
This Clinical Distinction Track is what Makes the Course Yours
What you do with this opportunity can shape your future.
Introduction
The Clinical Distinction course, first offered in the 2017-2018 year won two national awards because of the unique opportunity it provides medical students. Students are not simply given free time to do yet another elective in their chosen residency area but rather an opportunity to establish who they are, what makes them unique and capable of being a successful professional.
To get the most out of the Specialty Track course students are tasked with creating a contract of learning to commit to what they will study, what the outcomes will be and how they will be assessed. Working with a sponsor they are able to demonstrate competency growth in a way that allows residency directors to take notice.


Requirements
- Documented approval from Faculty Sponsor
- Rotation request form -Submitted via CED Connect
- Specialty Contract -this is different form than the Rotation Request. This is vital to the course.
- Specialty Completion Form: the Narrative evaluation– this is generated automatically when you do steps 1-3 correctly!
- Exit Interview: it’s up to you to arrange the best evaluation with your sponsor. It’s a good idea to do this before your sponsor finishes their portion of the evaluation form.
- Course Structure Evaluation: this is generated by new innovations and sent to you to give your opinions and experience about the course Clinical distinction so we can keep improving it for you!

There are 3 Steps to Passing Clinical Distinction Board Track.
- Get a contract of learning approved
- Complete your studies
- Complete the final form and have your academic mentor sign it
Steps 1 and 3 happen through an online form, the completion of which automates the process of approval, grading and reporting of your passing grade to the CED. Without completion of this form, you can’t pass the course.
Your Contract is Key to Success and Passing Clinical Distinction
Click the link to access the Specialty Track contract in canvas. Once you complete this form and click submit, it will be sent to your Academic Mentor. Once they approve your plan of study you’ll be immediately notified. If you aren’t notified that your contract was approved, some step in the process didn’t happen – see FAQ below. The contract is due on June 7th so you might want to draft it or meet with your mentor to discuss it during the week after classes end.
Students can choose to do 2 Specialty Tracks.
Your schedule in the third year requires you to complete Clinical Distinction twice. Everyone completes one Specialty Track. For your second CD course you can choose a second specialty track, a clerkship track or a board sucss track. It’s a good idea to meet with your course director or favorite mentor to talk about what will be the best choice for you.

More Information
As always your course director is the best person to guide you through the process of Clinical Distinction. There is a lot of information right on this website about Clinical Distinction

Assistant Dean of Faculty Development

Assistant Dean of Curriculum

Director of Enrollment Management and Student Success

Associate Director of Enrollment and Student Success

Associate Professor, Foundation and Biological Sciences

Administrative Coordinator of Faculty Development
Read all the pages in this section: Design Your Specialty Track
And also Check out these tools and resources.
Also check out the blog for lots of advanced tips:
Rubric of Entrustability
Thinking about using EPA’s as part of your Clinical Distinction Specialty Track Assessment Strategy? Understanding the rubric is imperative. First – let’s take a…
Board Success Walk Through
This blog details each step of the Board Success Track As with all other tracks the first steps to the Board Success track are…
Student Promotions Committee Placement
Students who have been directed to register for the Board Success track based on a recommendation from the Clinical Education Department (CED) or Student…
Real Estate and the MSPE
We call the MSPE the dean’s letter because it’s signed by the dean. It’s written in collaboration with the Director of Enrollment Management and…
Backup Sponsor 2
A backup sponsor is a role filled by your Clinical Distinction Course Director. As Backup Sponsor, they can In the worst case scenario, which…