Terms of Use
Last Updated: January 30, 2020
These Subscriber Terms and Conditions of Use (these “Terms”) govern the use by subscribers (“you” or “your”) to our Services (as defined below) provided by The Minority White Coat Foundation, an Illinois non-profit organization (“we”, “our”, “us” or “Minority White Coat Foundation”), and made available on www.mwcfoundation.org (the “Website”).
1. Acceptance of Terms; Modification of Terms
By subscribing to and/or using any of our Services or the Website, you agree to comply with these Terms and our privacy policy (www.mwcfoundation.org/privacy-policy), incorporated herein by reference. PLEASE READ THESE TERMS AND THE PRIVACY POLICY CAREFULLY BEFORE USING OR SUBSCRIBING TO OUR SERVICES THROUGH THE WEBSITE. If you do not agree to these Terms, please do not use the Website or Services. Our services include information, analysis, and recommendations, both on a personalized and non-personalized basis, related to preparing for, applying to and succeeding in medical school, residency and beyond delivered via the Website, which you pay for through a subscription (the “Services”).
We may revise these Terms from time to time in our sole discretion. Any such modifications will be reflected in the version of the Terms posted on the Website. All changes are effective immediately when the revised Terms are posted to the Website. Your continued use of the Website following the posting of modified Terms signifies your acceptance of such modified Terms. You should review the Terms periodically so you are aware of any changes, as they are binding on you.
2. Accessing the Website; Account Security
We will not be liable if for any reason all or any part of the Website and/or Services are unavailable at any time or for any period or for any loss of data or transactions caused by planned or unplanned system outages or the resultant delay, misdelivery, or non-delivery of information caused by such outages.
You must treat your user name, password or all other pieces of information as part of the Website’s security procedures as confidential, and you must not disclose such information to any other person or entity. You also agree not to provide any other person with access to this Website or portions of it using your user name, password or other security information. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized access to or use of your user name or password or any other breach of security. You also agree to ensure that you properly exit and log out of your account at the end of each session. You should use particular caution when accessing your account from a public or shared computer so that others are not able to view or record your password or other personal information.
We have the right to disable any user name, password or other identifiers, whether chosen by you or provided by us, at any time in our sole discretion, including if, in our opinion, you have violated any provision of these Terms.
3. Subscription Fees; Renewal
Subscription fees are fully earned upon payment. All subscriptions to the Website are final as soon as you complete your transaction. Payments are nonrefundable and THERE ARE NO REFUNDS OR CREDITS FOR PARTIALLY USED PERIODS. At any time, and for any reason, we may provide a refund, discount, or other consideration to all or some members (“Credits”). The amount and form of such Credits, and the decision to provide them, are at our sole and absolute discretion. The provision of Credits in one instance does not entitle you to Credits in the future for similar instances, nor does it obligate us to provide Credits in the future, under any circumstance. We may change the fees and charges in effect, or add new fees and charges from time to time, but we will give you advance notice of these changes by email.
Your subscription will automatically renew at the end of each billing cycle unless you cancel auto-renewal through your online account management page (go to the My Accounts page once you are logged in). While we will be sad to see you go, you may cancel auto-renewal on your subscription at any time, in which case your Subscription will continue until the end of that billing cycle before terminating. You may cancel auto-renewal on your subscription immediately (within 24 hours of charge) after the subscription starts if you do not want it to renew. If a credit card charge is rejected or your subscription payment is not received within five (5) days after the effective renewal date of your subscription, your subscription will be canceled.
4. Important Disclaimers
a. Accuracy of Information Cannot be Guaranteed
The information presented on or through the Website is made available solely for general information purposes. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of this information. Although such material is based upon information that we consider reliable and current, we have not verified this information and do not represent that this material is accurate, current or complete, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any reliance you place on such information is strictly at your own risk. We disclaim all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on such materials by you or any other visitor to the Website, or by anyone who may be informed of any of its contents.
The Website includes content provided by third parties, including materials provided by other users, bloggers and third-party licensors, syndicators, aggregators and/or reporting services. All statements and/or opinions expressed in these materials, and all articles and responses to questions and other content, other than the content provided us, are solely the opinions and the responsibility of the person or entity providing those materials. These materials do not necessarily reflect our opinion. We are not responsible, or liable to you or any third party, for the content or accuracy of any materials provided by any third parties.
b. Compensation For Endorsing Products or Services in Publications
We regularly review or endorse products or services sold by other companies, including those provided on the resources page of the Website. In most cases, we have established a financial relationship with those companies and are given a commission or reimbursement on sales we generate through the Website. While we value our subscribers’ trust and endeavor to only endorse products and services we believe in, you are responsible for performing your own due diligence and evaluating whether such products or services are right for you.
c. Content Not to be Construed as Personal Advice
The material published on the Website has been prepared for informational purposes only without regard to your individual education or career objectives, or financial situation or means. As such, the information published on the Website is not intended to constitute individualized advice and is not designed to meet your personal financial situation. This disclaimer does not apply to the information we provide you on a personalized basis to the extent you have subscribed for additional personalized services.
d. No Determination of Suitability Made
The fact that we have made information available to you through the Website is neither a recommendation that you pursue nursing school, pharmacy school, dental school, medical school, graduate school, physical therapy school, residency or a career in nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, medicine, veterinary, occupational therapy, health administration, public health, physical therapy nor a representation that any school or field of nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, medicine, veterinary, occupational therapy, health administration, public health, physical therapy described on the Website is suitable or appropriate for you.
5. Our Proprietary Rights
The Services and the content distributed through the Website, including all copyright, trademark and other intellectual property and proprietary rights therein, are the property of The Minority White Coat Foundation. You acknowledge and agree that you do not acquire any ownership rights by using the Website. You agree that you will not copy, republish, upload, post, transmit, distribute, sell or otherwise send to others via email or any other medium any content made available through the Website. No portion of any publication made available through the Website may be extracted, summarized or reproduced without written permission of The Minority White Coat Foundation. Nothing contained herein shall be construed as conferring any license or right under any of our copyrights, trademarks or other intellectual property and proprietary rights. Unauthorized use, reproduction or rebroadcast of any content from the Website is prohibited and shall be considered an infringement and/or misappropriation of our proprietary rights. Modification of the content or use of the content for any purpose other than your own personal, noncommercial use is a violation of our copyright and other proprietary rights and can subject you to legal liability.
6. Termination of Your Subscription
We reserve the right to terminate your subscription to the Website at any time in our sole discretion. If we do so, we will refund to you a pro-rated refund of the amount of the subscription payments you previously paid that relate to the remaining subscription period. Termination of your subscription to the Website may result from your violation of these Terms or any unauthorized use or reproduction or rebroadcast of any of our publications or information contained on the Website, any infringement or misappropriation of our intellectual property or other proprietary rights, or any other reason determined in our sole discretion. You agree that if your account is terminated by us for these reasons, you will not attempt to establish a new account under any name, real or assumed. Restrictions regarding the content contained on the Website, disclaimers and liability limitations under these Terms shall survive termination of these Terms for any reason.
7. User Comments and Submissions
We welcome user and customer comments regarding the Website and/or Services. However, any non-personal information you transmit to us through the Website is not, and will not be, treated as private, confidential or proprietary. Subject to our Privacy Policy, we may make unrestricted use of any information you transmit to us through the Website.
Subject to our Privacy Policy, should you provide us with any ideas, inventions, opinions, comments, suggestions or the like regarding the content and/or operation of the Website and/or Services (collectively, “Ideas”), whether solicited or unsolicited, such Ideas shall be deemed to be non-confidential and non-proprietary and owned by us. We shall have no obligation of any kind to you with respect to such Ideas and we shall be free to reproduce, use, disclose and distribute the Ideas for our own benefit without any obligation to you.
The Website may contain message boards, chat rooms, personal web pages or profiles, forums, bulletin boards blog entries and other interactive features (collectively, “Interactive Services”) that allow users to post, submit, publish, display or transmit to other users or other persons (hereinafter, “post”) content or materials (collectively, “User Contributions”) on or through the Website. All User Contributions must comply with the Content Standards set out below. Any User Contribution you post to the site will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary. By providing any User Contribution on the Website, you grant us and our licensees, successors and assigns the right to use, reproduce, modify, perform, display, distribute and otherwise disclose to third parties any such material for any purpose. You represent and warrant that: (a) you own or control all rights in and to the User Contributions and have the right to grant the license granted above to us and our licensees, successors and assigns, and (b) all of your User Contributions do and will comply with these Terms of Use. You understand and acknowledge that you are responsible for any User Contributions you submit or contribute, and you, not The Minority White Coat Foundation, have full responsibility for such content, including its legality, reliability, accuracy, and appropriateness. We are not responsible, or liable to any third party, for the content or accuracy of any User Contributions posted by you or any other user of the Website.
These content standards apply to any and all User Contributions and use of Interactive Services. User Contributions must in their entirety comply with all applicable federal, state, local and international laws and regulations. Without limiting the foregoing, User Contributions must not:
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Contain any material which is defamatory, obscene, indecent, abusive, offensive, harassing, violent, hateful, inflammatory or otherwise objectionable.
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Promote sexually explicit or pornographic material, violence, or discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age.
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Infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other intellectual property or other rights of any other person.
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Violate the legal rights (including the rights of publicity and privacy) of others or contain any material that could give rise to any civil or criminal liability under applicable laws or regulations or that otherwise may be in conflict with these Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy (www.mwcfoundation.org/privacy-policy)
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Be likely to deceive any person.
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Promote any illegal activity, or advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act.
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Cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety or be likely to upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person.
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Impersonate any person, or misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person or organization.
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Involve commercial activities or sales, such as contests, sweepstakes, and other sales promotions, barter or advertising.
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Give the impression that they emanate from or are endorsed by us or any other person or entity if this is not the case.
8. International Use
Information published on the Website in connection with our Services may contain references to information and materials that are not appropriate or available in countries or regions outside of the United States. Those who choose to access the Website from other locations do so at their own risk and are responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent applicable.
9. Disclaimer of Warranties
You understand that we cannot and do not guarantee or warrant that files available for downloading from the internet or the Website will be free of viruses or other destructive code. You are responsible for implementing sufficient procedures and checkpoints to satisfy your particular requirements for anti-virus protection and accuracy of data input and output, and for maintaining a means external to our site for any reconstruction of any lost data. WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY A DISTRIBUTED DENIAL-OF-SERVICE ATTACK, VIRUSES OR OTHER TECHNOLOGICALLY HARMFUL MATERIAL THAT MAY INFECT YOUR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT, COMPUTER PROGRAMS, DATA OR OTHER PROPRIETARY MATERIAL DUE TO YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE OR OUR SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE OR TO YOUR DOWNLOADING OF ANY MATERIAL POSTED ON IT, OR ON ANY WEBSITE LINKED TO IT.
YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE, ITS CONTENT AND THE SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE WEBSITE, ITS CONTENT AND THE SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. NEITHER THE MINORITY WHITE COAT FOUNDATION NOR ANY PERSON ASSOCIATED WITH THE MINORITY WHITE COAT FOUNDATION MAKES ANY WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION WITH RESPECT TO THE COMPLETENESS, SECURITY, RELIABILITY, QUALITY, ACCURACY OR AVAILABILITY OF THE WEBSITE. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, NEITHER FOUR LEX NOR ANYONE ASSOCIATED WITH THE MINORITY WHITE COAT FOUNDATION REPRESENTS OR WARRANTS THAT THE WEBSITE, ITS CONTENT OR THE SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE WILL BE ACCURATE, RELIABLE, ERROR-FREE OR UNINTERRUPTED, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, THAT OUR SITE OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS OR THAT THE WEBSITE OR THE SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE WILL OTHERWISE MEET YOUR NEEDS OR EXPECTATIONS.
WE HEREBY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
THE FOREGOING DOES NOT AFFECT ANY WARRANTIES WHICH CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.
10. Limitation of Liability
IN NO EVENT WILL WE OR ANY OF OUR OFFICERS, MANAGERS, MEMBERS, EMPLOYEES, AFFILIATES, CONSULTANTS, CONTRACTORS OR THIRD-PARTY CONTENT PROVIDERS BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, UNDER ANY LEGAL THEORY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE WEBSITE, ANY WEBSITES LINKED TO IT, ANY CONTENT ON THE WEBSITE OR SUCH OTHER WEBSITES OR SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE OR SUCH OTHER WEBSITES, INCLUDING ANY DIRECT, SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOST PROFITS, PAIN AND SUFFERING, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, LOSS OF BUSINESS OR ANTICIPATED SAVINGS, LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF DATA, UNDER ANY CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHER LEGAL THEORY RELATED TO YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICES EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. YOUR SOLE REMEDY FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH THE SERVICES IS TO STOP USING THE WEBSITE. IN NO EVENT SHALL OUR TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES, AND CAUSES OF ACTION (WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE) EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID BY YOU, IF ANY, FOR USING THE WEBSITE IN THE CURRENT CALENDAR YEAR OF YOUR SUBSCRIPTION.
11. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless us and our current and former officers, managers, members, employees, affiliates, consultants, contractors, third-party content providers and their successors and assignees from and against any and all liabilities, claims, damages, losses, costs (including reasonable attorneys’ fees), or other expenses associated with or incurred as a result of or from (a) your violation of these Terms; (b) your use of the Website or the Services; or (c) the actual or alleged infringement of any of our or third party proprietary or intellectual property right arising out of your copying, republishing, uploading, posting, transmitting, distributing, selling or using the Website and/or Services in any manner not authorized by us.
12. Governing Law
These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Illinois and the United States of America, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of law. You and we irrevocably consent to the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Chicago, Illinois in connection with any action, suit or other proceeding arising out of or related to these Terms or your use of the Website and/or Services. You and we waive any objection based on lack of personal jurisdiction, place of residence, improper venue or forum non-conveniens in any such action.
13. Miscellaneous
These Terms represent the entire agreement between you and us relating to your use of the Services and/or the Website and supersede any and all prior or contemporaneous written or oral agreements on that subject between us. If any provision of these Terms shall be deemed unlawful, void, or for any reason is unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from the remaining Terms and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. No waiver by either party of any breach or default under these Terms shall be deemed to be a waiver of any preceding or subsequent breach or default. We reserve all legal rights and remedies available to us.​