School of Medicine & Public Health – Student Transfers for Health Professions Programs

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Policy Number:

SMPH-8080

Old Policy Number:

80.80

Responsible Office:

SMPH Office of Academic Affairs

School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) Policy

Rationale/​Purpose:

School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) health professions programs offer innovative and highly integrated courses of study that are not conducive to accepting transfer students. This policy establishes parameters for the rare instances in which transfer students may be accepted into SMPH health professions programs.

Definitions:

Educational Policy & Curriculum Committee

The faculty committee responsible for authoring and oversight of the medical degree curriculum and the program-specific academic policies that govern it and its students.

Health professions program

Any of the SMPH Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Physical Therapy, Master of Genetic Counselor Studies, Master of Physician Assistant Studies, and Master of Public Health programs.

Transfer student

Any student seeking to gain admission to an SMPH health professions program when not admitted as an entering first-year student and/or having completed one or more years of the program at a different institution.

Policy:

1. Due to the highly integrated and longitudinal nature of the SMPH health professions programs’ curricula, beginning immediately upon matriculation, transfer students are not accepted.
2. A written petition for an exception must clearly document that the transferring student’s education can only be completed at SMPH and must state why the student’s original institution cannot fulfill the training needs of the student.
3. Master of Public Health (MPH) students:
   1. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the MPH program, certain coursework may be eligible for transfer of credit, waiver, or substitution.
   2. Requests for transfer, waiver, or substitution must be made to the MPH student services coordinator for consideration by the Educational Policy & Curriculum Committee (EPCC).
      1. Students must follow the approval process set out by the MPH program.
      2. Courses submitted for transfer, waiver, or substitution must meet the EPCC's stated criteria.

Policy Administration

Approval Authority:

Dean, School of Medicine and Public Health

Policy Manager:

SMPH Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

Contact:

Director of Education Accreditation and Compliance -- Megan Heneke, megan.heneke@wisc.edu, (608) 265-4811

Effective Date:

05-19-2017

Date Issued:

05-19-2017

Revised Dates:

04-27-2023, 05-01-2020, 05-01-2017, In practice since before 2005

Retrieved:

01-14-2025 14:06:29