Foundations Student Contact Hours Policy

The purpose of this policy is to define the contact hours for in-class and out of class curricular responsibilities that are monitored by the Faculty Curriculum Committee, in order to ensure students have sufficient time for independent study and development of lifelong learning skills (LCME elements 6.3, 8.8).

The general structure of Foundations modules is defined by the module director(s) and steering committee members in collaboration with the Department of Medical Education and approval by the Faculty Curriculum Committee (FCC). Content may be delivered in a variety of modalities, including required in class and out of class activities. The total duration of required activities should not exceed 20 hours per week when averaged over the length of the module, including those activities in Clinical Medicine.

All contact hours must be engaged (non-passive) learning. Self-directed learning (SDL) must be a component of the Foundations curriculum as applicable. At minimum, students must be involved in a minimum of 30 hours of formal self-directed learning activities within the Foundations curriculum, in the form of WrightQ.

The Faculty Curriculum Committee will regularly review contact hours within each of the Foundations modules as a part of the formal module evaluation process. Student contact hours are also monitored by the Department of Medical Education and reviewed with module directors prior to the beginning of each module.

Approved by FCC on May 27, 2015
Revised and approved by FCC on March 6, 2019