Use of Student Feedback

Confidentiality of Student Evaluations

Students are expected to submit candid, constructive, professional evaluations of EUSOM courses, faculty, residents, and others when asked to do so. All evaluations are confidential and are blinded to prevent school personnel from knowing the identity of the person submitting an evaluation. It is vital to the evaluation process that students do not fear retribution or recrimination based on their honest perceptions.

Although students must log in to the OASIS system in order to submit evaluations, OASIS is specifically designed to redact all identifying data from every type of evaluation form submitted. This protects students from real or perceived retribution for the evaluation data that they submit. Evaluation data collected through OASIS are stripped of individual identifiers and stored on secure servers.

In the unlikely event that a student submits information through the evaluation process that could pose a credible threat to the safety of that student or others, a mechanism can be activated to retrieve identifying information about the responsible student. The decision to seek the identification of a student based on information from an evaluation form rests solely with the Executive Associate Dean for Medical Education and Student Affairs, or in their absence, a designee. In such a case, the specific evaluation will be matched to the individual student by the designated staff member who has the authority and ability to do so.

Except for the aforementioned extreme circumstance, no school personnel will have access to the identity of students who submitted an evaluation.

Student Feedback of Courses, Clerkships and MD Program

Student evaluations of individual courses, clerkships, phases, and the MD program as a whole is essential to improving the education experience. In addition to being reviewed by course and clerkship directors, student feedback is reviewed by the Executive Curriculum Committee and its multiple subcommittees. Evaluations are designed to be completely anonymous and are reviewed as part of aggregate data. The School of Medicine is interested in both positive and negative feedback and finds specific, constructive feedback to be most helpful in making necessary changes to the program.

Student Feedback of Residents and Faculty

Student evaluations of residents and faculty are an essential component to improving medical education. Student feedback further assists with resident and faculty development. Course and clerkship directors and the dean's office have developed ways to ensure that students are protected from retribution when completing evaluations. First, residents and faculty never see names associated with evaluations. Second, residents and faculty cannot see their evaluations until course and clerkship grades have been assigned to students. Third, student evaluations are not available to residents and faculty until they have been aggregated with other evaluations to provide a summarized analysis of resident and faculty teaching performance. These aggregations occur no more frequently than every six months and have at a minimum at least four evaluations aggregated and summarized. Finally, all student feedback of residents and faculty is handled by course and clerkship directors in a delicate and responsive fashion to further protect the identity of students submitting anonymous evaluations.