Introduction

PCCM Fellows Hub ("we," "our," or "the Platform") is a medical education technology platform designed for pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowship programs, faculty, and trainees. We are committed to protecting the privacy and security of our users' information. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our platform.

By accessing or using PCCM Fellows Hub, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with the terms of this policy, please do not access or use the Platform.

Information We Collect

Account Information

When you create an account, we collect your name, email address, institutional affiliation, and role (fellow, faculty, program director, or coordinator). For fellows, we also collect your training year (PGY level) and program enrollment information.

Educational Activity Data

We collect data about your learning activities on the platform, including quiz scores, question responses, study session duration, topic engagement, article reading progress, and AI tutor interaction history. This data is used to provide personalized learning recommendations and to generate program-level analytics for program directors.

Content Contributions

If you contribute questions, articles, or other educational content, we store your submissions along with your name and institutional affiliation for attribution and peer review purposes.

Technical Data

We automatically collect certain technical information, including your IP address, browser type, device information, and usage patterns. This data is used for security monitoring, performance optimization, and platform improvement.

Important Notice Regarding Protected Health Information (PHI)

PCCM Fellows Hub is a medical education platform, not a clinical system. We do not collect, store, process, or transmit Protected Health Information (PHI) as defined under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The platform does not interface with electronic health records (EHR), patient databases, or clinical systems.

All clinical scenarios, case simulations, and patient vignettes presented on the platform are entirely fictional and created for educational purposes only. No real patient data is used in any content on this platform.

Users must not enter any real patient information into the platform, including but not limited to the AI tutor, case simulations, feedback forms, or any other input field. Doing so violates our Terms of Service.

How We Use Your Information

Educational Delivery: To provide personalized learning experiences, track your progress, and generate study recommendations.

Program Analytics: To provide program directors with aggregated, de-identified cohort analytics and individual fellow progress reports.

Content Improvement: To improve the quality of questions, articles, and AI-generated content based on usage patterns.

Platform Security: To protect against unauthorized access, detect fraud, and ensure the integrity of the platform.

Communication: To send you important updates about your account, program notifications, and platform changes.

Research & Improvement: To analyze aggregated, de-identified usage data for platform improvement and educational research.

Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your information:

Encryption in Transit

All data transmitted between your browser and our servers is encrypted using TLS 1.3 (HTTPS).

Encryption at Rest

Sensitive data stored in our databases is encrypted using AES-256 encryption.

Access Controls

Role-based access controls ensure that users can only access data appropriate to their role.

Security Headers

We implement comprehensive HTTP security headers including HSTS, CSP, and X-Frame-Options.

Rate Limiting

API rate limiting protects against brute-force attacks and abuse.

Regular Audits

We conduct regular security reviews and vulnerability assessments.

Data Sharing & Disclosure

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties. We may share your information in the following limited circumstances:

Within Your Program: Your learning activity data may be shared with your program director and designated coordinators for educational oversight purposes.

Service Providers: We use trusted third-party services for hosting, email delivery, and AI processing. These providers are contractually obligated to protect your data.

Legal Requirements: We may disclose your information if required by law, court order, or governmental regulation.

Aggregated Data: We may share aggregated, de-identified data for research, benchmarking, or platform improvement purposes.

Data Retention

We retain your account information and educational activity data for the duration of your active enrollment in a fellowship program, plus an additional 3 years after program completion to support alumni access and longitudinal analytics. You may request deletion of your account and associated data at any time by contacting us.

Your Rights

You have the right to:

Access your personal data and request a copy

Correct inaccurate or incomplete information

Request deletion of your account and data

Opt out of non-essential communications

Request data portability in a machine-readable format

Lodge a complaint with a data protection authority

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your data rights, please contact us:

Email: [email protected]

Security Issues: [email protected]

Website: www.pccmfellows.com

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the new policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date. Your continued use of the Platform after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.