Official Transcript Grades

The following designations are used in Axess to report performance in pre-clerkship courses:

• Pass (+) indicates that a student has demonstrated, to the satisfaction of the responsible department or teaching group, that they have mastered the material taught in the course.
• Incomplete (I) indicates that extenuating medical or personal circumstances beyond the student’s control have prevented completion of course requirements. 
• Continuing (N) indicates that the course has not concluded, and that the student is continuing the course or that a minor component of a course (as defined by the course director) is pending.
• Grade Not Reported (GNR) indicates that a grade has not been reported by the instructor.

School of Medicine Internal Grades

In addition to grades in Axess, the following designations for pre-clerkship courses are tracked internally by the School of Medicine through the Medical Education Platform (MEP):

• Continuing (N) indicates that a student has not completed all course requirements and/or did not perform satisfactorily on one or more individual sections of course assessments.
• Marginal Pass (MP) indicates that a student has fallen short of meeting minimal performance standards for a pass, but has done better than a fail, and additional work or remediation is necessary to achieve a pass. Students have not achieved the passing criteria on course assessments; there may be moderate concerns about the student’s professional behavior in the course; and/or the student’s performance in in-class activities has raised moderate concerns about knowledge and competence. MP grades are entered as an N grade in Axess.
  
• Fail (F) indicates that a student has not met the minimum performance standards for the course. The student had significant areas of concern on course assessments, (using the criteria above for N Grade or Marginal Pass); there may be significant concerns about the student’s professional behavior in the course; and/or the student’s performance in in-class activities has raised significant concerns about knowledge and competence. Failing grades do not show up on the official transcript. 
• Incomplete (I) indicates a student has satisfactorily completed a substantial part (but not all) of the course work. Students must request an incomplete grade by the last class meeting after meeting with their Academic Advising Dean.

updated August 2023

All required pre-clerkship courses must provide students formal mid-quarter feedback of performance. Mid-quarter feedback must be provided early enough to allow a student the opportunity to improve their performance before the end of the course. Mid-quarter feedback should be provided by the mid-point of the course, and by the end of the 5^th week for standard 10-week courses. Mid-quarter feedback is recorded in the Medical Education Platform (MEP) student record system.

updated August 2023

Narrative assessment is provided to medical students in courses where the primary mode of instruction includes small group activities (typically up to 12 students per group), small clinical reasoning, clinical skills, and/or team-based learning where attendance is required and there is longitudinal direct contact with an individual faculty member for at least 10 hours during the course.   

In other pre-clerkship courses, where the primary mode of instruction takes place in lectures with occasional small group activities narrative assessments may be provided at the end of the course if attendance for the sessions is required and individual faculty have had at least 10 hours of direct contact time with the student during the course.  

In addition, faculty may provide narrative comments if they so choose when submitting mid-quarter feedback for each student via the Medical Education Platform (MEP) student record system.

updated August 2023

The End-Quarter Period is a time of reduced social and extracurricular activity preceding final examinations. Its purpose is to permit students to concentrate on academic work and to prepare for final examinations.

During the End-Quarter Period, classes are regularly scheduled, and assignments made; this regular class time is used by instructors in whatever way seems best suited to the completion and summation of course material. Instructors should neither make extraordinary assignments nor announce additional course meetings in order to “catch up” on course presentations that have fallen behind. They are free, however, and even encouraged to conduct review sessions and to suggest other activities that might seem appropriate for students preparing for final examinations.

Students are expected to remain on campus during the end-quarter period and are advised to avoid planning activities that might conflict with course commitments and final exam preparation during this week.

No final examinations should be given during the End-Quarter Period except:

1. In classes where graded homework assignments or quizzes are routine parts of the instruction process.
2. In classes with laboratories where the final examination will not test the laboratory component. In such a case, the laboratory session(s) during the End- Quarter Period may be used to examine students on that aspect of the course.
3. In Practice of Medicine, in which previously scheduled standardized patient (SP) assessments are permitted during the End-Quarter Period.
4. In Science of Medicine, in which assessments may be maximally spread out in order to account for student wellness.

Major papers or projects about which the student has had reasonable notice may be called due in the End-Quarter Period. Take-home final examinations, given in place of the officially scheduled in-class examination, may be distributed in the End-Quarter Period. Although the instructor may ask students to return take-home examinations early in the final examination period, the instructor may not call them due until the end of the regularly scheduled examination time for that course. Such a policy respects the principle that students’ final examinations are to be scheduled over a period of several days.

For additional information, see Section 5.3 Exam Policy for Pre-clerkship Courses.

Please note: In the COVID-era and beyond, there may be marked changes to the above policies. Our procedures will need to adapt to the changing landscape of county, state, and university regulations.

updated August 2023

All pre-clerkship academic deficiencies (e.g., Failure (F), Marginal Pass (MP), Continuing (N), Incomplete (INC)) will be reviewed by the Committee on Performance, Professionalism, and Promotion (CP3) and must be corrected within a time limit specifically set by the course director or the CP3 in the individual case and prior to: promotion to second year pre-clerkship student for first year pre-clerkship students; or promotion to clinical medical student for second year pre-clerkship students. For additional information, see Section 6.5: Chart of Responses to Student Issues.

Students receiving a marginal pass in a pre-clerkship course should meet with the appropriate faculty and discuss the requirements for achieving an unqualified passing grade. Once a student achieves a “pass,” the performance will no longer be recorded as “marginal” in the student’s record. 

Students who fail a pre-clerkship course should meet with the appropriate faculty and discuss the requirements for achieving an unqualified passing grade. If this cannot be achieved through remediation (as determined by the Course Director or the CP3) then the student must retake and pass the course when it is next offered.

Departments are encouraged to provide educational assistance to students failing required courses on the first-year grid, preferably during the first summer quarter following receipt of a failing grade, and to reexamine such students prior to autumn quarter registration.

Students failing courses on the autumn and winter quarter grids for the second year should, as a general proposition, be given the opportunity to correct these deficiencies prior to July 1 of that academic year. Students who receive an incomplete grade because of extenuating medical or personal circumstances should, once again as a general rule, be given the opportunity to correct the incomplete grade, in a manner specified by the department or responsible teaching group, prior to: promotion to second year pre-clerkship student for first year pre-clerkship students; or promotion to clinical medical student for second year pre-clerkship students. Courses such as those in the Practice of Medicine sequence, where hands-on activities and small group interactions constitute a significant portion of the course, may require retaking of the course the following year.

Pre-clerkship deficiencies and corrections are recorded as internal “School of Medicine grades” in the Medical Education Platform (MEP) student record system, where students may view and track their academic progress. 

updated August 2023

Evaluation of performance in the Foundations of Medicine course are graded on a pass/fail basis. It is the prerogative of each course director to determine the best method for assessing student performance for their course. Each course will outline requirements, assessments, and passing scores in their syllabi and/or individual course Canvas page, and it is the student’s responsibility to familiarize themselves with these for each course.

updated August 2023

Please note the general course policies below; however, the individual course Canvas pages and syllabi have the most up-to-date information on the grading and course policies.

Grading

After each quarter, students will receive a Pass (+), Continuing (N), Marginal Pass (MP), Fail (-), or Incomplete (I) grade in the POM series courses (INDE 201 - INDE 206). The grade is based on completion of quarter course requirements, satisfactory performance on course assessments, and professional behavior. 

Policy for Missed Assessments

Every student is expected to be present for each course assessment in the Practice of Medicine course. A formal Course Director's permission is required to make-up any missed course examination. It is recommended that students meet with their Academic Advising Dean prior to submitting a formal request for any missed course assessment. A Course Director's permission may be issued before a regularly scheduled assessment or examination to accommodate some essential extracurricular event or after an examination for illness. A score of zero will be credited towards a student’s final score if an assessment or examination is missed without an Academic Advising Dean's permission and approval by the course director.

If a Course Director's permission is issued before a regularly scheduled assessment or examination to accommodate some essential extracurricular event, the student will be expected to take the scheduled makeup examination or assessment at Stanford. If the Course Director's permission extends beyond the second date because of some essential activity away from Stanford, then appropriate arrangements will be made within the resources of the course. Failure to make such an arrangement will result in a score of zero on that exam. A student who misses an assessment or examination with a Course Director's permission for illness should contact the POM course manager and appropriate arrangements will be made.

Policy for Remediation of a Continuing, Marginal Pass, Fail Grade in POM

All deficiencies in POM courses will be reviewed by the Committee on Performance, Professionalism, and Promotion (CP3) and must be corrected within a time limit specifically set by the course director or the CP3 in the individual case and prior to: promotion to second year pre-clerkship student for first year pre-clerkship students; or promotion to clinical medical student for second year pre-clerkship students. For additional information, see Section 6.5: Chart of Responses to Student Issues.

A student who receives a Continuing (N) in any quarter of the POM series (INDE 201-206) must complete outstanding course requirements to correct the grade to a Pass (+). The student will be allowed to continue through the POM sequence. Students who do not satisfactorily complete this plan of remediation within the prescribed time period will earn a Marginal Pass (MP) grade for the course.

A student who receives a Marginal Pass (MP) in any quarter of the POM series (INDE 201-206) must successfully complete a course of remediation tailored to student needs and course resources to correct the grade to a Pass (+). The student will not be allowed to continue through the POM sequence, unless provided special permission from the course director or the CP3. Students who do not satisfactorily complete this plan of remediation will earn a “Fail” grade for the course.

A student who receives a Fail in any quarter of the POM series (INDE 201-206) may be required to re-take that quarter the following year, including all required exercises and examinations. The student will not be allowed to continue through the POM sequence, unless provided special permission from the course director or the CP3. 

updated August 2023

Please note the general course policies below; however, the individual course Canvas pages and syllabi have the most up-to-date information on the grading and course policies.

Grading

Students will receive either a Pass or Fail assessment in the SOM series (INDE 221, INDE 222 or INDE 223) courses after each quarter. The grade will be based on scores in the assigned quizzes and the scheduled examinations. Each quarter has a different number of quizzes and examinations. Please see the individual syllabi for each quarter of SOM for specific details on the determination of grades and passing scores.

Policy for Missed Exams

Every student is expected to take each  midterm, end-quarter, and integrated examination in the Science of Medicine course at the time scheduled. The integrated final exam for each quarter of SOM is usually scheduled for the last day of Exam Week. Failure to sit for any  midterm, end-quarter, or integrated examination in the SOM course will earn a grade of “fail” for the course.

Policy for Remediation of a Fail Grade in an SOM Course

A student who receives a Fail (F) in any quarter of the SOM series (INDE 221, INDE 222 or INDE 223) will be reviewed by the Committee on Performance, Professionalism, and Promotion (CP3). At the discretion of the course director, a student who fails a quarter of Science of Medicine may be offered one opportunity to take a comprehensive Remedial Examination.

If offered, the Remedial Exam will cover all blocks in the course and will take place at the beginning of the next quarter. Vacation plans do not dictate when the exam will be taken. Passing this examination with a score of at least 70% will resolve the failing grade and the student may be allowed to continue through the SOM sequence. A failing score (less than 70% firm) will result in the need to retake the course.

updated August 2023