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Students are required to notify the Associate Dean for Student Affairs of any arrest, charge or conviction of any criminal offense (misdemeanor or felony), indictment, imprisonment, placement on probation or receipt of deferred adjudication within fifteen (15) days of the incident. Failure to report any such incident will result in corrective or disciplinary action by the APRC for unprofessional behavior. The facts and circumstances of each case will determine what APRC corrective or disciplinary action is taken, up to and including dismissal from MCOM.
Professionalism Values
Professionalism is grounded in the fundamental values of honesty, integrity and fairness and is an essential part of the practice of medicine. Students are expected to display and will be examined by these exemplary behaviors. Students are expected to appreciate their responsibility to their profession.
In addition to behavioral standards related to the medical profession, students are expected to uphold the principles of honor set forth by the University of South Florida in The Commitment to Honor.
Anyone seeking impartial assistance to identify and navigate professionalism concerns affecting faculty-student relations, academic achievement and/or institutional effectiveness may contact Olga Skalkos, PhD, at the Office of Student and Resident Professional Development (OSSR) (813-974-8509).
Anyone seeking to report lapses in professionalism may contact any of the following:
Kira Zwygart, MD, Associate Dean for Student Affairs (813-974-2068)
Melissa Brannen, MD, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, USF-Lehigh Valley (610-402-2563)
Bryan Bognar, MD, Vice Dean for Educational Affairs (813-974-7131)
Robert Barraco, MD, Associate Dean for Educational Affairs USF-Lehigh Valley (610-402-2563)
Cuc Mai, MD, Associate Dean and DIO, Graduate Medical Education (813-974-4478)
Deborah DeWaay, MD, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education (813-974-7131)
Value | Behavior | Example |
Responsibility | Comes on time and is prepared |
|
| Informs | Informs faculty Emergency absences are reported the same day. |
| Assures | Arranges for coverage and discusses patients |
| Completes | Submits |
| Complies | Follows needed |
| Shares | Does |
| Responds to communications in a timely | Answers emails, |
| Acknowledges | Acknowledges mistakes and accepts correction or |
Self-Assessment/ Improvement | Accepts | Listens |
| Acknowledges limitations of knowledge, | Does |
| Shows the | Presents |
| Asks appropriate | Asks |
| Consistently goes beyond the minimum in seeking knowledge and | Demonstrates reading about topics or cases |
| Balances | Attends |
| Provides | Volunteers |
Ethical Behavior | Attributes ideas appropriately | Avoids |
| Demonstrates honesty and integrity | Does not |
| Recognizes | Demonstrates awareness of potential sources of Demonstrates awareness of conflicts of interest |
Appropriate | Demonstrates courtesy, politeness and patience | Listens |
| Maintains appropriate boundaries | Does not become too familiar in speech |
| Maintains appropriate appearance and demeanor | Good grooming/hygiene; appropriate and |
| Respects | Asks about cultural background and |
| Considers | Listens |
| Demonstrates | Acknowledges own non-verbal and verbal comments |
Patient-Centered Care | Develops | Uses open |
| Incorporates patient’s views on health and | Collaborates with patient and inquires as to patient preference for |
| Demonstrates compassion toward patients |
|
| Advocates for the patient | Gets appropriate individuals involved in patient’s care, makes |
Social Media Participation Guidelines
The USF Health Office of Communications and Marketing provides guidelines as to how MCOM supports institutional communication goals through social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram). Institutional representation via online social media platforms must only be initiated and authorized through the USF Health Office of Communications and Marketing and the USF Information Technology. Any sites or pages existing without prior authorization are subject to review, and when discovered may be removed.
USF Health email addresses should not be used in conjunction with unofficial or personal social media accounts and profiles. Remember, everything that you do online can and will live forever. Think before you post. A closed network is not necessarily private. It can and will be shared, stored and spread globally. Do not post anything online that you would not feel comfortable seeing on the front page of a newspaper, or on national television. Balance your professional and personal social media presences.
Never disclose patient information on social media. Patient information is protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Students must be familiar with the provisions of this act and respect its intent at all times. Students must comply with HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices.
Social media responsibility is an important aspect of professionalism. All MCOM colleagues – including students – must adhere to the following:
1. Always protect patient privacy. Never reveal any patient health information that would identify the patient. Always abide by all MCOM HIPAA requirements.
2. Know and follow university guidelines from the Office of Rights and Responsibilities and Responsible Computing.
3. When discussing MCOM, or matters related to the college, you must make it clear that you are speaking for yourself and not on behalf of MCOM. If you publish content to any website outside of MCOM and it involves work you do or subjects associated with MCOM, use a disclaimer such as: "The views expressed on this blog; website are my own and do not reflect the views of the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine."
4. You are personally responsible for content you publish. Be aware that what you publish on blogs, wikis, social networks or any other form of user-generated media will be public and often cannot be edited or removed.
5. Use a personal (non-USF Health) e-mail address. Do not use your USF Health email address as your means of identification for social media participation.
6. Respect copyright and fair use laws. This includes not publishing materials owned by USF or MCOM.
7. Do not disclose confidential or proprietary information. Do not disclose information related to MCOM that is not public. Perception is reality. If you identify yourself as an MCOM student, ensure your profile and related content is consistent with expected behaviors. In social media, the lines between public and private, personal and professional are blurred. By identifying yourself as associated with the college, you are creating perceptions about MCOM and yourself with your colleagues and others. If you choose to identify your association with MCOM, be sure that all content is consistent with the college’s values and professional standards.
8. Contact the MCOM Office of Student Affairs or USF Health Office of Communications and Marketing if you have questions or are unsure about the application of these guidelines to your social media activities.
9. Do not ask faculty or staff who have a scheduling or evaluation relationship with you to join your social media site(s).
10. Be aware that you must maintain a professional demeanor at all times, even when you are off duty.
The American Medical Student Association has also published useful guidance on the appropriate use of social media which can be found here.
Student Evaluation Policy Statement
MCOM strives to provide the best possible experience for our students, faculty, and staff. As such, student feedback is an essential component for continuous quality improvement of our teaching faculty and curriculum development. The feedback received is vitally important to assess the program’s strengths and weaknesses as well as identifying opportunities for improvement of the educational experience of future students.
In an effort to improve the evaluation (response) rate from students and ensure MCOM is receiving the best feedback possible, the following guidelines will be implemented for all enrolled students:
- · Students will be required to complete a minimum of 80% of the evaluations assigned to them
- · All evaluations should be completed within 25 days upon receipt
- · Students may suspend evaluations only under the following circumstances:
1. The evaluation was assigned in error
2. The student did not spend enough time with an educator to properly evaluate them
- · At most, students will be permitted to suspend up to 20% of their evaluations. Once a student exceeds a 20% suspension rate, their completion of evaluations will be reviewed on a case by case basis
- · Comments provided on evaluations should be constructive, respectful, and made in a professional manner
Please note that levels of anonymity are strictly enforced and fail safes are put into place to ensure a student cannot be identified from their evaluation.
Student evaluation completion compliance rates will be monitored on a quarterly basis and any student found to be out of compliance will be required to attend a mandatory one-hour session to complete any pending evaluations. Students will receive a notice via email that they are required to attend the mandatory session to complete their evaluations. Failure to complete evaluations and/or attend the mandatory sessions may result in the following disciplinary actions:
- · A written notice from the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education
- · A mandatory meeting with the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education
- · Appearance before the Academic Performance Review Committee (APRC)
The practice of providing detailed quality feedback is an integral part of developing the professional skills students will need as future physicians. It is the college’s goal that students will not only gain more experience giving and receiving feedback but will improve essential professional development skills while providing quality insight into our faculty and curriculum for continuous quality improvement.