Clerkship Review Committee (CRC) BYLAWS
1. Mission
The Education, Policy and Curriculum Committee (EPCC) delegates responsibility to the CRC for assessing each clerkship in the curriculum at least once every four years. The goals of the review committee are threefold: 1) to ensure educational quality, innovation, and a supportive learning environment in each of the core clerkships, 2) to provide the clerkship director information regarding themes of student feedback and the integration of clerkship content with other components of the curriculum, and 3) to ensure compliance with LCME Educational Directives for accreditation.
The clerkship review is a constructive process that aims to stimulate productive discussion among clerkship directors, faculty, staff, students, and the leadership in order to support the highest quality educational experience. The review covers multiple aspects of the clerkship: organization, clinical and didactic teaching, patient care, the learning environment, and the clerkship director's analysis and outlook. The process also identifies methods of curriculum delivery that are particularly effective, which can then be provided to other clerkship directors for continuous clerkship improvement.
The CRC serves in an advisory capacity to the EPCC by making recommendations regarding optimization of the clerkship curriculum.
The CRC will advise the EPCC on the following:
- The overall quality of the learning environment and learning experience for students within the clerkship curriculum from the perspective of all stakeholders
- Strengths and opportunities for improvement for each of the integrated clerkships
- Future need for innovation and development of educational strategies and areas of focus to maintain an effective and high-quality medical education within the clerkship learning environment
II. Membership
The CRC shall consist of the following members (“Committee Members”):
- Appointed Members [6]:
- Director of Clerkships, Chair (1)
- Manager of Clerkships, Administrator (1)
- Teaching & Learning Center Representative (1)
- Physician Associate Program Faculty (1)
- Medical Curriculum Administrator (1)
- Curriculum Support Librarian (1)\
- Elected Members [15]:
- Clerkship Director or Associate Director (1)
- Clerkship Coordinator (1)
- Clinical Faculty (2)
- Basic Science Faculty (1)
- Medical Students (10) {2 per class should include at least 1 MD/PhD Student}
III. Election of Members
- Clerkship Director/Associate Clerkship Director
- Eligibility for membership:
Any of the clerkship directors or associate clerkship directors from the eight clerkship components of the integrated clerkships are eligible to serve on the CRC. - Solicitation of nominations:
Individuals may self-nominate or be nominated representatives by clerkship directors or associate directors.Nominations will be solicited by email and/or at clerkship director meetings, in an effort to reach all individuals eligible for membership. - Length of term:
Members are elected to a 4-year term with re-election permitted. Re-elected individuals may serve one additional term. The second term may be consecutive or non-consecutive from the first one. To maintain committee continuity, rotating members shall be appointed to four-year, staggered terms, with a suggested rotation schedule commencing as follows:- Year one rotation
- Year two rotation
- Year three rotation
- Year four rotation
- Election procedure and appointment timeline:
Election of nominated candidates is done by vote of all fellow clerkship directors and associate clerkship directors. Elections for open positions are held at the start of the academic year. A mid-year election may be held to fill positions vacated due to resignation or removal. - Resignation and Removal:
A Committee Member may resign at any time by giving written notice of such resignation to the Committee Chair. Such resignation is effective upon receipt of said notice or at such later time as may be specified in such notice. Members who resign from their position as a clerkship director or associate clerkship director will be deemed to have resigned from the Committee at the time they resign from their position in clerkship leadership. A new clerkship director/associate director member will be selected to replace them, per the election procedure outlined above.
- Eligibility for membership:
- Clerkship Coordinator
- Eligibility for membership:
Any of the clerkship coordinators from the eight clerkship components of the integrated clerkships are eligible to serve on the CRC. - Solicitation of nominations:
Individuals may self-nominate or be nominated representatives by the clerkship coordinator group.Nominations will be solicited by email and/or at clerkship coordinator meetings, in an effort to reach all individuals eligible for membership. - Length of term:
Members are elected to a 4-year term with re-election permitted. Re-elected individuals may serve one additional term. The second term may be consecutive or non-consecutive from the first one. To maintain committee continuity, rotating members shall be appointed to four-year, staggered terms, with a suggested rotation schedule commencing as follows:- Year one rotation
- Year two rotation
- Year three rotation
- Year four rotation
- Election procedure and appointment timeline:
Election of nominated candidates is done by vote of all fellow clerkship coordinators. Elections for open positions are held at the start of the academic year. A mid-year election may be held to fill positions vacated due to resignation or removal. - Resignation and Removal:
A Committee Member may resign at any time by giving written notice of such resignation to the Committee Chair. Such resignation is effective upon receipt of said notice or at such later time as may be specified in such notice. Members who resign from their position as a clerkship coordinator will be deemed to have resigned from the Committee at the time they resign from their position in clerkship leadership. A new clerkship coordinator will be selected to replace them, per the election procedure outlined above.
- Eligibility for membership:
- Clinical & Basic Science Faculty
- Eligibility for membership: Full-Time YSM faculty amongst the clinical and basic science departments are eligible to be representatives of their respective groups.
- Solicitation of nominations: representatives may be nominated by department chairs, directors of medical studies (DMS), course, clerkship or elective directors, and central curriculum directors
- Election procedure and appointment timeline: Election of nominated candidates is done by vote of all course directors for basic science faculty representative and all clerkship directors/associate directors for clinical faculty representative.
- Length of term: clinical and basic science faculty members are elected to a 4-year term with re-election permitted
- Resignation and removal: A Committee Member may resign at any time by giving written notice of such resignation to the Committee Chair. Such resignation is effective upon receipt of said notice or at such later time as may be specified in such notice. Members who resign from the Yale faculty will be deemed to have resigned from the Committee at the time they resign from the faculty.
- Students
- Eligibility for membership:
All Yale School of Medicine MD students in good standing are eligible to serve as CRC members. There will be two elected representatives from each year of the MD curriculum (inclusive of representatives for the MD-PhD students) - Solicitation of nominations:
In a process determined by the Medical Student Council, students are able to self-nominate for a position on the CRC. A vote is conducted by class to elect the two students who will serve as representatives for each year of the MD curriculum. - Election procedure and appointment timeline:
Students are selected by the student body at the start of each academic year, using their election process. - Length of term:
Student representatives are elected to a 1-year term with re-election permitted - Resignation and removal: A Committee member may resign at any time by giving written notice of such resignation to the Committee Chair. Such resignation is effective upon receipt of said notice or at such later time as may be specified in such notice. Should any of these student members leave their original class year, they will relinquish their committee membership, and a new student member will be selected by the student body.
- Eligibility for membership:
IV. Non-Voting Membership
- All members of the CRC are voting members.
V. Meetings and Operations
- Frequency of meetings:
- The committee will generally meet once a month. The Chair reserves the right to call for meetings more or less frequently depending upon the amount of work of the committee.
- Meetings may be cancelled at the discretion of the Chair. There will be no less than 8 meetings in an academic year.
- Meeting agendas
- Agendas for meetings shall be set in advance by the Chair and distributed to all members at least 48 hours before the meeting.
- The Chair shall seek regular input from the CRC membership regarding topics for discussion at future meetings and prioritization of existing topics.
- Meeting minutes
- Minutes will be kept for all CRC meetings
- Minutes will be suitably edited and formatted, reviewed by the Chair, and then distributed to the CRC membership.
- Minutes will be approved by a simple majority vote at a subsequent CRC meeting and posted on the CRC shared file drive not more than 2 weeks following their approval.
- Quorum and Voting
- The deliberations and decisions of the CRC are guided by the principles and values embodied in the YSM educational mission statement as well as the Yale System of education. A quorum of 9 members is required, and decisions will be based on a simple majority vote. In the event of a tie vote, the chair of the committee has the deciding vote.
- All members of the CRC are voting members and therefore may participate in votes.
- Votes may be taken either at a scheduled CRC meeting at which a quorum of members are physically in attendance, or virtually by way of email. The mechanics of voting in particular cases shall be determined by the Chair.
- Passage of a vote shall require an absolute majority of the voting members present (or of all members who respond within a pre-specified time window, in the case of an email vote).
- Votes shall be open (i.e. not secret ballot)
- The Chair may propose to hold other votes by secret ballot (in person or via email) in exceptional circumstances, when this seems necessary to ensure the integrity of the vote. Such a change must be agreed upon in advance by the full CRC.
- When votes that are not by secret ballot are taken by email, a list of all votes shall be made available to any CRC member upon request.
Expectations of CRC Membership
- It is the expectation of the board that all members attend a minimum of two thirds of the meetings (not counting excused absences).
- Members who cannot meet this expectation are expected to reconsider their membership and may wish to step down
- Continued failure to attend greater than two thirds of the meetings in a given year will result in removal from the Committee.
- CRC members are expected to be actively engaged in matters under discussion, and to educate themselves as needed on these matters.
- Elected CRC members shall communicate regularly with their constituents to update them on CRC discussions and activities.
Content: VII. Bylaws
These Bylaws shall serve as a binding framework for CRC operations.
- These bylaws may be amended when necessary.
- Any member of CRC may communicate proposed amendments or revisions to the chair.
- Revisions shall be presented to the CRC at a full meeting for discussion.
- Proposed amendments will be sent out to the full CRC membership at least one week prior to the discussion and voting.
- Revisions approved by a majority of voting members at a meeting shall be incorporated into the Bylaws.
VIII. Sub-Committees
There are no sub-committees constituted by the CRC.
- OPTIONAL: Working groups may be constituted as needed by vote of the committee or the prerogative of the chair.
- Working groups are intended to be specifically task oriented and time limited.
- Working groups may include individuals who are not members of the CRC.
- Working groups will be expected to make recommendations to the CRC, at which time the CRC will consider such recommendations for approval.