ATLAS Procedures Guide V1.0
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PCMD, Universities of Exeter & Plymouth
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Operational Procedures Guide, revision 1.0
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1. Atlas overview ................................................................................................ 3
1.1. What this document provides .................................................................................3
1.2. What this document does not provide ...................................................................3
2. Academic year procedures .............................................................................. 4
2.1. Creating a new academic year.................................................................................4
2.2. Student enrolment ..................................................................................................4
2.3. Applied Medical Knowledge (AMK) .........................................................................4
2.4. Special Study Units (SSU) .........................................................................................5
2.5. Plenaries ..................................................................................................................5
3. Recurring procedures ...................................................................................... 6
3.1. Benchmarking ..........................................................................................................6
3.2. Applied Medical Knowledge (AMK) .........................................................................6
3.3. Dental tests ..............................................................................................................7
3.4. SSU selections and allocations ................................................................................7
4. Ad-hoc procedures .......................................................................................... 8
4.1. Student updates ......................................................................................................8
4.2. Staff updates............................................................................................................8
4.3. Miscellaneous updates ............................................................................................8
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1. Atlas overview
“ATLAS” is an acronym for “Academic Tutor Logbook Access System”. However, this is
only a single component of the system known as “Atlas”.
Atlas is a collection of web-based (intranet) software components which can be installed
on an appropriate set of systems for use by medical students and administrative
personnel.
1.1. What this document provides
This document is provided for Atlas administrators responsible for maintaining the
application on their internal network throughout the academic year.
Please note that details will differ according to implemented policies and features. Atlas
can be used in a variety of ways and this document cannot cover all possibilities.
1.2. What this document does not provide
This document does NOT provide:
Atlas installation (refer to the Atlas Installation Guide)
an overview of Atlas, its features, or “how-to” guides
usage recommendations
integration with optional facilities. Atlas outputs information in formats such as
XML and ICS which can be used by systems such as SharePoint, Outlook and many
other standard IT components.
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2. Academic year procedures
A number of procedures must be completed prior to the start of an academic year to
ensure Atlas is ready for use by administrators and students.
2.1. Creating a new academic year
To create a new academic year, enter the details in the generic_info. academic_years
table with the start and end dates. This is normally performed around half-way through
the current academic year before students start to select SSUs or Plenaries for the
following year.
For example:
INSERT INTO GENERIC_INFO.academic_years
(acyear,startdate,enddate,live,y5_startdate)
VALUES ('2012/13','30-JUL-12','28-JUL-13','Y','15-OCT-12');
2.2. Student enrolment
A list of new stage 1 students is provided by Registry Services once the online enrolment
process has been completed. This list is imported from Excel (or another suitable
format) into the logbook.students and logbook.student_yeargroup tables.
2.2.1. Student year group update
Students moving to the next academic year will already have a record in the
logbook.students table, but the logbook.student_yeargroup table must be updated
accordingly.
Students who are intercalating are marked with an ‘i’ in the stage field rather than the
year.
2.2.2. Graduating students
Students graduating from stage 5 are flagged with a ‘Y’ in the logbook.students
‘graduated’ field.
2.3. Applied Medical Knowledge (AMK)
AMK progress test placeholders are defined for each of the four tests prior to the first
medical programme. This is achieved with the Oracle stored procedure named
populate_amk_tests which is passed dates published in the academic timetable
provided by Registry Services, e.g.
EXEC POPULATE_AMK_TESTS('2012/13','PT-41',' 24-OCT-12','16-JAN-
13','13-MAR-13','22-MAY-13');
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2.4. Special Study Units (SSU)
SSU data is imported or manually entered into the database:
Create SSU presentations from the calendar for all SSU locality teams.
Presentations are the same for all localities. Benchmarking dates are sometimes
provided later as an ad-hoc event.
Populate the ssu.designator_locality table accordingly.
Populate the ssu.designator_theme table accordingly. The ‘release’ date field
must be set to the end of the academic year.
2.5. Plenaries
Plenary sessions for the next academic year are copied from a previous academic year.
This is achieved by executing the Oracle stored procedure named
ssu.rollover_plenary_year, i.e.
EXEC ROLLOVER_PLENARY_YEAR (source_year_id, destination_year_id);
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3. Recurring procedures
The following processes are performed several times during the academic year.
3.1. Benchmarking
Two benchmarking types require file administration:
SSU benchmarking: scripts will be replaced or resources such as video links will be
provided with dates from SSU locality teams.
PA and Elective Benchmarking: new scripts are uploaded as requested. Typically,
two or three new scripts are provided every year.
3.2. Applied Medical Knowledge (AMK)
Applied Medical Knowledge progress tests occur four times per year. Occasionally,
results are added for re-sits.
Data is provided by Registry Services and imported into the database using the Oracle
SQL Loader or another appropriate tool. Following the import, the p_grade_amk stored
procedure must be executed to:
create grade boundaries
grade students for the current progress test, and
calculate an aggregate grade for the current and all previous tests.
This process takes approximately twenty minutes. Separate documentation is available
for AMK Progress Testing procedures implemented by the PCMD.
3.2.1. AMK post-test meeting
Following the AMK post-test meeting, the following information is entered:
1. The stage 5 pass mark.
2. Withdrawn questions and re-keyed answers.
3. The release date and time.
The grading process is now re-run – this normally takes ten minutes.
Blueprint data sent from Assessment Analysts/Psychometricians is then imported using
the Oracle SQL Loader or another appropriate tool (it is normally sent in a format which
requires no further examination or manipulation).
3.2.2. EC Committee
Following the EC Committee, Registry Services send a list of required changes to AMK
grades for students with valid extenuating circumstances. In some cases, the original
score may be negated to ensure it is not displayed to the student.
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3.3. Dental tests
Dental progress and Science for Dentistry tests occur several times per year.
Data is sent from Registry Services or the Assessment Analysts/Psychometricians and
imported into the database using Oracle SQL Loader or another appropriate tool. No
further procedures need be run since analysis has already been completed.
3.4. SSU selections and allocations
SSU dates are entered into the database using the SQL update scripts.
Note that dates may be decided close to the opening selection period for the SSU theme
and student stage owing to difficulty in finding sufficient SSU providers for some
themes. Therefore, SSU administrators have the ability to add SSU allocations using the
Atlas web interface. However, this can be time-consuming for large lists so data may be
provided in Excel or another suitable format for import into the database using Oracle
SQL Loader or another appropriate tool.
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4. Ad-hoc procedures
Database information may need to be manually updated in response to specific events
occurring throughout the academic year. The most common are listed below:
4.1. Student updates
The logbook.students and other tables require modification when:
The student changes name as a result of marriage, divorce, deed poll etc.
The student withdraws or interrupts their study
A request is made for a patient encounter to be deleted
An encounter date is modified
4.2. Staff updates
Appropriate staff tables may require modification when:
A new staff member starts
A staff member leaves
A staff member requires a change of user permission
A tutor is granted temporary access to student records in Atlas (an entry is made
in the temp_access table).
4.3. Miscellaneous updates
Appropriate tables may require modification when:
The pass marks for Dental progress or Science for Dentistry tests are changed
after the data has been imported. Grades will normally be amended using an SQL
update script.
Reports and data export. Specific reports and data export may be requested on an
ad-hoc basis by Registry Services, students or tutors, e.g. an export of all clinical
encounters for a particular individual.
