March 2024 - Issue 20

Dear students,

Happy March!

Congratulations to our class of 2024 on their residency match! Hopefully, all who were present or who watched the live stream of Match Day festivities enjoyed the event. It was truly delightful to see the joy and excitement on the faces of our seniors as they discovered their matches. Click here if you wish to see the match list.

Meanwhile, congratulations to the class of 2026, who completed their year 2 coursework last week! We know many of you have begun your step prep this week. We wish you the best with your preparations. As you settle in, please make sure that you create a consistent schedule, with regular and sufficient sleep, physical activity, and downtime (engaging with other people). These are essential pieces of the process.

Classes of 2025 and 2027, you are almost there – keep up the good work! May those who have exams this week fare well!

Dr. Z and Dr. D

PS – Wednesday was International Happiness Day! In honor of this day, consider listening to this excellent podcast which has some fantastic suggestions.

Kira Zwygart MD, FAAFP

Associate Dean, Student Affairs

Deborah DeWaay MD, FACP

Associate Dean, UME

In this section we share changes made based on your feedback!

We are excited to announce that the Curriculum Committee has approved a new clinical evaluation for the 3rd year to begin next academic year.

• The form was created based on a form described in the following article: Imm MR, Agarwal G, Zhang C, Deshpande AR, Issenberg B, Chandran L. EPMO: A novel medical student assessment tool that integrates entrustable professional activities, prime, and the modified Ottawa coactivity scale. Med Teach. 2023 Apr;45(4):419-425. doi: 10.1080/0142159X.2022.2137012. Epub 2022 Oct 26. PMID: 36288734.
• It was edited by our Clerkship Directors.
• It was vetted by Student Affairs leadership, student liaisons for the classes of 2024 and 2025, and presidents for the classes of 2024-2027.
• Changes were made to the form based on the vetting.
• PER YOUR REQUEST FACULTY WILL NO LONGER BE GIVING STUDENTS AN OVERALL RIME LEVEL
• The Curriculum Committee, Curricular Affairs team, and the Assessment/Evaluation team will be monitoring grades for the 3rd year VERY closely. At the midpoint of the year, the numbers for honors and PC will be carefully reviewed. If there is a paucity of H and PC grades secondary to the clinical evaluation cut-offs, the cut-offs will be adjusted and grades will be revised accordingly. We are optimistic that grading will be improved because of the increased clarity of the form, as it was at the University of Miami (see article).
• This form will not be used in the 4th year until 2025/26. Dr. DeWaay discussed this with student leadership and they were in agreement. There are over 300 courses and hundreds of faculty that use the evaluation form in year 4. It will take more than 3 months to get the faculty development campaign needed for 4th-year courses completed. Currently, 4th years consistently are graded highly and we do not want to risk grades dropping because of a form change going into match. Although the overall form will not change, PER YOUR REQUEST FACULTY WILL NO LONGER BE GIVING STUDENTS AN OVERALL RIME LEVEL in the 4th year evaluations. That part of the form will be deleted.

IMS/MS1 and MS2 Mandatory Evaluation Session

The Evaluation Team will be conducting their third Mandatory Evaluation Session for those not in compliance on March 22nd from 12 – 1 pm via Microsoft Teams. You will receive an email on March 18th from Ashley Metelus that you must attend the session, if your compliance rate is still less than 80%.  

MS3 Mandatory Evaluation Session

The Evaluation Team will be conducting their third Mandatory Evaluation Session for those not in compliance on March 30th from 10 – 11 am via Microsoft Teams.   

Evaluation Reminder

Please complete any remaining pending evaluations in one45 and/or email evalsupport@usf.edu if you have any questions regarding your compliance rate. 

Step Score Update

USMLE Step 1 2023 Final Report

Please note, that MCOM’s pass rate has remained stable as the national pass rate has declined. As the class of 2026 goes into Step 1 prep, hopefully this data will relieve some anxiety.

USMLE Step 2 AY23-24 Interim Report (Final report will be sent when released)

Please note, that MCOM’s pass rate and overall average have remained pretty stable as the national pass rate has declined. As the class of 2026 goes into Step 1 prep, hopefully this data will relieve some anxiety. 

Class of 2027 – Core/SELECT

4/8      Course 4 Test 2 Exam

Class of 2027 – SELECT

4/18    SELECT 1 Sum. Exam

Class of 2026 – Core/SELECT

3/26    Universal Makeup Day Exams

Class of 2025 - Core

3/21    Obstetrics NBME Exam

3/22    Primary Care NBME Exam

3/22    Medicine NBME Exam

3/22    Pediatrics NBME Exam

ASC Podcast - New Episode 

Episode 5 of the ASC Podcast is now available! You can find this in your ASC class of canvas shell on the podcast page. In episode 5, Dr. Ciceron is joined by Mehdi to discuss his global health interests, how Ramadan influenced his positive study habits, and more! If you are interested (or willing) to record a podcast episode, or have a suggested topic, please contact Dr. Ciceron. 

Did you know? With Dr. O! 

Did you know that the first task in step prep is tying your shoes. The main goal is to stop tripping yourself by creating unforced errors (baseball term). Unforced errors occur when a player mishandles a ball that could have been handled correctly. These errors can range from missing the ball entirely to failing to throw it accurately or in time or even allowing it to get by them Get out of your own way, look for ways to better use what is in your head as opposed to filling up your head with things that may not be useful.  

March Madness

One of the coolest things about March has to be the amazing people born in the month. Dr. Ciceron, a 3.14 PI Day baby, and Emily a 3.19 born Pisces, both share the love of March and all of the madness that comes from driving around and picking up their free rewards. If you have an upcoming birthday, the Academic Support Center wants to support you in remembering to take advantage of free coffee, Krispy Kreme donuts, BurgerFI shakes, Publix Ice cream and more! For a real winning strategy, check out the following Birthday Rewards article from the Krazy Coupon Lady. 

March Debt Management Challenge

The challenge for the month of March is now available in the ‘Quizzes’ section in Canvas in the Financial Aid Fundamentals Course. Participate for your chance to win. The challenge will end on March 31st at 11:59pm EST. As a reminder, if you participate in at least 4 challenges for the 2023-2024 academic year, you will be entered to win the grand prize of $3,000! Participation is optional.

Match Day 2024

We had a successful and fun 'Going for Gold' themed Match Day at Ulele on the Hillsborough River on March 17. The day was filled with tears of joy, laughter, and celebration. There were 180 positions filled in the main match. We are so proud of and congratulate the Class of 2024 on all of their hard work and dedication!

To read more about how Match Day 2024 went click here.

The second annual Arts & Mind Convening focusing on arts and health intersections is May 22, 2024 at the Straz Center/ Patel.

Board of Medicine Meeting Invitation

The Board of Medicine cordially invites the students at the University of South Florida, School of Medicine to attend the next Board meeting scheduled as follows:

Friday, April 5, 2024, 8:00 am

The Westshore Grand, A Tribute Portfolio Hotel, Tampa

4860 West Kennedy Boulevard

Tampa, FL 33609

(813) 286-4400

At this meeting, the Board will be taking disciplinary action against licensees, and they will discuss issues related to the regulation of the practice of medicine in Florida. This is a great educational opportunity for the medical students to observe the proceedings to get a better understanding of the disciplinary process and the Board’s role in the regulation of the practice of medicine.

Reminder About Parking Options

You can access information re: parking options on the Student Affairs web site under 'Student Resources' and 'Parking Services'.

Next month's newsletter we will include information about parking options at clinical sites.

All past issues can now be found at the bottom of the Helpful Links page (that is on you QR Code cards)!