to 4 full days per phase
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APRIL-MAY 2025
FOUNDATIONS
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Suggestion
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Action(s) Taken
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| Can we improve the consistency across CAP sites with respect to times, roles, and responsibilities—trying to make it as meaningful as possible? | CAP leadership continues to work on these issues, doing regular reviews of our community partner organizations, enforcing expectations, and trying to make things as consistent as possible. Students will be encouraged to contact leadership about specific site issues as early as possible. Time expectations for the program will be reconsidered to determine if there is a better way to identify meaningful work, trying to maintain standards without overly focusing on hours or tracking. As a result of student feedback, we are eliminating contracts with two sites and reassigning those students. |
| Can LAP do anything about easing the process of patient contact—either allowing more flexibility, or ensuring that patients are all engaged and available? | It's hard to assure patient availability, but LAP will communicate more clearly with students about reaching out early if there are issues (either with the patient partner or student) that may delay contact. |
| Can UPSOM assure students that national political changes won't interfere with their academic progression? | Although it's hard to fully predict what will happen, UPSOM has pledged understanding and flexibility should students need to change sites, programs, projects, or mentors based on funding/legal changes. Deadline enforcement will be "softer" and students will not be punished for issues beyond their control |
| Can we have standing desks and a new treadmill desk for the student lounge? | We ordered two standing desks as a pilot and we'll be assembling them for student use; we also ordered new treadmill desks. |
| Can we find ways to make the VHA sessions easier to learn from—more practice questions, annotated images, recorded sessions for later review? | We are working with the VHA lead Dr. Truschel to improve the quality and accessibility of learning materials. He will be adding practice questions and requiring all faculty to annotate images. We don't record optional-attendance learning sessions, but we hope to make it easier for people to review content on their own. |
| Can we have more mobile kiosks to ease the lines for attendance, especially in anatomy lab? | We secured additional kiosks, including for anatomy. We shouldn't need to use QR codes there anymore, and the kiosks can be used for patient panels and at other large group activities. |
| Can we supplement small group work with content-focused preparation that all students receive? | Working with students, we are planning in the fall to pilot several alternate approaches to preparing students for small group activities—a preliminary case video, written cases (instead of powerpoint), and a written primer on high-yield clinical content to assist groups as they approach cases. |
| Can we get small group slide decks with answers PRIOR to small groups? | We typically do NOT release slide decks with the "answers" prior to small group activity. We used to, but we discovered that students were naturally influenced by those answers and didn't connect with the material in the same way. Without immediate access to the answers, this creates an opportunity for students to truly engage with the material - to analyze, problem-solve, and discuss in a collaborative way. To support preparation and reduce cognitive overload, we try to provide a modified version of the slide deck in advance which outlines key content and structure of the session so that students could come prepared without giving away the solutions. Full slide decks (with answers) are released after the small group. |
| Can you create "pharm guides" for each Organ System course summarizing all the medications discussed in that course, and perhaps circulate before the OS block begins? | This is a great idea. We're developing a template for this, and some OS courses are taking this on to pilot. We'll explore release date, but if students want this sooner, we can try to make it happen. |
| Can we get more clinical context prior to seeing patients in ICM? | We will work with CSPs on the best scripting to start patient encounters, such as providing chief concerns, basic medical history, and any noteworthy disability or other accommodations. Students will also be able to access the EHR beginning in the Fall semester, although chart mining will be kept limited to ensure that students can do an independent assessment without being unduly biased or influenced by the medical record. |
CLERKSHIPS/BRIDGES
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Suggestion
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Action(s) Taken
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| Can we have a closer link between learning objectives and assessment? | We have revised and created new EPO/CLO/Assessment crosswalks to better show the connection between objectives and assessment. These will be integrated into the student assessment form, discussed in orientation, and posted on Elentra. We will use this for educator training as well. |
| Can we improve the course catalogue to make it more interactive and easier to find things? | The registrar and HSIT are working on this, adding better search functions, drop-down items, and a cleaner platform overall. We're clarifying what counts as remote/online. These upgrades many take time but are in the works. |
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2025
FOUNDATIONS
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Suggestion
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Action(s) Taken
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| Provide power strips for SGs in old Scaife | We started with a review of the space, working with HSIT, to determine the best way forward. We previously provided power strips which are no longer there. We are ordering more. |
| Give students access to "old lectures" on Navigator or Panopto to review how content was previously taught in the legacy curriculum | We have considered this in detail and feel that providing such access would be harmful to student learning, because legacy curriculum is so different from 3RC—it would naturally lead to confusion about what is important, what is on the test, etc. Fortunately, students have access to a wealth of material on Elentra, and can review other resources (including Panopto) if they wish on their own. |
| Improve time management in small groups to consistently prevent groups from running out of time | One suggestion was to provide "pacing guides" to slides showing how many minutes it should take per slide, although this reduces a group's ability to go deeper when its members wish to. Instead, we're working with LE's on how to manage the time better, and with leads to highlight the 3-4 "key teaching points" in every group, so that LEs know on what to focus the group's time. |
| Don't wait until the end of a semester to assess LE/CSP teaching quality | We added a rapid response eval at 3wks in to allow students to comment on teaching quality and professionalism of core educators; its first rollout helped us more quickly address issues that were emerging. |
| Improve the quality of communication around "sensitive topics" in the curriculum (e.g., weight, cancer). | We are working on faculty development guidance, promoting a more standard format for overall design, and specific tactics to make the experience safer and and more respectful, and more consistent across courses |
| Notify students more clearly about when attendance (swiping) is required for curricular sessions | We started to label events better in Elentra—this is the repository of our learning events and should make it clearer when to swipe. We have also increased the use of verbal announcements at the start of sessions. |
| Practice questions embedded into prelearning | Expanding pool of practice questions more generally; will explore embedding as a possibility |
| Consider altering the course sequence of Endo, MSK, repro to bring endo/repro together and give more time to heavily loaded courses that might need it | We are working to explore altering the course sequence. There are many moving parts, including faculty availability and horizontal/vertical integration. We hope to make decisions in the coming year. |
| Reduce redundancies in what is covered in OS and PCC | We want appropriate reinforcement but not unnecessary repetition. Some sessions (e.g., MSK) may not have been as effective as they might be, and we are working with course leads to improve for the coming year. We also want to standardize prework so it is similar and not disparate across blocks (e.g., Bates videos). We are also exploring how we can have proper clinical expertise be best utilized in these OS/PCC sessions. |
| Eliminate sessions that highlight industry representatives | We will eliminate all such sessions and better guide faculty leads about this issue. |
| Repro large groups were amazing—make all OS large groups like that! | We are promoting that as a best practice and working with other courses on design in that vein. |
| Help improve respect for donors in anatomy | We will add more explicit guidance on care for the body, and we are considering changing a group writing assignment to individual. We will add time to "terminate" with students' first patient after the summative. |
JUNE-AUGUST 2025
FOUNDATIONS
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Suggestion
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Action(s) Taken
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| Derm: release large group powerpoints before sessions to allow for better image review | Release approved for most sessions. |
| Standardize color tone projection on monitors to improve recognition of images | HSIT working on standardizing (projector and monitors use different technologies); faculty will also lower the lights to improve visibility—we may need to add blinds to some spaces |
| Reinforce the importance of humanistic care and inclusivity, to make sure that educators consistently adhere to professional expectations | Individual faculty are being provided in person development and coaching for improvement; we will continue to emphasize professional expectations in the selection/training of faculty educators. |
| Would be helpful for all course syllabuses to follow the same format for ease of viewing and clarity of communication | The Universal Syllabus format rolled out for all courses starting in Fall 2025. Same format, same information content, and directly contains UPSOM policy information all in a single document. |
| Shorten IBP to make it more digestible/manageable, and give students a little more breathing space | We are exploring alternative scheduling, particularly around some intermingling of orientation and IBP sessions (there are advantages and disadvantages to this). |
| Consider providing content warnings to students about intense material in a course. | Course leads routinely highlight sessions that may be more intense or emotionally demanding. These introductory "trigger warnings" should be heeded by students, who should also review the schedule carefully to explore what will be covered in different sessions. Different students have different topics that may be sensitive—repeated trigger warnings have not shown to be helpful and may in fact negatively affect student resilience and wellbeing. Students who expect to find specific sessions particularly challenging should contact course leads to explore best practices around safety, which could include breaks or alternate experiences depending on the activity. |
| Release preliminary summative scores on test day to give students an early warning that they might need to use the following flex week to prepare for retesting | There was some difference opinion about this, but most students wanted early access to preliminary scores. We will use Examsoft to allow students who wish to access their preliminary score later on the afternoon of test day (in privacy) to they can adjust their flex week plans if it appears likely they will need to remediate. Final scores will be released the following Mon (or Tue if Mon is a holiday) as usual. |
CLERKSHIPS/BRIDGES
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Suggestion
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Action(s) Taken
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| Make it easier for students to take flex days without worrying about being perceived negatively by clinical preceptors | We are working with faculty leads to clarify and reinforce with preceptors that flex days are absolutely excused absences and shouldn't be held against students. We will provide more guidance to students on how to talk to their preceptors about flex days. Students can always appeal if they feel they have been assessed inappropriately because of this issue. |