Research Guides: VTCSOM Library &amp; Learning Commons: Acronyms

This guide has been developed to provide meanings (and at times context) to acronyms you may come across while at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, Virginia Tech, and to some degree, across the field of medicine. Other commonly used acronyms from VT can be found here.

If you come across an acronym that isn't listed on this page that you think should be listed, please email us at vtcsomlibrary@vt.edu so it can be added (even if you don't know what it stands for, let us know it exists and we'll find out what it means!).

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | #s

(note, use the double arrows on the right-hand side of the page to jump back up to the top)

A

AAMC = American Association of Medical Colleges

ABMS = American Board of Medical Specialties

ACCME = Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education

Accredits organizations that provide continuing medical education for physicians.

ACE = Accredited Continuing Education

ACGME = Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education

ACGME Competencies:

Practice-Based Learning and Improvement (PBLI)
Patient Care and Procedural Skills (PCPS)
Systems-Based Practice (SBP)
Medical Knowledge (MK)
Interpersonal and Communication Skills (ICS)
Professionalism (PROF)

ACO = Accountable Care Organization

a group of health care providers that work together to give Medicare patients coordinated care

ACR = American College of Radiation

AEDs = Automated External Defibrillators

Devices are located throughout the HS&T campus

AI (multiple uses)

= Acting Internship

= Appreciative Inquiry

= Artificial Intelligence

AMA = American Medical Association

APGO = Association of Professors of Gynecology & Obstetrics

API = Application Programming Interface

a mechanism to connect two or more systems

APRT = Appointments, Promotion, Retention, and Tenure (Committee)

APT = Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure (Committee)

AR (multiple uses)

= Augmented Reality

= Away Rotations

AY = Academic Year

B

B&B = Boards & Beyond

3rd party educational product VTCSOM provides a subscription to medical students to augment and enhance learning outside the classroom

BIC-1 = Block Integration Curriculum 1

Prior to the curriculum change in 2024, this was the VTCSOM committee that worked on developing and modifying the curriculum and learning experiences for M1 & M2 preclinical (Phase 1) students.

BIC2 = Block Integration Curriculum 2

This is the VTCSOM committee that works on developing and modifying the curriculum and learning experiences for M3 & M4 clinical (Phase 2) students.

BFC = Bradley Free Clinic

BOG / BOTG = Boots on the Ground

BOGG = Boots on the Ground Group(s)

BS = Basic Sciences

One of the four domains of the VTCSOM

C

CAPS = Clinical Advancement and Patient Safety

CARE = Clinical Awareness and Reflection Experience

C³ARE:

Clinician interviews
Community
Clinical half-day

CAS = Customized Assessment Services

NBME exam format that will be used in IFS course as part of curriculum starting in summer 2024

CBHDS = Center for Biostatistics and Health Data Science

Research support service provided by Virginia Tech

CBME = Competency-Based Medical Education

CBSE = Comprehensive Basic Science Examination

CBSSA = Comprehensive Basic Science Self-Assessment

CC = Clinical Competency

CCAP = Canvas Cohort Assessment Page

CCI = Community and Clinical Immersions

One of five new courses starting in 2024 for preclinical section of curriculum that contains LACE and BOG.

CCSE (multiple uses)

= Comprehensive Clinical Science Examination

= Comprehensive Clinical Skills Exam

CCSSA = Comprehensive Clinical Science Self-Assessment

CCT = Course Continuity Team

Oversees IFS course

CD = (multiple uses)

= Clerkship Director

= Competency Domain

Patient Care (PC)
Medical Knowledge (MK)
Systems-Based Practice (SLP)
Problem-Based Learning and Improvement (PBLI)
Professionalism (PROF)
Interpersonal and Communication Skills (ICS)

CEAB = Community Engagement Advisory Board

CK = Clinical Knowledge

CLE = Community Learning Exchange

CM = Concept Maps

CME = Continuing Medical Education

CNH = Children's National Hospital

CNRIC = Children's National Research & Innovation Campus (Washington, DC)

COI = Conflict of Interest

COW = Case of the Week

CPE = Continuing Professional Education

CQI = Continuous Quality Improvement

CR = Curriculum Representative

Starting with the Class of 2028, each class will have a student representative who will serve as liaison to connect student feedback, comments, questions, concerns forward to curriculum faculty and provide faculty feedback about the curriculum to the class.

CRC = Corporate Research Center (Blacksburg, VA)

CRCH = Carilion Roanoke Community Hospital

CRMH = Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital

CRQ = Constructed Response Question(s)

CS = Clinical Science(s)

One of the four domains of the VTCSOM

CSE = Clinical Simulation Exam

CSRPS = Center for Simulation Research and Patient Safety

CST = Core Strategy Team

CVHR = Center for Vascular and Heart Research

Annual Symposium held at Fralin Biomedical Research Institute

CY = Calendar Year

D

DCI = Data Collection Instrument

DEI = Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

DiSC/DISC = Dominance (D), Influence (I), Steadiness (S), and Conscientiousness (C)

DiSC (or DISC)assessment is a tool used to understand individual and group behaviors, preferences, and communication styles, and can be applied to various aspects of medical education, such as team dynamics, leadership development, and patient interactions.

DLBHF MSC = Dr. Lorna Breen Hero's Foundation Medical Student Coalition

An organization focused on improving the well-being of healthcare workers

DoIT = Division of IT (Virginia Tech)

E

EBE = End of Block Evaluations

EBM = Evidence-Based Medicine

EBP = Evidence-Based Practice

ECE = Early Clinical Experience

Former title for VTCSOM's longitudinal immersion course that contains LACE and BOG. Will not be officially used going forward in the curriculum post-2024, but acronym exists in some draft materials and pre-2024 curriculum documents.

eFAST = Extended Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma

non-invasive ultrasound exam that helps doctors evaluate patients with chest or abdominal trauma

EGS = Emergency General Surgery

EHR = Electronic Health Record

EM = Emergency Medicine

EMR = Electronic Medical Record(s)

EMS = Emergency Medical Services

EMQ = Extended Matching Question (exam question type)

Question type typically used in exams to test applied knowledge and diagnostic reasoning skills.

EOB = End of Block

EoS = End of Semester

EPA = Entrustable Professional Activities

Epic = Epic Systems

Electronic health records program used by Carilion

EPO = Educational Program Objectives

ERAS = Electronic Residency Application System

ERM = Error Reflection Method

Method/worksheet to use the information from quiz/test results to focus on the "why" a response was incorrect in order to address the underlying cause of the error.

F

F = Fail (grading)

F&A = Facilities & Administrative (costs)

Typically referred to in grants as the indirect costs associated with conducting research

F.A.C.E.T = acronym used during All-Hands meetings for periodic updates from specific groups:

Facilities and New Building Updates
Accreditation Process
Curriculum
Enrollment Growth & Program Development
Transition Monitoring Team (TMT)

FBRI = Fralin Biomedical Research Institute

FERPA = Family Education Rights and Privacy Act

FREIDA = Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database

FSMB = Federation of State Medical Boards

FTE = Full Time Equivalent

FY = Fiscal Year

G

GME = Graduate Medical Education

GI = Gastrointestinal

GPSS = Graduate & Professional Student Senate

GQ = Graduate Questionnaire

GR = Grand Rounds

GU = Genitourinary

GWIMS = Group on Women in Medicine and Science

H

H = Honors (grading)

HART = Health Analytics Research Team

Research support service provided by Carilion Clinic

HCE = Health Care Ethics

HCP = Healthcare Professional

HEENOT = Head, Ears, Eyes, Nose, Oral, Throat

HEENT = Head, Ears, Eyes, Nose, Throat

HERS = Health Professions Education Research Series

18 month cohort training program offered by TEACH

HIPPA = Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

HM = Harmonized Milestone

HMA = Harmonized Milestone Assessment

HP = High Pass (grading)

HPI = History of Present Illness

HSIS = Health Systems & Implementation Science

Department within the VTCSOM

HS&T = Health Sciences & Technology (campus)

HSS = Health Systems Science

Includes the study of how healthcare delivery systems provide high quality, high value care to the patients and populations they serve and the teams of healthcare professionals from a variety of disciplines who work together to deliver this care.

HSSIP = Health Systems Science and Interprofessional Practice

One of the four domains of the VTCSOM
One of five new courses starting in 2024 for the preclinical curriculum

HST = Health Sciences and Technology

Hx = History

I

I2I = Inquiry to Impact

IAMSE = International Association of Medical Science Educators

ICE (multiple uses)

= In-class Exam

= Integrated Case-based Essay

ICS (multiple uses)

= Interpersonal and Communication Skills

= Interprofessional Collaborative Skills

IDR = Interdisciplinary Rounds

IDT = Interdisciplinary Teams

IEO = (Office of) Inclusive Excellence & Opportunity

IFS = Integrated Foundational Sciences.

One of five new courses starting in 2024 for preclinical section of curriculum that contains BS and CS.

ILP = Individual Learning Plan

IP (multiple uses)

= Intellectual Property

= Internet Protocol (IP address)

= Interprofessional Practice

Refers to teams of healthcare professionals from a variety of disciplines working together to deliver high quality healthcare

IRB = Institutional Review Board

University entity that approves all human-subject research prior to any human-subject research taking place

IS = Illness Scripts

ISA = Independent Student Analysis

ISP = (multiple uses)

= Individual/Individualized Study Plan

= Intensive Study Period

ISR = Interdepartmental Service Request

Process used to transfer funds between departments in the university

iTHRIV = integrated Translational Health Research Institute of Virginia

J

K

KPI = Key Performance Indicators

KSA = Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

L

LACE = Longitudinal Ambulatory Care Experience

LASSI = Learning and Study Strategies Inventory

LCME = Liaison Committee on Medical Education

National organization responsible for accrediting medical education programs

LCME DCI = Data Collection Instrument

LCME ISA = Independent Student Analysis

LEAC = Learning Environment Advocacy Committee

LETs-C = Library and Educational Technologies Committee

Committee name prior to 2021

LIFT = Local Impact for Tomorrow

Community program VTCSOM partners with for student (BOG) educational experiences

LITAC = Library & Instructional Technology Advisory Committee

Committee started in 2024 to re-establish the previous LETs-C with a new charge and committee structure

LLM = Large Language Modeling

Often used for AI computational applications, seeing an increase of this type of technology being used in medical settings (e.g. medical records)

LO / LOS = Learning Outcome(s)

LOD = Letters of Distinction

Historical context, last used in Phase 1 curriculum for the Class of 2027

M

M1 = 1st year medical student

M2 = 2nd year medical student

M3 = 3rd year medical student

M4 = 4th year medical student

MALL = Master Adaptive Learner Log

MCC = Medical Curriculum Committee

MCQ = Multiple Choice Question(s)

MD = Physician (Medical Doctor)

MDT = Module Delivery Template

MELT = Medical Education Leadership Team

MEQ = Modified Essay Question(s)

MERC (multiple uses)

= Medical Education Research Certificate (offered by the AAMC)

= Musculoskeletal Education and Research Center (VTCSOM)

MeSH = Medical Subject Headings

Form of controlled vocabulary most often used when searching PubMed or Medline

MIL = Methods in Logic

MK = Medical Knowledge

MMI (multiple uses)

= Maximum Medical Improvement

= Multiple Mini Interview

Series of short assessments used to evaluate "soft" skills such as communication, teamwork, cultural sensitivity, and collegiality

MOA = Memorandum of Agreement

MOU = Memorandum of Understanding

MSAC = Medical Student Admissions Committee

MSAG = Medical School Advisory Group

External consultant group that assists with the LCME accreditation review

MSC (multiple uses)

= Medical Student Chapter

= Medical Student Coalition

MSK = Musculoskeletal

MSPE = Medical Student Performance Evaluation

A written transcript of the student's performance in medical school and a required component of the residency application.

MSPPC = Medical Student Performance and Promotion Committee

This VTCSOM committee has the ultimate responsibility for overseeing the student professionalism system.
They have the delegated responsibility for overseeing all processes by which students are promoted, evaluated, or removed from their academic program.

MSQ = Matriculating Student Questionnaire

N

NBME = National Board of Medical Examiners

NBME CAS = NBME Customized Assessment Services

NCAT = National Clinical Assessment Tool

NCAT-EM = National Clinical Assessment Tool in the Emergency Department

NG = Nasogastric (tube)

NLP = Natural Language Processing

NM = Nurse-Midwife/Midwives

NP = Nurse-Practitioner(s)

NRMP = National Resident Matching Program

O

OEA = Office for Equity and Accessibility

Coordinates and supports civil rights compliance and offers resources to address workplace conflicts for the university.

OME = Office of Medical Education

OR&I = Office of Research and Innovation

This group has oversight of all of Virginia Tech's research activities for the university (IRB, IACUC, sponsored programs, compliance, etc.).

OSA = Office of Student Affairs

OSCE = Objective Structured Clinical Examination

OSIG = Orthopaedic Student Interest Group

OSR = Organization of Student Representatives

OVPRI = Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation

Previous name of Virginia Tech's office that oversees all aspects of research for the university (IRB, IACUC, sponsored programs, compliance, etc.). This is a common acronym on several grants and extensions.

P

P = Pass (grading)

PA = Physician's Assistant

PATH = Pregnancy Access to Health

Program started in 2025 under the OBGYN SIG (Student Interest Group) that connects pairs of medical students to underserved pregnant patients that may be going through pregnancy alone and/or those who may benefit from added support while navigating the healthcare system.

PBL = Problem-Based Learning

PBLI = Practice-Based Learning and Improvement

PBR = Pioneers in Biomedical Research

Seminar series

PC (multiple uses)

= Patient Care

= Primary Care

PCPS = Patient Care and Procedural Skills

PDSA = Plan, Do, Study, Act

a method for testing changes in healthcare to improve quality

PE (multiple uses)

= Physical Exam/Examination

= Program Evaluation

PENs (multiple uses)

= Physical Examination Notes

= Post-Encounter Notes

PGY = Post Graduate Year

PGY-1 is the first year after graduating from medical school and is an intern position
PGY-2 and higher are considered residency positions

PHS = Population Health Sciences

PI = (multiple uses)

= Primary Institution

= Primary Investigator

PIC-1 = Phase 1 Integration Committee

With the start of the new curriculum in 2024, this VTCSOM committee works on developing and modifying the curriculum and learning experiences for all preclinical students

PIC 2/3 = Phase 2 & 3 Integration Committee

With the start of the new curriculum in 2024, this VTCSOM committee works on developing and modifying the curriculum and learning experiences for all clinical students and is developing the new phases of the curriculum as VTCSOM moves to a 3-phase structure.

POC = Point of Care

POCUS = Point of Care Ultrasound

POMI = Profession of Medicine Identities

One of five new courses starting in 2024 for preclinical curriculum
2-week immersion course, incorporates CARE and C³ARE

PROF = Professionalism

PT = Physical Therapy

Q

Qbank = Question Bank (exam prep tools)

QR (code) = Quick Response (code)

R

R&I = Research & Inquiry

One of the four domains of the VTCSOM

RAP = Running Assessment Performance

RBIA = Roanoke Blacksburg Innovation Alliance

an organization focused on growing the region’s technology and biotechnology sectors

RFA = Request for Application

Often used when applying for grant funding

RFI = Request for Information

RGSA = Roanoke Graduate Student Association

RHEC = Roanoke Higher Education Center

RIC = Research & Innovation Campus (Washington, DC)

Shortened abbreviation sometimes used for the Children's National Research & Innovation Campus (CNRIC)
Not the same as Virginia Tech's Innovation Campus (which is located in Alexandria, VA)

RIP = Research in Progress

Seminar series

RISE = Retention, Inclusion, Success, and Empowerment in Medicine (aka RISE in Medicine)

RMH = (Carilion) Roanoke Memorial Hospital

ROS = Review of Systems

RPSS = Research Proposal Step-back Session

S

S = Subcompetency

When used in conjunction with VTCSOM's Competency Domains (CD), for instance:

CD2_S9 = Medical Knowledge, Basic science foundation
CD3_S16 = Systems-based Practice, Quality improvement
CD5_S32 = Professionalism, Conscientious behaviors

SACS = Southern Association of Colleges and Schools

SADME = Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education

SAQ = Short Answer Question(s)

SBA = Single Best Answer (exam question type)

Question type typically used in exams to identify gaps in your knowledge.

SBAR = Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation

a tool used to share information clearly and concisely, particularly in healthcare settings

SBP = Systems-Based Practice

SCHEV = State Council of Higher Education for Virginia

SDOH = Social Determinants of Health

SIG = Student Interest Group(s)

SIM = Simulations

SIP = Scholarship in Progress

SLOE = Standardized Letter of Evaluation

a required document for all Emergency Medicine (EM) residency applications.

SOGI = Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

SOP = Standard Operating Procedures

SOAP (multiple uses)

= Subjective, Objective, Assessment, & Plan

= Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program

SOAR = Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Results

often used in strategic planning

SOW = Statement of Work

SS = Self Study

e.g. SS (self study) report for LCME accreditation

SSD = Services for Students with Disabilities

SP = Standardized Patient

SPAL = Special Projects Anatomy Lab

SSO = Single Sign On (for logging into VT resources)

SWOT = Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats

T

TBA = To be Announced

TBN = To be Named

TEACH = Teaching Excellence Academy for Collaborative Healthcare

TMT = Transition Monitoring Team

Starting in Dec 2024, this team will be monitoring the changes and implementations as the VTCSOM begins to explore and incrementally expand its class sizes.

TTR = Transition to Residency

U

UME = Undergraduate Medical Education

URiM or URIM = Underrepresented in Medicine

URM = Underrepresented Minority

US = Ultrasound

USMLE = United States Medical Licensing Examination

The exam administered by NBME and is comprised of three separate exams (steps)

Step 1 assesses the basic sciences skills and concepts taught during pre-clerkship curriculum.

Step 2 CK assesses clinical knowledge and skills that can be applied to patient care under supervision.

Step 3 assesses in-depth clinical knowledge and decision-making to be able to care for patients independently.

V

VAMC = Veterans Affairs Medical Center

VHRC = Virginia Harm Reduction Coalition

VIAL = Virginia Intercollegiate Anatomy Lab

VITAL = Virginia Innovations and Technology Advancements in Life Sciences

2025 project that plans to establish new research cores, expand workforce development programs, and create a collaborative network connecting Virginia Tech and other academic institutions with industry partners across the commonwealth’s biotechnology corridor (partnership between VTCSOM, FBRI, Carilion, and RBIA.

VR = Virtual Reality

VSLO = Visiting Student Learning Opportunities

VT = Virginia Tech

VTCSOM = Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine

VTF = Virginia Tech Foundation

W

WAC = Wellness Advocacy Committee

WBA = Work-based Assessment

X

Y

Y2Q = Year 2 Questionnaire

Administered by the AAMC, this online questionnaire asks second-year medical students to share their thoughts on a variety of topics.

Z

#s (Acronyms that start with or that have numbers)

2FA = Two-Factor Authentication

Authentication step required to log into all VT-associated accounts - Canvas, Library resources, etc.