XUSOM Examination Procedures and Policies

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BASIC SCIENCES EXAMINATIONS (YEARS 1 & 2)

EXAMINATION FORMAT AND GENERAL POLICIES

All exams are computerized and conducted in a separate area called the Test Centre.
All exams will be in the USMLE MCQ format.
Every question will be allotted a time of 80 seconds as per the USMLE timing.
All examinations will be taken by students on the date and time scheduled by the school and specified in the school calendar.
Stipulated days of preparation leave are given for the exams (For details see below under “Scheduling policies”)
Examinations in MD 1-5 include integrated quizzes, comprehensive exam and final exam in every system as well as the PDS exams for every semester

Each of these exams should be a reflection of the course objective covered during the preceding duration of teaching.
The three exams for every system (IQ, CQ and Final exam) will have questions from all subjects pooled and presented to students as one single exam (or as two units of the same exam)
Integrated quizzes (IQ) are conducted once in every two-three weeks in every system. These quizzes are unit-based and NOT cumulative. The quiz will not extend beyond 3 hours.
Comprehensive quiz (CQ) is a cumulative quiz conducted towards the end of a system in preparation for the final exam. The comprehensive quiz will not extend beyond 4 hours
Objective Structures Clinical Examination (OSCE) is conducted for one system per semester. Trained Standardized patients are utilized as the part of examination and the students are given 7 minutes for History taking and 10 to 15 min (depending on the OSCE) for Physical examination.
The final exams or system ending exams (SEE) will be NBME-CAS exams. NBME- CAS is the Customized Assessment Services (CAS) provided by the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME).
Integrated quizzes are reviewed in the classrooms by the respective faculty members after the quizzes. However, comprehensive quizzes and final exams will not be reviewed.

In MD6, examinations include Kaplan diagnostic test, Subject specific NBME shelf exams, Kaplan SIM final exam, OSCE, CBSE and USMLE step 1 exam

Kaplan Diagnostic Test is a preliminary “Check where you stand” test for MD6 students which may be used as a MD6 exam preparation tool
Subject specific NBME shelf exams are exams based on specialties by NBME and covers eight subjects (Anatomy, Behavioral Science, Biochemistry & Genetics, ICM, Microbiology & Immunology, Pathology, Pharmacology and Physiology). Each exam will follow a series of Kaplan online lectures for that subject
OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination): Students are required to take an OSCE exam ( CCSA-1) towards the end of the semester. This OSCE will be a comprehensive exam of all the OSCE-systems from MD1-5
Kaplan SIM Final exam is a Kaplan conducted USMLE Step 1 simulated exam and will be considered as the end of Kaplan course. Students who pass this exam and the CCSA–1 (MD6 OSCE) will be allowed to take the CBSE exam.
NBME Comprehensive Basic Science Examination (CBSE) is administered at the conclusion of MD6 and serves as the MD6 semester ending exam. Students who pass both the MD 6 Kaplan SIM Final exam and CBSE exam will be allowed to sit for the USMLE Step 1.
USMLE Step 1: To qualify for core clinical clerkships, students are required to pass the USMLE Step 1 exam. STUDENTS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED ‘COMPLETED THE BASIC SCIENCES’ UNTIL THEY HAVE PASSED USMLE STEP 1. STUDENTS CAN ONLY BEGIN CLINICAL SCIENCES ROTATIONS IN THE USA AND CANADA AFTER HAVING PASSED USMLE STEP 1, UNLESS GRANTED A WAIVER BY THE PROMOTIONS AND PROGRESS REVIEW COMMITTEE, THE DEAN OF BASIC SCIENCES AND THE DEAN OF CLINICAL SCIENCES.

In the Clinical Science, examinations include CCSE and the CCSA–2 (Kaplan’s USMLE 2 live assessment)

NBME Comprehensive Clinical Science Examination (CCSE) is administered after passing the USMLE Step 1. Students who pass the CCSE score of 222 and has finished all core rotation will be allowed to take USMLE Step 2 CK.
Kaplan’s USMLE 2 live assessment has to be completed by the student. Passing the Kaplan’s live assessment is determined by the Clinical Dean’s analysis of exam result.

EXAMINATION PROCEDURE TO BE FOLLOWED AT TEST CENTRE

All examinations are conducted in the NBME approved test center and are on security camera and recorded.
Students will receive a seat-terminal number fifteen minutes before the exam.
During the examinations, students are requested to place their bags at the front or back of the examination room as directed.
Electronic devices e.g. computers, PDA’s, and cell phones are not permitted in the examination room.
Students will receive an access examination sheet with username and password. Students must use the username and password to login for the examination.
Examinations will be proctored by faculty members allocated by the Dean, Student Affairs.
Students who arrive more than 5 minutes after the commencement of the examination will not be allowed to take the examination.
Students are not permitted to leave the examination room unattended once the exam has begun. Students who leave the examination room are not permitted to return, for any reason.
Communication between students is NOT permitted during the course of an examination.
Students found communicating with each other by whatever means, whether or not the communication is relevant to the examination, will be deemed to be using unfair means and will be required to leave the examination room. Such students may be subject to disciplinary proceedings by the Promotional Committee. The student may appeal the decision of the committee to the Dean, Basic Sciences or CAO.
Students are not permitted to bring eatables or drinks inside the test center. A prior permission has to be sought from the Promotions committee if the student requires special test accommodations.
Students are required to seek prior permission in-order to take breaks during examination. During the breaks, the integrity of the exam has to be maintained. If a student is found to have broken the integrity of the exam during the break (discussing with others, looking into learning resources, etc), then the student will not be permitted to re-enter the exam.
At the conclusion of each examination all exam sheets should be submitted to the proctor in charge.
For all the exams conducted via Web-conferencing due to COVID, appropriate testing environment rules mentioned above that are related to integrity of the exam will be applicable.
If the student is appearing the exam remotely via Web-conferencing then any form of communication (including reading the questions) during the test is forbidden.

EXAMINATION SCHEDULING POLICIES:

SCHEDULING POLICIES FOR MD 1-5:

Scheduling decision lies with the team comprised of coordinator (Eg. System chair, OSCE director, etc), Chair, curriculum committee and Dean, Student Affairs and shall be final and binding to students. However, Dean, Basic Science and CAO can revoke a rescheduling decision.
Schedules for all exams will be intimated to students at the beginning of the system/semester in the school calendar that will be posted on the student server. However, it shall also be specified in the calendar that exam dates are subject to change as deemed necessary by the system chairs/ Deans/ CAO.
The scheduled date and/or time of the integrated quiz is subject to change:

If there is a clash in scheduling of examination for many courses at the same time
If there is a public holiday on the scheduled date
If there were unforeseen situations/accidents in the test center (technical difficulties, laptop issues, server issues, internet issues and/or weather issues have the potential to delay examination)
At the discretion of Deans and CAO

Integrated quizzes:

Integrated quizzes (IQ) are conducted once in two or three weeks in every system.
Each system will have a minimum of one integrated quiz
Integrated quizzes are unit-based and NOT cumulative. For example, if the first integrated quiz is scheduled on the Monday of week 3 of a system, it will cover all areas taught in weeks 1 and 2. The second integrated quiz will cover all areas taught after the first quiz and so on.
As far as possible, integrated quizzes will be scheduled as the first school event (preferably 8 am) on the Monday of the scheduled week, to allow students enough preparation time over the weekend.
If an integrated quiz cannot be conducted on the Monday of the scheduled week, the syllabus covered during exam week preceding the examination will be omitted from the exam. (Eg: If the Integrated quiz is scheduled on a Tuesday, the syllabus covered on the Monday of the same week will not be included for the integrated quiz)
If multiple batches have integrated quizzes scheduled on the same day and for this reason, if one or more integrated quizzes need to be scheduled after 8 am (Eg. 10 am, 1 pm, etc), no teaching-learning sessions will be scheduled for the preceding hours of quiz, in other words, the quiz will still remain the first school event of the day.

Comprehensive quizzes:

A comprehensive quiz (CQ) will be conducted towards the end of most systems.
Where the final exam is an in-house exam there may be no separate comprehensive exam for the system.
Where the final exam is NBME- CAS exam, a comprehensive exam will be scheduled for the system a week before the NBME-CAS exam
Comprehensive quizzes are cumulative and include all the contents covered in the entire system.
A comprehensive exam is scheduled keeping in mind that a minimum of two days of preparation is allocated for students.
Scheduling of the exam is at the discretion of the Chairs, Deans and/or CAO.

Final exams (NBME-CAS):

For all the systems MD2 onwards, students are required to take the NBME-CAS as the final exam of the system.
A final exam is scheduled keeping in mind that a minimum of three days of preparation is allocated for students. Preparation leaves are allocated at the rate of one day per every running week of the system. In general, number of preparation leaves are as per the following guidelines:
Immediately after the comprehensive exam, every student of the system will receive all details about the NBME exam from the system chair in his/her school email. Every student is expected to periodically check their school emails for exam updates

Duration of the system	Minimum preparation leaves for final exam
3-5 weeks	3 days
5-7 weeks	4 days
> 7 weeks	5 days

Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE):

OSCE is administered as a part of the final exam for selective systems and is a part of the final grade of that Organ System.

It is a one-time exam at the end of the system.
may be scheduled before or after the comprehensive exam of the system and if absolutely necessary, after the NBME CAS for the system
dates are intimated to students at least two weeks in advance
is scheduled keeping in mind that a minimum of one day of advance preparation is allocated to students

Exams under Patient, Doctor, Society (PDS):

Exams under PDS include CASL (Critical appraisal of scientific literature) and epidemiology exams.
CASL exam is a one-time final exam at the end of every semester and will follow a single CASL lecture session also scheduled at the end of the semester
Epidemiology exam is a one-time final exam at the end of every semester and will follow a series of lecture sessions with in-built practice quizzes that will contribute to the final score

9. Students failing two or more courses in a semester must repeat the course/semester with total attendance.They are not eligible for remake exams. Student failing one class in a semester is eligible for a remake taken at the beginning of thee following semester. The passing score of the NBME remake exam is 50%. Students entering MD5 should not have any backlogs.

SCHEDULING POLICIES FOR MD6

The Kaplan Diagnostic Test: This will be held within the first week of commencement of the Live Lectures.
Subject specific NBME shelf exams: Scheduling of subject specific NBME shelf exams including Introduction to Clinical Sciences will be done by the MD6 system chair in consultation with Dean, Basic Sciences or CAO
MD6 OSCE exams: The dates of MD6 OSCE will be scheduled depending on availability of SPs, towards the end of the semester, and announced to students two weeks in advance.
NBME CBSE:

The first attempt for the CBSE is given at the conclusion of MD6. Students with a score 75% and above in the Kaplan Simulated exam will be given an immediate chance to take the CBSE in the school test center.
Students will be allowed a maximum of 2 attempts to pass this CBSE. Retake exams must be taken within 90 days of payment or the retake fee payment will be lost and the retake exam will be considered a failed attempt.
Students will be provided 6 months upon passing MD6 Kaplan finals to pass CBSE.

USMLE Step 1 Exam.

XUSOM will not process a request from any student to write USMLE Step 1, without a passing score of CBSE on file with the Registrar’s Office.
Students are required to take the USMLE Step 1 Exam within 3 months of passing the CBSE.
Students who do not take the USMLE Step 1 Exam in the stipulated 3 month timeline, will be required to repeat CBSE and pass the exam before they take their USMLE Step 1 exam. Failure to comply will result in academic dismissal.
Students failing USMLE Step 1 exam will have to enroll into remedial program as suggested by the Promotions and Progress Review Committee (PPRC) before they can be approved to take another attempt. The final decision is made by the Promotions and Progress Review Committee. This policy supersedes all the other policies related to the approval of USMLE Step 1 exam after a failure.

EXAMINATION RESCHEDULING POLICIES (for all semesters):

An exam date is subject to change based on several influencing factors including logistic issues, scheduling requirement of other student batches, technical issues in the test center, to name a few.
Nobody will be allowed to take the examinations EARLIER than scheduled for whatever reasons.
Rescheduling decision lies with the team comprised of coordinator (Eg. System chair, OSCE director, etc), Chair, curriculum committee and Dean, Student Affairs and shall be final and binding to students. However, Dean, Basic Science and CAO can revoke a rescheduling decision.

EXAMINATION GRADING AND ASSESSMENT POLICIES

GRADING AND ASSESSMENT POLICIES FOR MD1 to MD5:

For all exams, the following grading policy applies:
The following grid may be regarded as a general assessment policy for all system ending exams, with points to be noted listed under the grid

BELOW 70%	Fail
70%-89%	Pass
≥90%	Honors

MCQ based exams (65%)

Continuous assessment (a + b + c = 35%)

System ending NBME CAS exam = 50%

Quizzes = 15%

(CQ 7 or 8%, other IQs and subject quizzes 8 or 7 %)

Assessment during small group session (a %)

(Note: a = x + y + z)

Interactive assessment during lectures (b %)

Assignment (c %)

PBL/TBL sessions = x %)

Anatomy practical + small group lab sessions = y %

Clinical case presentation (CCP) = z %

b % of total marks

c % of total marks

The above grid is subject to change for different systems based on the components of teaching involved in the particular system.

In addition, for the Organ systems involving OSCE, 60% of the final theory grades will contribute to the final organ system grade and 40% of the final OSCE grade will contribute to the final organ system grade.

Final Theory Grade	Final OSCE Grade	Final Organ system grade
60%	40%	60% + 40% = 100%

The students have to attain a minimum score of 45% in System ending exam of each organ system, in addition to attaining a cumulative score of 70% overall in every organ system to be deemed as pass in Organ system.

The following grid for PDS may be regarded as a general assessment policy for all system ending exams

PDS components	MD1	MD2	MD3	MD4	MD5
CASL	25%	30%	50%	50%	50%
Professionalism + Medical humanities	25%	30%	50%	50%	-
Early clinical exposure- Outside XUSOM (Eg: GP score, neurologist score, hospital observership score, etc) Early clinical exposure- Logbook	25%	-	-	-	50%
Epidemiology	25%	40%	-	-	-

The students have to attain 70% in each of the PDS components in order to pass PDS course.

PROMOTIONS POLICIES FOR MD1 TO MD5 STUDENTS:

The decision towards promotion of student into higher term is made at the discretion of PPRC.
Students having multiple Organ system backlogs (failed courses) will not be promoted to higher term.
Students cannot carry any backlogs into MD6 semester. Students are required to repeat pending courses and complete all the backlogs before they can be promoted to MD6 semester.
Students failing the same course for the second time are subject to Academic Dismissal.

GRADING AND ASSESSMENT POLICIES FOR MD6:

Kaplan Diagnostic test: Those who fail to score 45% and above in the Diagnostic Test will be listed for customized monitoring for the rest of the semester.
NBME subject based shelf exams: A grade of 70% is considered as a Pass for the subject based shelf exams
OSCE: A grade of 70% is considered as a Pass in MD6 OSCE. Those who fail the OSCE will have to take an OSCE remake. Those who fail OSCE twice will repeat the MD6 course.
Kaplan SIM Final exam:

A grade of 51 is considered as a Pass in Kaplan Sim Final exam.
Students with less than 51 will repeat MD6 and live in Student Housing.
Students who score 51 and above in the Kaplan USMLE Step 1 simulated exam will proceed to school approved Preparatory Leave (PL) for 16 weeks. Leave of Absence (LOA) period will commence after week 16 and the LOA fees will be applicable. This is applicable to students who studied the whole basic sciences right from MD1 at Xavier University. This policy is not applicable to transfer students.
Students who score 75 and above in the Kaplan Simulated exam will be given an immediate chance to take the CBSE in the school test center

NBME CBSE:

The Current passing grade for CBSE is 65. Students will ONLY be permitted to take USMLE Step 1 after thorough evaluation of their academic performance in Basic Sciences including overall GPA , performance in NBME subject examination and customized NBME assessments. Students will not be allowed to sit for USMLE if they have any backlog subjects/examinations to clear.
Students have to pass the NBME CBSE in the first 12 weeks of their PL, and will be declared as PASS in MD6 semester.
If a student does not score 65 or above in the first attempt, he/she will be required to remake the CBSE exam.
Students in their second and third attempts of CBSE will be charged a remake exam fee. Retake exams must be taken within 90 days of payment or the retake fee payment will be lost and the retake exam will be considered a failed attempt.
If a student does not pass CBSE after 2 attempts, he/she will be required to repeat MD6 with full attendance in Aruba or be administratively withdrawn from XUSOM.
Following the repeat of MD6, the student must pass the CBSE on the first attempt, within 4 months with a score of 65. Failure to score 65 will be deemed as a failure of the MD6 course and administrative withdrawal from the school.
Students with four failures of CBSE will be dismissed from XUSOM for academic reasons. The student may apply for readmission in the basic sciences, and the Admissions Committee will determine what advanced credit the student will receive.
Students taking IFOM exam in place of CBSE are required to score a minimum of 78 in order to be allowed for USMLE Step 1.

6. USMLE Step 1 Examination

On passing NBME CBSE, students will be allowed to register for the USMLE Step 1 Examination.
Students who do not pass NBME CBSE and/or Step 1 within the 16 weeks of school approved PL will pay a LOA fee every month after week 16 till they pass MD6, i.e. CBSE followed by Step 1.
Students failing Step 1 have to enroll into a remedial program as suggested by the PPRC.
If the student does not pass Step 1 after 3 attempts, students is academically dismissed from XUSOM.

POLICIES FOR RELEASE OF GRADES (For all semesters):

Grades from integrated and comprehensive exams in MD 1-5 will be made available to the students by the system chair as soon as the exams are over.
At the conclusion of each final examination in MD 1-5, the consolidated results will be forwarded to the Registrar and will be available within 4 days of the end of the examination period ONLY on the SMS. A student will get access to the final exam results on the SMS ONLY after he/she has completed the system feedback questionnaire survey
Grades from all MD6 exams will be made available to students by the MD6 chair as soon as the same is received by the system chair from NBME/ Kaplan website
Grades from USMLE step 1 will be directly accessible to the students from USMLE

EXAMINATION REMAKE POLICIES (for all semesters):

Students failing to attend at the specified date and time of examinations for any reason will be treated as having failed the examination.
A remake exam is scheduled by the Dean, Student affairs, if a student:

has failed an exam in the first or subsequent attempts as per the grading policies of the school
has missed an exam with prior permission from the Dean, Student Affairs, Dean, Basic Sciences or CAO
has missed an exam without prior permission and the reason for missing is deemed by the Dean, Student Affairs/ Dean, Basic Sciences/ CAO to be due to genuine reasons/ unavoidable circumstances (Eg. Family emergencies)
with multiple remakes has exam conflicts
is nominated by the school to attend professional events such as conferences, volunteering, etc during a scheduled exam
has been permitted by the school to pursue a second-degree program with another university and the exam/ graduation/ convocation for that program conflicts with the XUSOM scheduled exam

A prior permission for missing an exam must be addressed to Dean, Student Affairs explaining the reasons for doing so, in writing. The decision to accept or reject the request lies with the Dean, Student Affairs and shall be final and binding to the student
All missed examinations without prior intimation must be reported to the Dean, Student Affairs within 12 hours.
It is the responsibility of the student who has missed/failed an exam, to make a letter of appeal to the Grievances Committee, with accompanying documents as soon as possible and request a schedule for a remake.
The remake exam will be scheduled only in the first week of the following semester. The students must attempt their remake exam on that date, failing which the student has to repeat the course.
No ‘remake-eligible’ student will be entertained to miss the remake or request for a reschedule of the remake except if there are conflicts of date and timings in case of multiple remakes.
In principle, all remake examinations will be different and more difficult than the regular examinations.
The students approved for remake of Organ system exam will be given one attempt to pass the Organ system remake exam. This remake exam will be a NBME exam (applicable for all the organ systems except Fundamental concepts where the student will be required to take the System ending exam). The student has to attain a minimum passing score of 55% in the Remake exam in-order to be deemed as pass in the remake exam. Students failing an Organ system remake exam is required to repeat the entire course in the following semester.

Clinical Science Examinations (YEARS 3 & 4)

METHODS OF EVALUATION

Evaluation of Clinical Science involves assessment during core and elective Rotations, the Comprehensive Clinical Science Exam (CCSE), Comprehensive Clinical Skills Assessment (CCSA-2) and the USMLE Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK).
Assessment at the core rotations involves:

Preceptor evaluation
Comprehensive exam and timely submission of patient logs
NBME final exam

Preceptor evaluation: Students are supervised by preceptors who monitor two oversights during core rotations – hospital oversight and central oversight.

Hospital oversight:

Assessment methods include monitoring of attendance, knowledge of differential diagnosis, initial & ongoing therapies, attitude, professional behavior, patient evaluation, case presentation and summaries (written and oral), technical skills.
Supervising faculty and Residents complete evaluations of students, including numerical ratings and narrative comments about performance across competencies, compiled by the clerkship director working with the grading committee.

Central oversight:

Students are responsible for maintaining an electronic log of clinical experiences in an ongoing manner for each required clerkship, in accordance with that clerkship’s requirements.
Failure of a student to maintain a log of required experiences and/or complete all required experiences or their equivalent on a daily basis will result in loss of credit for the patient log portion of the final grade.
All patient logs must be submitted within one day of seeing that patient. After two SMS log delinquency warning emails are sent out, the student will be placed on academic probation for that rotation. After three warnings of delinquency, the student will lose credit for the patient log portion of their final grade.
It is the student’s responsibility to get their logs signed by their preceptor at the competition of the clinical rotation.
It is the student’s responsibility to schedule a time to go over their Mid Rotation Feedback and have that form completed and signed by their preceptor at the midway point of the rotation. This form must be kept by the student, and a copy shall be sent to the clinical department for record. This feedback must include review of the electronic log of clinical experiences as well as an assessment of the student’s performance in comparison to clerkship objectives and School of Medicine performance milestones.

NBME final exam: There is a final exam required to be taken by students at the end of every core rotation.
NBME (CCSE): is administered at the conclusion of all core rotations. Students must pass the CCSE in order to be allowed to sit for the USMLE Step 2 CK.
Kaplan’s USMLE live assessment has to be completed to pass CCSA-2.

SCHEDULING AND GRADING POLICIES FOR CLINICAL ROTATIONS:

FOR CORE ROTATIONS

At the end of week 3, 6 and 9, the student should request a formal feedback session from the preceptor on their progress.
At the start of any core rotation, the student should ensure that the Shelf Examination (NBME) has been scheduled for the last week of their rotation. Exam scheduling instructions will come from the clinical department, and the NBME permit will come directly from NBME.
Final exam (NBME) has to be taken within 2 weeks of completion of every core rotation.
Failed NBME policy: The student has two attempts to pass the Shelf Examination, after which the student must repeat the rotation, with a “Fail” grade. After one failed NBME attempt, the student must retake the exam within 90 days. They will need to pay the retake exam fee and submit proof of a passing self-assessment to be scheduled. If the student does not take and pass the retake exam within 90 days the student will have to repeat the core rotation and the retake fee payment will be lost. It is the student’s responsibility to schedule the retake exam on time. After two failed NBME attempts, the core rotation will need to be repeated, and a third shelf attempt will be taken at the end of that course. Tuition for the course retake will be billed at the prevailing rate. A failed third attempt at the NBME will result in academic dismissal from the University.
Following the completion of all core rotations students will be allowed 4 weeks of study leave for USMLE step 2 CK.
In a situation resulting in significant delay in reporting of the USMLE Step 1 result by the NBME, students might be allowed to proceed to pre-clerkship elective rotation. This includes eight weeks of Research elective.
Credits for the pre-clerkship rotation will be only given when the students achieve a passing score in these electives and also pass USMLE Step 1.
Students are required to pass USMLE Step 1 before starting the core rotations.
Students shall not be able to claim financial refund in case they fail to successfully complete the pre-clerkship rotations and fail USMLE Step 1.
The final grade in the clerkship represents a contribution from two major components as follows:

The grading policy for clinical rotations:

Core rotations:

Preceptor evaluation	75%
Clinical Logs	10%
NBME	10%
Attendance	5%

Elective Rotations:

Preceptor evaluation	85%
Clinical Logs	10%
Attendance	5%

Preceptor evaluation: Preceptor evaluation includes two major components:

Six ACGME competencies (Medical knowledge, Patient care, Communication skills, System based practice, Professionalism, Lifelong learning skills)
Narrative evaluation: This is a non-numerical evaluation of the student on academic standing, ethical behavior and professional values in the student and is an important parameter in the final evaluation of the student

NBME final exam contributes to 10% of the total grade. The minimum passing score for any NBME Shelf exam is a 60.
Evaluation of student performance should use the following grades: Fail, Pass and Honors

BELOW 70%	Fail
70%-89%	Pass
≥90%	Honors

By school policy, Honors are assigned to no more than 45% of students in each core clerkship.

FOR ELECTIVE ROTATIONS

For Elective Rotations, examinations are at the discretion of the preceptor, and the information obtained is used in the overall preceptor evaluation of the student.

SCHEDULING AND GRADING POLICIES FOR CCSE/STEP 2 CK

NBME CCSE:

Students are required to submit proof of a passing self-assessment to be scheduled for the CCSE. A passing score of 222 on the CCSE is required to be academically eligible for USMLE Step 2 CK, without exception.
The first attempt for the CCSE is given at the conclusion of all core rotations.
Students will be allowed 3 attempts to pass CCSE.
Students who fail in the first attempt will go through a remedial plan and will be given a second attempt.
Students in their second and third attempts of CCSE will be charged remake exam fee. Retake exams must be taken within 90 days of payment or the retake fee payment will be lost and the retake exam will be considered a failed attempt.
A student who fails CCSE at the third attempt will be academically dismissed from Xavier University School of Medicine Aruba.

USMLE Step 2 CK:

USMLE Step 2 CK needs to be taken within 4 months of passing the NBME CCSE.
Students who do not take the USMLE Step 2 CK in the above-mentioned time period will be required to repeat CCSE and pass the exam. Students failing to comply to this are subject to administrative withdrawal.
Students failing first attempt will have to take remedial courses in consultation with Dean of Clinical Sciences, before being allowed second attempt.
Failing second attempt will require repeating core rotations/ remedial plans as approved by the Dean of Clinical Sciences.
A Student who fails the USMLE Step 2 CK three times will be academically dismissed from Xavier University.

Revised on: 20 May 2022