WWAMI Clinical Clerkship Site Affiliation Agreement Guide

html> WWAMI Clinical Clerkship Site Affiliation Agreement Guide

QUICK START GUIDE TO AFFILIATION AGREEMENTS

The University of Washington School of Medicine enters into affiliation agreements to meet the accreditation standards set by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). The pertinent text of LCME Standard 1.4, covering affiliation agreements, is as follows:

In the relationship between a medical school and its clinical affiliates, the educational program for all medical students remains under the control of the medical school’s faculty, as specified in written affiliation agreements that define the responsibilities of each party related to the medical education program. Written agreements are necessary with clinical affiliates that are used regularly for required clinical experiences; such agreements may also be warranted with other clinical facilities that have a significant role in the clinical education program. Such agreements provide for, at a minimum the following:

The assurance of medical student and faculty access to appropriate resources for medical student education
The primacy of the medical education program’s authority over academic affairs and the education/assessment of medical students
The role of the medical school in the appointment and assignment of faculty members with responsibility for medical student teaching
Specification of the responsibility for treatment and follow-up when a medical student is exposed to an infectious or environmental hazard or other occupational injury
The shared responsibility of the clinical affiliate and the medical school for creating and maintaining an appropriate learning environment
The School of Medicine interprets “other clinical facilities that have a significant role in the clinical education program” to mean those institutions providing inpatient medical care in which at least 50% of students spend at least 50% of their time during a given required clinical rotation.

An affiliation agreement defines the relationships and respective roles between the School of Medicine, the clinical clerkship site or medical institution and the student. The student’s presence within a hospital or medical institution requires that medical education guidelines are followed and student documentation is present. The affiliation agreement governs the student’s activities and dictates that those actions must be consistent with clinical clerkship site bylaws and medical staff rules & regulations. Before any student clinical rotations can begin, there must be an affiliation agreement exectuted between the clinical clerkship site and the School of Medicine.

Also important is that the Attorney General's Office of the State of Washington requires the School of Medicine to have an affiliation agreement in place with any institution which receives funding through the WWAMI clinical program.

The School of Medicine prefers to use the language drafted by the Washington State Attorney General's Office in its affiliation agreements. To begin the process of entering into an affiliation agreement with the School of Medicine, contact either the WWAMI Regional Affairs office in your state, or Scott Bailey at the Office of Academic Affairs in Seattle (sgbailey@uw.edu).

The School of Medicine's agreement template is four pages long and we are able to negotiate most of the terms that are not dictated by the LCME's accreditation requirements.

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