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AAMC: Association of American Medical Colleges serves and leads the academic medicine community to improve the health of all. The association is dedicated to transforming health care in four primary mission areas: innovative medical education, cutting-edge patient care, groundbreaking medical research, and building a culture of diversity and inclusion.
Academic Affairs: Academic Affairs provides oversight for the curriculum and related policy decisions, and may initiate discussion of curricular issues or respond to issues raised by students and faculty.
ACE’S: Adverse Childhood Experiences. The UW SOM Adverse Childhood Experiences Interest Group which seeks to raise awareness by incorporating ACEs education into medical school curriculum and providing community outreach opportunities.
Amboss : Digital study tool made up of resources like question banks, articles, and Step 1 self study tools. All students have a subscription to Amboss through our program. Most Foundations blocks curate multiple choice questions as a study tool for students. To hear how Amboss is used in your block, contact the block lead.
Block: Curriculum organized in short periods of time with each time period consisting of related integrated topics.
Block director – Oversees the entire block including block content, assessments, and scheduling. Blocks are administered locally at each WWAMI site by regional block leads. Faculty from any WWAMI site can serve as a Block Director
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Canvas: Online learning platform for course websites. Canvas course websites are used to distribute syllabi, reading lists, class meeting calendars, and other course materials.
CBSE/CAS (Comprehensive Basic Science Exam/Customized Assessment Service): NBME self-assessment provided by UWSOM to help guide Step 1 studying. The exam is given in both the Spring and Fall during Foundations.
CiM: Careers in Medicine – Software program developed by AAMC that assists students in choosing a specialty in medicine.
Classic WWAMI Clinical Experience: This is the mode in which approximately 75% of third year medical students will register for their required third year clerkships through a complex ranking process allowing them the opportunity to schedule all of their required clerkships across the entire WWAMI region. Students ranking their preferences in the general pool are expected to take at least three required rotations outside the Seattle area.
Clerkship A course of clinical medical training in a specialty (as pediatrics, internal medicine, or psychiatry) that usually lasts a minimum of several weeks and takes place during the third or fourth year of medical school.
College System: A program grouped into individual colleges that oversee a four-year integrated curriculum of clinical skills and professionalism, teach the Foundations of Clinical Medicine course, and provide students with consistent faculty mentoring. The curriculum emphasizes proficiency in the basic clinical skills of physical examination and diagnosis, clinical reasoning and interpretation, and use of informatics.
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Elentra – Calendar App showing all student activities, classes workshops etc.
E*Value A clinical scheduling and evaluation system that is used for scheduling and evaluating of students’ clinical clerkships as well as students can find their immunizations and certifications, check the availability of clerkships, view their full clinical schedule , and view their clinical clerkship grades.
ExamSoft/Examplify Computer software that supports the entire UWSOM testing process, including exam creation, administration, delivery, scoring, and analysis. This is the primary form of testing for UW medical students.
ECE (Extracurricular Clinical Experience): Clinical “Shadowing” experiences that are not curricular in nature and optional.
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UW: Foundations of Clinical Medicine (FCM) —course including clinical skills workshops, college mornings, and Immersion.
FMIG (Family Medicine Interest Group) A medical student led organization that seeks to educate students about the discipline of Family Medicine through educational, social and service learning activities.
Foundation Phase First of three integrated learning phases of the SOM curricula. Foundation phase emphasizes scientific and anatomical learning and occurs the first two years of medical school.
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GHIP (Global Health Immersion Program): GHIP is an educational program and cultural immersion opportunity by which GHIP students spend 10 weeks living and working in a developing country in order to gain first-hand insight into the challenges of global health.
GME (Graduate Medical Education): The continuation of formal training for physicians after they have completed their medical school education.
Guide: A faculty member who teaches scientific and anatomical learning in the Foundations Phase.
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Hospital Tutorial: Inpatient activities at a local regional hospital in conjunction with FCM curriculum.
HSIP (Health Sciences Immunization Program): A program which requires students to complete and document immunizations and TB testing for clinical and practicum training sites. Compliance of the program is mandatory for all health science students including medical students.
HSL (Health Sciences Library): A UW library specifically designed for use by health science students.
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III (Independent Investigative Inquiry): Students select a topic of particular interest in the medial field to investigate independently, unfunded, utilizing the advice of a faculty advisor and other resources in the WWAMI community. The whole process accumulates into a final paper and poster presentation. Commonly known as Triple I.
Immersion: The first two weeks of medical school for an incoming class. This serves not only as an orientation to our Spokane Campus, but also a clinical skills intensive teaching period, which serves to prepare students to enter in to their primary care practicum with a basic level of clinical and exam skills.
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LCME (Liaison Committee on Medical Education): Accreditation body that is a voluntary, peer-reviewed process of quality assurance that determines whether the medical education program meets established standards.
Learning Environment: UWSOM office dedicated to addressing students learning environment concerns.
LOGS (Letters of Good Standing): Letters of Good Standing are completed by SOM Administration in Seattle for medical students for purpose of meeting the requirements of clerkships, scholarships, and other obligations.
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Mediasite: The Mediasite video player is a video streaming tool that provides video of presenter (when available), audio, and synchronized slide content. Mediasite is mainly accessed from Canvas sites.
Mentor/Coach: A clinical faculty member who meets regularly with a small group of students from their College. During these weekly tutorials, mentors work with the students at the bedside, teaching them clinical skills and talking with them about patient-centered care and professionalism.
MSA: Medical Student Association
MSTP (Medical Scientist Training Program): MSTP is designed for highly qualified candidates who wish to obtain both M.D. and Ph.D. degrees and to pursue careers in basic medical research. Selection for this program is national in scope and is not restricted to residents of Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, or Idaho.
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NBME (National Board of Medical Examiners): The NBME develops and manages the USMLE (The United States Medical Licensing Examination). While the individual licensing boards grant the license to practice medicine, all medical boards in the US accept a passing score on the USMLE as evidence that an applicant demonstrates the core competencies to practice medicine.
NameCoach: In NameCoach, users make an audio recording of their name, write out pronunciation, and indicate their pronouns. These are visible to other students, faculty, and staff within Canvas.
Non-Clinical Selectives: Students taking courses in the basic sciences curriculum are required to pursue electives that will enhance their personal medical education. Special electives are offered throughout the University that are relevant to medical education but not involving direct patient care fulfill this graduation requirement. All UW non-clinical selectives run on the regular quarterly academic calendar, which means they may not correspond exactly with other courses in the school of medicine.
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OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination): OSCEs assess students ‘clinical skills and the effectiveness of the curriculum. They allow a student to practice and demonstrate clinical skills in a standardized medical scenario. OSCEs are given in the Foundations phase as well as sometime during the 3rd and 4th year known as a Patient Care OSCEs.
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Pathways: An opportunity for students to pursue their interest and develop knowledge and skills specifically tailored to working with vulnerable populations by completing specific requirements. There are currently four Pathways available to medical students: Hispanic Health, Indian Health, Global Health, and Underserved.
PCP (Primary Care Practicum): 12 month hands-on clinical work in which students spend at least one half-day every other week (preferably a full day) in clinic with a local practicing primary care physician.
Preceptorships: A preceptorship is a mentoring experience in which a practicing physician volunteers to give personal instruction, training, and supervision to a medical student during the second year of medical school. Preceptorships may include primary care preceptorships, but are primarily referred to in this way for Subspecialty Preceptorships completed by Term 3 students.
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Regional Affairs: Regional Affairs provides oversight for the curriculum and related policy decisions, and may initiate discussion of curricular issues or respond to issues raised by students and faculty at the WWAMI regional sites.
Regional Block Lead: Leads the block at the local WWAMI site.
R/UOP (Rural/Underserved Opportunities Program): A four-week preceptorships (mentorships) available with practicing physicians in rural and urban underserved communities held over the summer between a student’s first and second year.
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Service Learning: A structured learning experience that combines community-based service or research with preparation and reflection. Students engaged in service-learning provide community-based service or research in response to community-identified concerns and learn about the context in which service is provided, the connection between their service and academic coursework, and their roles as citizens and professionals.
SharePoint: Cloud-based file sharing site on Office 365 that allows users to access files in a HIPPA and FERPA-compliant manner from any location. Similar to DropBox. Files are stored on the web, and can be synched to a user’s local computer for easy access.
SOMALT (School of Medicine Academic & Learning Technologies): Technology support services for students, faculty, and staff.
Step 1: The first of three exams given by USMLE for medical licensure in the United States. Step 1 typically occurs at the end of the student’s Foundations Phase.
Student Block Partners: Each block is paired with two Student Block Partners (SBPs) from across WWAMI. Their role is to give feedback and advise block faculty on behalf of students. Block Directors are encouraged to meet with the SBPs before, during, and after the block to discuss what is working and what could be improved. SBPs also provide an end of block report that becomes part of the Lessons Learned process. Block Directors respond to the report and feedback and send this response to the entire class.
Student Curriculum Leads – The incoming class elects two student curriculum leads each fall. Their main role is to act as a liaison between students and faculty. They will reach out to you to meet prior to the start of each block to discuss any questions or concerns gathered from their peers. Curriculum leads continue to check in with faculty throughout the block, bringing up student concerns and surveying peers for feedback, especially if the block lead is looking for information on a specific topic. Curriculum leads also coordinate student-led review sessions for each exam. At the end of each block, Curriculum leads provide Spokane-specific feedback regarding ideas for improvement for the next year. Student curriculum leads feel that the utility of this position, both for students and faculty, is maximized through open, informal dialogue and regular communication.
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Threads/Themes: Topics that are integrated throughout the curriculum: scientific threads (pharmacology, pathology, anatomy), clinical threads (foundational clinical experience and clinical skills) and themes (areas identified as important to integrate into the blocks, clinical threads and clerkships: primary care; population health, health equity and global health; diversity, communication and interprofessional education; professionalism and ethics; lifelong learning, and scholarship).
Track: The WWAMI Track program allows a select group of students to complete most of their required clerkships scheduled in one specific city or state throughout the WWAMI region. Medical students must participate in an application process, whereby selected students are matched to Track sites to fulfill their third or fourth year required clerkships.
TRUST (Targeted Rural Underserved Track): Longitudinal experience with a single rural community over a student’s entire medical school career, including completing both WRITE and R/UOP and returning regularly to learn about and work in the community.
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USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Examination): USMLE is a three-step examination for medical licensure in the United States and is sponsored by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME). Students at the UWSOM are required to pass Step 1 and both components of Step 2, Clinical Knowledge (CK) and Clinical Skills (CS), of the USMLE prior to graduation.
UWDOM: University of Washington Dean of Medicine
URiM: Underrepresented in Medicine Interest Group which aims to recruit and retain medical students from backgrounds that are traditionally underrepresented in medicine (underrepresented races/ethnicities, LGBTQ, first generation in college, etc.) through outreach and community building events.
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Watermark: Computer software for collecting course and instructor evaluations from students during Foundations. This is integrated with Canvas such that students are able to access evaluations and faculty are able to see their own teaching evaluations within the Canvas page for the course.
WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho): Regional medical education program serving the states in its acronym.
WRITE (WWAMI Rural Integrated Training Experience): A six-month experience in a rural setting in which students complete clinical training working closely with community preceptors (clinical instructors).
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Zoom: Used for virtual teaching. UWSOM faculty and students use Zoom HIPPA-compliant accounts. https://washington.zoom.us/