Foundations Phase FAQ

You may remember some of these items from your orientation. Please reach out to foundmed@uw.edu if you have any questions.

A complete list of all the graduation requirements for your cohort is listed on the Graduation Requirements Policy page. 

This list includes:

  • All the courses that you will register for in the Foundations Phase
  • All the clinical rotations and courses you must register for in the Patient Care and Explore & Focus Phases

A quarterly breakdown of all the courses students complete during the first year and a half are listed on the Foundations Phase page.

Students are required to attend all sessions listed in the UW School of Medicine Attendance Policy page.

This site includes the attendance policies for the Foundations and clinical phases.

Different people will have different answers. These are the top 5 from the Curriculum team:

  1. Be an active participant in the curriculum. Attend classes, do your coursework, and get to know your peers, faculty, and staff. This curriculum was created for you to succeed, and your faculty make improvements each year based on student feedback.
  2. Take time to care for yourself. Medical school is hard so please do not be afraid to ask for help. Please reach out if you have ANY questions:
    • General curriculum (all 4 years): somcurr@uw.edu
      • This address goes to the Curriculum Deans.
    • Foundations-specific questions: foundmed@uw.edu
      • This address is monitored by curriculum staff members. If we do not know the answer, we’ll find someone who does.
    • Complete list of all your Block Faculty and Staff at all campuses: Foundations Directory
  3. Stay on top of your coursework. Do your pre-class work for sessions before you get to class and complete the recommended follow-up. There are recordings of all large group sessions from Seattle. If you miss a session, be sure to find a way to watch the recording as this will help reinforce learning. This curriculum is intended to build on content as students go through it.
  4. Try not to get overwhelmed with all the additional resources available to medical students. There are a million extra resources that are out there for students. If course directors think a resource will benefit your learning in a particular block, then they will recommend it. Reach out if you have questions about additional resources.
  5. Complete your end-of-block evaluations. Your feedback is what makes the curriculum better! Every year, each block undergoes a change management process that reviews student feedback to help improve the next iteration of the block. Your feedback on these evaluations is crucial to make constructive course improvements. Thank you so much for your time on these evaluations. WE APPRECIATE IT!

Course materials are available 2 weeks before the start of every block or course. You can access your course materials via Canvas.

Exams are on Monday or Friday mornings. Exam times vary depending on your Foundations campus and can be found on your Elentra calendar. You will need to log in via SSO, using your UW Net ID.

The School of Medicine Assessment team sends exam schedules to students at the start of every quarter.

Email Testing Services at somtests@uw.edu if you have questions about your exams/tests.

The contact list for absences depends on the course or activity you will miss. Please review the UW School of Medicine Attendance Policy page for more information.

More information about assessment and exams can be found on the Foundations Grading and Assessment page.

Email Testing Services at somtests@uw.edu if you have questions.

Scores from exams and other assessments are available via Canvas. The gradebook will show your current grade at any point, based on which assessments have been completed and their weight toward the final grade.

We really hope that this does not happen. If it does, you will first be notified by the block or thread director. Then the Student Progress Committee (SPC) will discuss your case. SPC is the governing body that approves students for remediation.

When a plan is approved, you will work with the Assistant Dean of Basic Sciences (Edith Wang, PhD) and your course directors to remediate your fail grade or achieve competency.

Additional information can be found on the Remediation website and the Assessment page.

Students have the right to review, challenge, or appeal grades. Please visit the Foundations Grade Review, Challenge, and Appeal Process page for more information.

You don’t have to worry about your clinical phases yet!  There is some clerkship planning you will be doing while you are in your Foundations Phase (like applying to a Special Program – WRITE, Olympic LIC, and/or Track – if you are interested), but not until the summer of your second year.

If you are curious about the Clinical Curriculum you can go to our Patient Care Phase website to find out more. A general timeline of clinical planning is below. You will receive communications from the Clinical Curriculum and Registration teams in the lead up to any processes noted below.

Please reach out to these monitored emails. We will refer your questions to those who can help answer best: