The MD program is designed for students to complete in 4 or 4.5 years depending on matriculation, with 2 years spent studying the Basic Sciences phase (Year 1 and Year 2) and 2 years spent completing the Clinical Studies phase (Year 3 and Year 4). Students may take additional time to remediate courses, prepare for Step exams (bridge time), or take LOA for a variety of reasons. However, students may not take more than 6 years from the date of matriculation to complete the MD program.
Students intending to start the Clinical phase of the curriculum in the US will typically use time between the Basic Sciences phase and Clinical phase to prepare for and take the USMLE Step 1. Students who complete the Basic Science phase in 2 years have up to 1 year to start the Clinical Phase and those who have taken 2.5 years have up to 6 months; however most students progress to clinicals within 3-5 months to ensure their timelines fit with ideal clerkship start dates, USMLE Step 2 schedules, and the ERAS/NRMP timing and are discouraged from taking an excessive amount of time between the phases unless content remediation for NBME, CBSE and for the Step 1 warrants additional preparation time.
Those students who have taken the maximum 3 years to complete the Basic Sciences must start their clinical studies in the US or the UK within 6 months of completing the Basic Sciences. In rare cases, students may have been granted an exception by the CAPPS to take additional time to complete the Basic Sciences. In such cases, students must progress from the Basic Sciences directly to the Clinical Science phase at the next available clerkship start date.
Regardless of when the clinical phase begins (the first clerkship), students must remain on track to complete the MD program within 6 years of matriculation. Due to the expectations and timeline for completing the clinical phase, any student with less than 2 years remaining timeline, who has not yet started the clerkship phase, or any student who delays progress during the clinical phase such that a 6-year completion is impossible, will be reviewed by the APRC and may be recommended for dismissal by the relevant Dean. Any student recommended for dismissal may appeal to the CAPPS.