The policies outlined in this handbook apply to all PA Program students, staff, principal faculty, and the program director. Students are expected to follow all policies of the university as delineated on the University of South Florida Student Catalog webpage and the guidelines set out in this handbook.
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Dress Code and Professional Demeanor
PA Program students, at all levels of education and training, are expected to maintain a proper professional image in their behavior and personal appearance at all times. During the pre-clinical years, students are expected to wear clean, appropriate apparel (shirts, pants, dresses, skirts, etc.) and shoes to all academic functions and on the premises of USF (all campuses).
All students must wear a short, waist length lab coat embroidered with an MCOM patch, their name, and the PA Program designation. ID badges during the clinical training years, and/or any time students have contact with patients, are to be worn prominently in the patient care areas. Shorts are not to be worn at any time when there may be interaction with patients. Men should wear shirt and tie, and women should wear appropriate dresses or slacks and blouses, as well as closed toe shoes at times when there may be interaction with patients.
Business professional attire is required to be worn at all times. The following items are considered inappropriate:
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Didactic Courses - Year 1
Unplanned or Emergency absences for Personal Illness, Family Illness, etc.
The student must contact the academic director and course instructor by e-mail or telephone (see specific course syllabus) and the PA Program office by e-mail or telephone (paprogram@health.usf.edu or 813-974-8926) to report his/her absenteeism on the first day of being absent. He/she should indicate if the reason is an emergency or unexpected illness. The student must also complete and submit the Student Absence Report Form. Specifics on planned and unplanned absences, as well as unexcused absences, are listed below. The completed Student Absence Report Form will be kept as part of the student’s record.
If the student has an unanticipated unplanned absence on the day of an exam, he/she must contact PA Program office by e-mail or telephone (paprogram@health.usf.edu or 813-974-8926) by 8:30 a.m. on the day of the exam. When the student returns to school he/she must fill out and sign the Student Absence Report Form. Documentation for the absence to be excused (e.g. physician’s note, accident report, etc.) will be at the discretion of the program director.
Students who miss an examination for any reason are required to contact the PA Program office (974-8926) prior to returning to class to determine the date and time of the make-up examination. Dates and times of make-up examinations are determined by the course directors in consultation with the academic director.
In general, make-up examinations must be taken within 48 hours upon return from an unplanned absence. A second unexcused absence for a make-up exam will require referral to the Academic Performance and Professionalism Committee (APPC).
Planned Absence
Absence for attendance at a professional meeting or other educational or research related activity should be submitted via the Student Absence Report Form for approval to the academic director at least 3 weeks prior to the event. Each request for absence will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Personal travel plans should not be considered valid excuses for missing an exam.
To receive an excused planned absence for an exam, the student must submit a completed Student Absence Report from Exam Form to the academic director. The academic director or designee will make the final determination to grant or deny the request and will inform the student of the decision.
Supervised Clinical Patient Experiences - Year 2
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All students must follow Health Insurance and Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) rules when participating in clinical activities at affiliated hospitals and clinics; HIPAA compliance includes maintaining confidentiality of paper and electronic health records. When violations of HIPAA by a student are identified by a hospital, clinic, physician’s office, etc., the violation will be reviewed by the APPC, which will recommend remediation and and/or sanctions, including the possibility of required withdrawal or expulsion.
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
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AND PROFESSIONALISM REVIEW SUB-COMMITTEE (APPC)
The following sections define the composition, purpose, rules, and guidelines under which the Academic Performance and Professionalism Committee (APPC) carries out its responsibilities.
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- The formulation of a remediation program (the recommendations of the respective academic/clinical director and course director concerning remediation will be the primary consideration for requirements, subject to review by the committee).
- These programs may include, but are not limited to:
- Requiring a student to be re-examined or re-evaluated in a course, with or without a period of remediation
- Requiring a student to receive academic tutoring
- Requiring a student to repeat all or part of a year’s work or longer if necessary
- Placing a student on academic warning and probation
- Reviewing all petitions for readmission following a committee recommended leave of absence, and recommending whether or not the student may resume medical studies. This must be documented in a letter to the student from the chair of the APPC.
- Reviewing and making recommendations concerning a suitable course of study following a committee recommended leave of absence.
- Other actions referred to the committee for an individual student.
ADVANCEMENT, REMEDIATION, APPEALS, DECELERATION, DISMISSAL,
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AND DUE PROCESS/APPEALS
Academic Standards
Physician Assistants must demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary to provide high quality patient care in a variety of clinical settings. In order to achieve this goal, the faculty and director of each course/SCPE (for simplicity the term course will be inclusive of courses and SCPEs) define the criteria for acceptable academic performance in that course. Evaluation of academic performance may include (but is not necessarily limited to) measuring the student’s knowledge, measuring how the student applies such knowledge to specific problems, evaluating the judgment a student employs in solving problems, and assessing the quality of the student’s psychomotor skills, professional conduct, ethical behavior, and interpersonal relationships with medical colleagues, patients, and patients’ families.
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In addition to being a violation of state and federal laws, behavior involving unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature is incompatible with faculty, staff, and student status in the University of South Florida - Master’s of Physician Assistant Studies Program.
Dating current teaching faculty (i.e. physicians, residents, teaching assistants, PA faculty, etc.) is highly discouraged. This can be viewed as a form of sexual harassment. See the USF policy regarding consensual relationships.
Further information regarding sexual harassment policies is outlined in the USF “Sexual Harassment” policy 0-008, Diversity and Equal Opportunity: Sexual Harassment
Students should contact the PA Program director immediately if they have felt as if they have been harassed.
The student is encouraged to directly contact the USF Center for Victim Advocacy & Violence Prevention with any concerns.
Sexual Battery
Sexual battery is a crime under the laws of the State of Florida and will not be tolerated at the USF MCOM as defined in USF Policy 0-014, Sexual Battery. As an integral part of academic performance, medical students are expected to maintain the high standards of professional and personal conduct traditionally associated with the practice of medicine. Any act such as sexual battery is a violation of University Policy, which in the case of PA students, is viewed as professional misconduct and is a violation of academic standards. As such, any professional misconduct is subject to disciplinary action by the APPC.
PA Program students who are victims of actual or threatened violence can obtain assistance from the /wiki/spaces/MCOM/pages/19396592255. Additionally, PA students should refer to the USF Policy concerning Sexual Battery.
Center for Victim Advocacy & Violence Prevention
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