VCOM College Catalog and Student Handbook

If OMS 3 and OMS 4 students prefer to seek counseling services outside of these VCOM provided resources, the clinical site coordinator at their core rotation site can provide the information on local counseling services. This information is provided during the rotation orientation and at other times upon request. Counseling is confidential between the student and counselor. Only in cases where the student is required by the Promotion Board or the Professional and Ethics Standards Board to seek counseling for the purpose of student or patient safety is communication required between the counselor and administration, and only upon approval by the student. Academic Advising Each new student is assigned a biomedical faculty academic advisor at the beginning of their OMS 1 year. Students may seek advice from their OMS 1 faculty advisor any time they are experiencing difficulty. Faculty advisors are prepared to advise students on how to approach their studies (an adjustment in medical school due to increased volume of content to learn), how to improve their performance, or how to balance their studies with their health and other activities. During the students’ OMS 2 year, in addition to their biomedical faculty academic advisor, they are also assigned a clinical faculty academic advisor. The clinical advisor is able to provide guidance that is more specific to clinical content, future clinical rotations, and a clinical career. Academic advisors act as a mentors, role models, and guides for students. Advisors have no responsibility in advising the student as to VCOM policies and procedures and act as an academic mentor only. Faculty advisors maintain an open-door policy or students may request an appointment via email or phone. Students may also request to meet with members of the administration who can typically be reached in their offices Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; however, to assure sufficient time with the administrator, students are encouraged to make an appointment. Students in their OMS 3 and 4 years are provided guidance by the Director of Student Medical Education in their core hospital and by the Clinical Discipline Chairs. Students in the OMS 4 year are provided guidance by the Associate Dean for OMS 4 and GME, who meets with each student to counsel them on their readiness for residency. Students also meet with the Clinical Discipline Chairs according to the discipline the student is interested in for residency to learn more about the medical field and how to best prepare in their OMS 4 year for residency match to that discipline. Peer Tutoring VCOM provides peer tutoring free to first and second year students. Any student, regardless of academic performance, may attend a tutoring session. VCOM tutoring is offered in a study-group format. Sessions generally last 1 hour; however, may be longer or shorter depending upon the subject matter. The content of the peer tutoring session is designed to assist students in understanding the concepts covered in the curriculum, which in turn helps to prepare students for the upcoming examination. Peer tutors receive support and guidance from the Course Director, who may provide the peer tutor with a list frequently challenging concepts or topics to cover. Peer tutors may offer additional study material or utilize practice questions; however, the questions are not provided as ones that will be covered on the exam. Students remain responsible for adequately leaning all content on the exam. Students should come to the peer tutoring session prepared to participate by being aware of their areas of strength and weakness in relation to the curriculum and bringing suggestions for topics or questions. Students are informed in the beginning of the year of the existence of the peer tutoring program and schedules are provided throughout the year. After VCOM’s Medical Education Department publishes the block calendars, tutoring sessions are scheduled in preparation for upcoming exams, and published for the class.

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