Medical School Student Computer Policies for Entering Class of 2017

== Laptop Requirements Page – FAQ Page ==

Laptop Requirements

In order to fully utilize information resources required by the faculty during your education and be able to complete online examinations, the school requires that all incoming medical students bring a pre-configured laptop that meets the university’s hardware, software and data security requirements.

Please visit http://www.dell.com/mpp/uthtmc and choose one of the available models based on your computing needs and touchscreen/resolution preference. Please order your laptop at least four weeks before orientation in order to ensure that your laptop will arrive in time.

NOTE: The configurations listed above have been configured to meet the current McGovern Medical School minimum hardware and software requirements. During the purchase process (on Dell’s website listed above), you will be able to upgrade certain options including: CPU, storage capacity, RAM and warranty coverage.

Once you receive your laptop, please enable BitLocker full-disk encryption, Windows log on password and a 15 minute inactivity timeout. A document containing step-by-step instructions on how to complete these steps is available on the student section of the Medical School Information Technology (MSIT) website: https://med.uth.edu/msit/students/

Direct Link: Windows 10 BitLocker Encryption Guide [pdf]

Very Important! When you enable BitLocker on your computer, please save your BitLocker encryption key in a safe location. This key will be required to recover your data should Windows get corrupted. Remember to keep a current backup of all of your important files!

NOTE: To maintain compatibility with online exam software, please DO NOT upgrade the operating system on your laptop until you receive approval from Educational Programs or MSIT.

Protection of Patient, Research and University Data

As a medical student you will have access to patient, research, or University data. The storage of that data on non-University computers puts patient privacy at risk and it is not in line with the security standards of the University. Non-University computers could be unencrypted, have weak or no passwords, are sometimes shared, and generally not managed by University IT staff and therefore should not be used to store University data.  University data should be saved to encrypted flash drives.

For a list of approved, encrypted, external hard drives and flash drives please visit: https://med.uth.edu/msit/policies/approved-portable-devices/

You are required to attend the computer orientation with your laptop so that your laptop can be configured, certified and approved for use on campus. Please be advised that an MSIT approved laptop is required in order for you to participate in required classroom activities and online examinations. Students will have the option of having their laptops configured with wireless and VPN during orientation. Once full-disk encryption and hardware/software requirements are verified, a non-transferable, tamper-evident sticker will be placed on your laptop, indicating that your laptop has been verified by MSIT and that it met all the requirements at the time it was inspected. In order to stay compliant with UT IT Security policies, do not disable full-disk encryption or remove the login password for your Windows account. If you have questions or need assistance please check our  FAQ page or contact the Lan Manager listed below (e-mail is preferred).

Contact Info

If you have questions about these requirements or need further assistance, please contact:

Ted Lo
Systems & Applications Specialist I
Medical School Information Technology
Location: Room MSB G.200 (Learning Resource Center – LRC)
Phone: 713-500-5162
Email: [email protected]
Ticket Request: https://uthealth.service-now.com/uthealth

See Laptop Requirements For Incoming Classes of: 2022 – 2021 – 2020 – 2019 – 2018 – 2017

== Laptop Requirements Page – FAQ Page ==

Date Content Last Modified: November 27, 2019 16:46 GMT