Emergency Transfers: Time for reform

[Guero]

Concisely, I'm seeking thoughts and feedback from verified institutional administrators and faculty at the executive level at medical schools (@LizzyM) across the country regarding emergent medical school transfers of students in good standing.

Transfers are warrantably rare and difficult. However, despite myriad legitimate reasons, including a history of physical assault taking place at the school and other details that shall remain undisclosed, a serious consideration made on behalf of the student's home school never came to fruition.

More specifically, the few requests capable of being made within the time constraints of the executive dean, via phone, to other schools were either immediately denied without due review, or were delayed despite a preclinical record of success, citing the need to await USMLE scores. I believe this is an unacceptable default practice with outcomes that may ultimately result in many acute on chronic exacerbations of underlying issues as our medical student population continues to improve its recruitment of those underrepresented in medicine, including gender and sexual minorities.

How can we begin to reform transfer regulations to make explicit considerations of whether or not an expeditious review be made to fully evaluate the gravity of each request wherein, say, assault, hostile environments, and/or immediate family emergencies are involved?


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[Guero]

I really thought we'd see more debate on this. That's so sad.


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[otterxavier]

These are really important questions and I agree that they deserve much more discussion than they currently get. I wonder whether you'd get more responses in a different section of the forum. While access to emergent transfers is an issue for LGBTQ students who are facing hostility, violence, and institutional inaction, it's also relevant to students from other marginalized communities, and many others. (For example, students who've experienced sexual assault or intimate partner abuse, particularly at the hands of someone affiliated with their school). Posting in this subforum may unnecessarily limit the audience for this discussion.

 

[Guero]

These are really important questions and I agree that they deserve much more discussion than they currently get. I wonder whether you'd get more responses in a different section of the forum. While access to emergent transfers is an issue for LGBTQ students who are facing hostility, violence, and institutional inaction, it's also relevant to students from other marginalized communities, and many others. (For example, students who've experienced sexual assault or intimate partner abuse, particularly at the hands of someone affiliated with their school). Posting in this subforum may unnecessarily limit the audience for this discussion.

Thank you! I agree entirely. Perhaps we should ask @Tantacles if it should be moved to the main underrepresented in medicine forum? And maybe my @LizzyM tag didn't register? She's usually great about responding stat to like everything.


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[tantacles]

Thank you! I agree entirely. Perhaps we should ask @Tantacles if it should be moved to the main underrepresented in medicine forum? And maybe my @LizzyM tag didn't register? She's usually great about responding stat to like everything.


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I think this forum is less trafficked than many, which is why there's less activity. I have no objection to moving this thread, particularly since LGBTQ people are not the only ones subjected to systematic violence.

While I love the idea of emergency transfers and think they should absolutely exist, I also recognize a number of practical issues, particularly if a student is in the first year, as medical school curricula vary significantly and you can not simply drop a student into another curriculum without creating some significant issues with regard to education.

I do hear you, though. I think we need some way to transfer a student if a situation arises that puts the student in danger at their home school. There are tons of competing priorities at play, so I don't have any great suggestions, particularly since this is an issue that hasn't come up for me.

 

[LizzyM]

To accept a transfer, a school needs to have the capacity to take another student and needs to determine if the student will be a good fit with the school's mission and culture. A small proportion of a class takes the majority of the administration's time and no one wants to take a transfer who has issues that will be a time sink.
I suspect that some schools are full and it doesn't take long to hear a request and say "we are at capacity". If the reason for the request is related to a problem, I can see many schools being unwilling to take that on.

 

[Guero]

Great points, thanks! I've been aware of many of the intricacies, like finishing second year being pretty much the only prime time to make an attempt. But I never really considered the perception of the underlying "problem" as a potential concern or hindrance, very enlightening. I've been wanting to formally address the issue, either myself or by spearheading someone else with more time and/or expertise to take the lead. And I presume an AMSA or AMA leadership conference might be the best potential forum. Any additional thoughts?


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[wholeheartedly]

I don't know much about this, but I'd suspect the starting point for something like this and generating interest in the topic would be conduct some sort of needs assessment to determine how frequently this is an issue, what types of situations cause a need for emergency transfers, barriers to those transfers, existing policies or unofficial "policies" on these transfers.

How you'd get this info is a whole different issue...