Preamble:
The fundamentals of the new clinical core involve defining and assuring specific patient encounters that all students should experience in each block and create opportunities for the student to pursue self-directed learning. To this end, we are implementing a required process of experience tracking in each block. Students will use experience logs to track specific patient experiences and problems seen during the block. This provides an opportunity for students to tailor their subsequent learning to meet the required learning goals in the clinical block. Students will also have the opportunity to seek out specific clinical areas of interest and document their experiences. For example, a student interested in becoming a cardiologist might complete all the required clinical problems in the Internal Medicine Block and use the log to discuss and document seeing more patients with Congestive Heart Failure or Myocardial Infarction.

By logging clinical experiences students are creating their own clinical learning portfolio that will 1) assure required learning goals are met, 2) shape self-directed learning, 3) aid discussions with faculty about clinical experiences, and 4) provide documented information that could be used in future residency program interviews to highlight experience and skill. The University of Colorado SOM experience-tracking system is modeled after required residency training program systems assuring that the student will be fully equipped to use these systems in the future.

The following stipulations will be required in the clinical core blocks:

1. All students will be required to have the experience log program loaded on either a functional PDA and/or computer and understand how to enter patient data and create the required report. Training sessions will be held before the start of clinical core blocks.
2. ED&R will handle technical support and problem issues that the students encounter.
3. At each clerkship block orientation, a block will review the required clinical experiences that students will be expected to track for the course. The Clinical Block Learning Log Policy will be reviewed.
4. Students will be required to electronically log patient experiences that are specific to each clinical core block to pass the course. Students can enter patient experiences on PDAs (synching to the internet) or on the web via a computer. Paper entry forms will be provided to students but they must be transferred to the computer to create an electronic record in a timely manner during the course.
5. Completion of learning log activities is considered a professional responsibility and falsification of entries will be considered an Honor Code violation, which will be referred to the Honor Code Counsel.
6. If the electronic learning logs are not completed for the block an Incomplete Pass (IP) grade will be assigned the students until the learning logs are done. This will also result in a professionalism report being filed with the professionalism committee.
7. Midway through the clinical block*, students must print out an electronic report of their learning log, review and discuss the electronic log report with their immediate supervisor, and forward a copy of the log report signed by themselves and their supervisor to the clinical block administrative office for review by the clinical block director. This should create the opportunity for student – faculty feedback and discussions focused on helping students experience the full breath of patient experiences during the remaining part of the course.
   *Clinical Blocks with less than 2 weeks are excluded from the requirement of student-supervisor mid-course experience log review. However, to assure the clinical block learning goals are being met the clinical block director will review students learning logs.
8. As these learning log activities are a new addition to clinical blocks, Clerkship Block Directors reserve the right to address unforeseen student circumstances. Clerkship Block Directors will communicate these circumstances back to the Clerkship Block Directors meeting to further refine this policy.