The policies outlined in this handbook apply to all students, staff, principal faculty, and the PA Program Director. PA students are expected to follow all policies of the university as delineated on the University of South Florida Student Catalog webpage. Students are also expected to follow the guidelines set out in this handbook.
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Dress Code and Professional Demeanor
PA 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, PA 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 short waist length with MCOM patch, their name, and the Physician Assistant Program designation embroidered on their coat. 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 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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- We pledge our utmost effort to ensure that all components of the educational program for Physician Assistant students are of high quality. As mentors for our students, we maintain high professional standards in all of our interactions with patients, colleagues, and staff.
We respect all students as individuals, without regard to gender, race, national origin, religion, or sexual orientation. We will not tolerate anyone who manifests disrespect or who expresses biased attitudes towards any student..
We pledge that Physician Assistant students will have sufficient time to fulfill personal and family obligations, to enjoy recreational activities, and to obtain adequate rest. We monitor the time required to fulfill educational objectives, including time required for “call” on clinical rotations, to ensure students’ well-being.
In nurturing both the intellectual and the personal development of Physician Assistant students, we celebrate expressions of professional attitudes and behaviors, as well as achievement of academic excellence.
We do not tolerate any abuse or exploitation of students.
- We do not allow students to substitute or function as instructional faculty. Students with specific prior knowledge, experience and skills may assist faculty in didactic and laboratory session to share their knowledge and skills, however, students are not to be the primary instructor or instructor of record for any component of the curriculum.
We encourage any student who experiences mistreatment or who witnesses unprofessional behavior to report the facts immediately to appropriate faculty or staff. We treat all such reports as confidential and do not tolerate reprisals or retaliations of any kind.
Filing a Grievance
The University of South Florida System (USF System) is committed to mutual respect among all constituents of the University community. This commitment includes students, faculty, staff, and administration alike. In all concerns about fair treatment, we seek to work together to understand and address those concerns in an informal setting. As there are several offices designated to address grievances throughout the University, with specific processes applicable to the MCOM, students should first identify the topic or substance of a grievance and file the grievance with the appropriate office. The USF Student Grievance Policy can be found here.
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Physician Assistant Clinical Knowledge Rating and Assessment Tool (PACKRAT) will be taken during each year of the two year program. Students may be required to pay for the cost of the test at some future date without formal announcement. However, at the present time, the School covers the expense of the examination. The School of has received authorization to make an individual copy of each student's performance on the PACKRAT examination as a measure their clinical knowledge base during his/her training. This information may be used to make decisions affecting promotion, clinical rotations, graduation or remediation. The School will maintain the scores in the same confidential manner as with other academic performance information.
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The student will be evaluated by the USF MCOM MPAS Program Clinical the Program Director, Clinical Director, Clinical Preceptor(s) and Faculty Advisor(s) utilizing a variety of assessment tools, as follows:
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- Will be administered at 8:00AM on End of Rotation Day 1 on campus
- Comprised of 120 PANCE style, multiple choice questions based on the learning objectives of the clerkship completed. (Appendix A)
- Will follow the NCCPA PANCE topic and task blueprints (Appendix B)
- A grade of “Fail” will be assigned to scores that fall below the minimum passing score as determined after statistical analysis of the exam scores. If a student receives a failing grade then the student needs to remediate and retake an examination
- Exam results will be available on the morning of End of Rotation Day 2
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- The student MUST achieve a grade of 77% in all of the following clerkship performance assessments in order to pass the clerkship:
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- End of rotation examination 50%
- Preceptor evaluation (average between mid-rotation and the end of rotation evaluations) 50%
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If the student elects to appeal, copies of all written communication mentioned above shall be sent by the Program Director to the Vice Dean for Educational Affairs as described below[CL3] .
Appeal to the Vice Dean for Educational Affairs
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When the decision is made to establish a hearing to investigate an appeal, the Vice Dean for Educational Affairs shall convene an ad hoc committee comprised of three senior members of the faculty of the PA Program program who had not previously been involved in issuing the grade or the appeal process and three physician assistant students, all of whom shall have voting privileges. This Committee shall elect a chairperson and hold a hearing concerning the appeal at a time acceptable to all participants. At this hearing all material relevant to the appeal shall be presented by the student, the Chair of the APPC, and the faculty member issuing the grade or raising the concern. Others may be requested to assist the Committee. The student may request to have another individual present for support.
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Students may voluntarily withdraw from this program at any time prior to a formal notice of dismissal from the Physician Assistant Studies Programthe PA program. Students must file a “Withdraw from All Classes Form" with the Registrar.”
Guidelines for Leave of Absence
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All requests must be made in writing. Please note the following: (i) a student who is not registered after one quarter’s absence and has not requested a leave of absence will be dropped from the program; (ii) a student who has not re-registered with the program after a leave of absence of one year will be dropped from the program.
The PA Program reserves the right to determine the conditions for re-entry after any leave of more than one month duration. Coursework, exams and clinical experiences missed during any leave must be made-up within a time-frame agreed upon by the course instructor and the Program Director before the student may continue in the program in good standing. Additional tuition may be required to complete the program after re-entry.
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Recommendations of the Dean are final in all decisions. If the decision is to uphold a previous dismissal decision, the recommendation will be forwarded to the PA Program Director. The Dean shall inform the Program Director (or a designee) of the decision and present a report of discussions leading to the decision at the earliest time possible and no more than ten (10) school days after the decision has been made.
MISTREATMENT OR ABUSE
Student Mistreatment
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, Harassment or Abuse
Students are encouraged to discuss any and all issues of physical, emotional, psychological or sexual abuse without fear of retribution. The student may contact any faculty or staff member with whom he/she feels comfortable which may include the PA Program Director, Clinical Director, Academic Director, or any Principal Faculty. In addition, the student may directly contact the USF Center for Victim Advocacy & Violence Prevention (see below).
Sexual Harassment
In conformance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, the Florida Educational Equity Act, and the USF policy on the topic, it is the goal of the USF MCOM PA Program program to create and maintain a work and study environment that is positive and free of discrimination. In order to help provide such an environment, faculty, staff and students must be aware that sexual harassment is sex discrimination, and is unacceptable conduct that will not be tolerated at the university as defined in USF policy 0-008, Diversity and Equal Opportunity: Sexual Harassment. Sexual harassment is defined as conduct of a sexual nature or with sexual implications, which interferes with an employee’s or student’s status or performance by creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working or educational environment. This conduct may include, but is not limited to the following:
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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: http://regulationspolicies.usf.edu/policies-and-procedures/pdfs/policy-1-022.pdf
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.
MCOM PA 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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- Telephone: 813-974-5756
- Crime Victim Hotline: 813-974-5757
Hillsborough County Crisis Lines
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Reporting of alleged faculty or preceptor abuse violations, as it relates to students, shall be made to the Program Director of the PA program. An alternate site of reporting is through the Academic or Clinical Director of the PA program. Alleged abuse violations by faculty shall be relayed to the Faculty Affairs Dean (currently Senior Executive Associate Dean for Academic and Office of Faculty Affairs ) for action based on University Policy.
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