Course Grades

Understanding how Rocky Vista University calculates grades, quality points, class rank, and academic standing is important throughout enrollment.   

Explanation of Grades

The Preclinical Curriculum: MCOM requires a score of 70 or above to pass all courses; any score below 70.0 is failing.   

Final course grades on the student’s transcript will only be shown as an Honors (“H”), Pass (“P”), or Fail (“F”) grade. For numerically scored courses, any student achieving a score ≥ 90.0% will receive an Honors (“H”) course grade on the transcript. Students scoring between 70.0 and 89.9% will receive Pass (“P”) course grade on the transcript. Those receiving a score of < 70.0% will receive a Fail (“F”) course grade on the transcript. By convention, the Learning Management System (LMS) reports a 3-digit numeric score to represent the final course score percentage and is converted to an H, P, or F on the transcript. For example, an "89.9%" course score is submitted by the LMS as a "899" and reported on the transcript as a "P". Some courses at MCOM do not accumulate numeric scores. For these courses, an Honors, Pass or Fail is assigned not only for the transcript but also for the course, and these grades do not contribute to the determination of quality points or class rank.    

For the majority of MCOM courses in the preclinical years, if an overall course mean falls below 83%, whole raw course points will be added to each student's overall course grade such that the course mean is adjusted to as close to an 83% as possible, without exceeding an 83%.  

Clinical Education

Final course grades are determined and approved by the Clerkship Director based on student performance in the clinical clerkship using the NBME Subject Exam, Clinical Clerkship Faculty Assessment of Student Doctors on Clinical Rotation, and curricular participation with Engaged Learning Sessions (ELS), Asynchronous Didactics, Clinical Experience Learning Logs and SMART goals. Qualitative comments from evaluations are not scored in calculating final grades and are incorporated in the MSPE/recommendation letters. Transcript designations are:

H: Honors 
HP: High Pass 
P: Pass
F: Fail
Px: Pass with Remediation

  • Honors: Exceptional performance in all areas, demonstrating outstanding clinical knowledge, technical skills, and professional behavior. Students show leadership and initiative. Performance exceeds 80% of peers.
  • High Pass: Above-average performance with strong clinical knowledge and skills, though not at the Honors level. Students meet or exceed expectations consistently. Performance exceeds 60% of peers.
  • Pass: Satisfactory competency, meeting minimum expectations for clinical knowledge, skills, and behavior. Students are competent but have areas for improvement. Up to 60% will receive Pass.
  • Fail: Insufficient proficiency in clinical knowledge, skills, or professional behavior, signaling the need for significant improvement.
  • Px: Pass with Remediation.

The final grade for the clinical rotation is calculated using a weighted combination of three key components:

  1. NBME Subject (Shelf) Exam – 50%
    The NBME exam score is normalized to account for exam difficulty and the performance of the student cohort. This ensures a fair and standardized assessment across different testing periods.  Minimum passing threshold range are recommended by NBME with a target of 7.5th percentile or higher.
  2. Preceptor Evaluations – 30%
    Preceptors Assessment Rubric evaluates students based on patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning, and systems-based practice in real-world clinical settings. Multiple evaluations from different supervising preceptors who worked with the student may be factored into a composite final evaluation.  These composite scores will be calculated as a pro-rata conversion of quarterly normalized evaluation data.
  3. Professionalism and Communication – 20%
    This category evaluates students on professionalism, ethical behavior, communication with patients and healthcare teams, and engagement in the Clinical Education Curriculum (e.g. asynchronous didactics and Engaged Learning Sessions, Clinical Experience Learning Logs (CELL), SMART Goals).
    • Preceptor Assessment Rubric composite scores related to professionalism and communication assessment are utilized to calculate as a pro-rata conversion of quarterly normalized evaluation data (e.g. 10% of total grade calculation).
    • Professionalism & Communication Rubric scores are utilized to calculate as a pro-rata conversion of quarterly normalized evaluation data (e.g. 10% of total grade calculation)

Minimum Performance Requirements for Passing

To pass the clerkship, students must:

  • Score at or above the bottom 5th percentile on the NBME Subject Exam
  • Meet expectations (or higher) on all mandatory assignments, evaluations, and professionalism criteria
  • Complete the required documentation (e.g., Clinical Experience Learning Logs, SMART Goals)