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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- Identification
- The student is expected to be proactive and notify the instructor, course director or faculty if there are knowledge deficits.
- The instructor, course director, small group leader, preceptor, faculty advisor or other faculty identifies the at-risk student through weekly faculty reports, exam grades, and advisory sessions.
- Evaluation and Assessment
- Identified students will be referred to their Faculty Advisor for assessment of root causes. Referrals to campus assistance programs may be instituted (Student Health, the Office of Student Affairs or other practitioners).
- Plan Development
- The APPC, faculty advisor, student and any other parties will design a remediation plan. Clear expectations will be documented and a contract for remediation developed. The Program Director will then review the contract with the Faculty Advisor and student, placing the contract in the student’s program file. Depending on the action needed, a time line will be initiated for review of student progress.
- Plan Implementation
- The Faculty Advisor and student will receive a copy of the contract and begin remediation
- The student will be informed of all available resources for remediation.
- Plan Evaluation
- Depending upon the remediation needed, an evaluation instrument may be prepared to assess the student’s progress. The Academic Director and the Faculty Advisor may collaborate to design an appropriate tool to assess progress. Evidence of compliance of mastery of remediated knowledge deficit will be placed in the student file with the contract.
Composition
The USF MCOM MPAS Program PA program's Academic Performance and Professionalism Committee (APPC) shall be chaired by the Director of the Physician Assistant Program the PA program and shall be composed of the PA Program program's Clinical and Academic Directors, one MCOM PA program core faculty from the PA program member (principal faculty), and a core, USF Health faculty member (not a principal faculty member of the PA program). The Vice Dean for Educational Affairs, Morsani College of Medicine, may also attend meetings as an ex-officio, non-voting member. All members, voting and non-voting, are expected to attend all APPC meetings in order to contribute to discussion, present students with a deficiency in their course/SCPE, and maintain familiarity with student progress for times when they need to vote.
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Promotion from the academic to the clinical year and graduation from the PA program are based on the student’s mastery of essential competencies, academic performance as well as readiness to assume a professional role. While grades are important, the decisions for promotion and graduation are based on the composite picture of academic performance as well as professional growth and development. A student may be dismissed from the MPAS the program if they have failed to demonstrate an attitude of professionalism or if the APPC do not believe the student is prepared to assume patient care responsibilities.
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In the clinical year, student performance in SCPEs will be evaluated by the clinical preceptor for the competencies of medical knowledge, patient care, interpersonal communication, professionalism, practice-based learning and improvement and systems-based practice. Each rotation will also include a written examination. (Note: Students are not required to provide or solicit clinical sites or preceptors. The PA Programprogram's Clinical Director must coordinate clinical sites and preceptors for program required and elective rotations. Students may make suggestions to principal faculty for sites and preceptors, but are not required to do so. Student suggested sites and preceptors will be reviewed, evaluated, and approved for educational suitability by the program.)
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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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- Mid-rotation evaluation
- This evaluation MUST be submitted via E*value by the clinical preceptor by the end of week 3 of the clerkship.
Preceptor evaluation of the student
- End of rotation evaluation
- This evaluation MUST be submitted via E*value by the clinical preceptor on preceptor on the last day of the clerkship.the clerkship
Clinical procedure log on E*value
This log MUST be submitted via E*value by the student on the last day of the clerkship
Patient profile log on E*value
This log MUST be submitted via E*value by the student on the last day of the clerkship
Student site evaluation
This evaluation MUST be submitted via E*value by the student on the last day of the
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Student Self evaluation
This evaluation MUST be submitted via E*value by the student on the last day of the clerkship
Final Grade Calculation
The student MUST achieve a grade of 77% in all of the following clerkship performance assessments in order to pass the clerkship:
End of rotation examination 50%- Preceptor evaluation (average between mid-rotation and the end of rotation evaluations) 50%
Failure to achieve a passing grade (77%) in any of the following assessments, End of rotation examination, and Preceptor Clinical Performance Evaluation will result in the failure of the clerkship, regardless of the final composite grade.
If the student is unable to attain and demonstrate the expected learning outcomes and competencies to successfully pass the SCPE, the student will be referred to the APPC for review and recommendations regarding remediation plan, academic probation, deceleration or dismissal from the program.
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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.
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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