Just received this email. P/F is officially being implemented:
Hi Everyone,
As the new Senior Associate Dean for Educational Affairs I want to welcome you to the University of Florida College of Medicine and to inform you about an important change in our medical education program. Over 40 medical schools currently have pass/fail grading in their pre-clinical curriculum including UCSF, Univ. of Michigan and Univ. of Virginia. Further, research has shown that pass/fail grading in the first two years of medical school significantly decreases student stress, without any adverse effect on student scores on national licensing exams or the students ability to match into the most competitive residencies. With these important issues in mind, we have decided to implement pass/fail grading for the first two years of medical school beginning in August, 2010.
Those with experience in pass/fail grading systems have noted that in the absence of grades, there is more emphasis on student learning; collaboration and teamwork among students; progressive mastery of competencies; and the enhancement of personal and professional development outside of the classroom. In a 2009 study that included over 1,200 residency program directors evaluation of the 14 most important factors that they use to evaluate applicants, performance in the required clinical clerkships ranked #1 while performance in preclinical courses ranked #12. We will continue to assign grades for the required clinical clerkship experiences during the third and fourth years. I have attached three articles that may be of interest that address some of these issues.
We are confident that this change will have significant benefits for you and your personal development.
If you have any questions about the change in our grading system, please feel free to contact me. I look forward to meeting and working with you in the years ahead.
Best regards
Joseph C. Fantone, M.D.
Professor, Department of Pathology
Senior Associate Dean for Educational Affairs
University of Florida College of Medicine