ATTENDANCE GUIDELINES

In the pre-clinical years, students are strongly encouraged to attend all scheduled hours of instruction. Mandatory sessions in basic science and clinical science courses are determined by the course or clerkship directors and posted on the canvas calendar for the specific course. Consequences for unexcused absences are addressed in the syllabi for each course. Recognizing that situations arise which require students to miss time from their course/clinical responsibilities, the procedures presented below must be followed when absence is necessary. In the clinical years, all sessions are mandatory.

Holidays and Religious Observances

Holidays

• The academic calendar in the pre-clinical years will mirror the University calendar in terms of days off for holidays.
• Students in the clinical years are expected to report to their scheduled clinical duties during secular holidays unless otherwise specified by the clerkship director.

Religious Observances

All students, faculty and staff at the University of South Florida have a right to expect that the University will reasonably accommodate their religious observances, practices, and beliefs. Students are expected to attend classes and take examinations as determined by the University. The University will attempt, at the beginning of each academic term, to provide written notice of the class schedule and formal examination periods. The University, through its faculty, will make every attempt to schedule required classes and examinations in view of customarily observed religious holidays of those religious groups or communities comprising the University’s constituency.

Any student who believes that he/she has been treated unfairly with regard to the above should contact the MCOM Office of Student Affairs.

Pre-Clerkship Courses - Year 1 and Year 2

Mandatory Course-Specific Events

Each course in Year 1 and Year 2 may have course-specific mandatory events, such as engaged learning didactics, laboratories, small group sessions, etc. These are identified in the syllabus distributed at the beginning of each course, and students are required to attend these mandatory events.

Planned Absence

In general, in order to be excused from a mandatory event, the same procedure for examinations is followed. The student must first contact the course director and the MCOM Office of Student Affairs. Absence requests must be submitted for approval to the course director at least 2 weeks prior to the event utilizing the online Absence Report Form. The course director will make the determination to grant or deny the request in addition to any required remediation. Students should communicate with the course director prior to committing to any planned event in order to determine if they will be excused.

Unplanned Absence

Emergencies for Personal Illness, Family Illness, etc.

The student must contact both the course director by e-mail or telephone (see specific course syllabus) and the MCOM Office of Student Affairs by e-mail or telephone (or 813-974-2068) to report the absence on the first day of being absent. The student should indicate the nature of the emergency or unexpected illness. The student must also complete and submit the Absence Report form. Specifics regarding planned and unplanned absences, as well as unexcused absences, are listed below.

Other unplanned absences

An unanticipated absence on the day of a mandatory event requires notification of the course director and the MCOM Office of Student Affairs. Upon returning to campus, the Absence Report form must be completed. The course director will make the determination to excuse the absence or not and will arrange with the student any required remediation.

Students who miss course-specific mandatory events are expected to acquire the same level of competency as other students involved in the course. Therefore, students with an excused or unexcused absence may be assigned work to complete by the course director, in order to remediate the missed event. In the case of an unexcused absence, the course director may assign a “0” or no credit for the missed work and/or require other remediation at their discretion. Multiple absences, or a prolonged absence, could result in failure of the course or a grade of “Incomplete”, at the discretion of the course director. All occurrences of unexcused course-specific mandatory events and their outcome(s) will be reported to the MCOM Office of Student Affairs by the course director.

Exam Attendance Procedures for Year 1 and Year 2

Attendance at all examinations is mandatory, and all students must take the examinations on the day and time scheduled.

Exam: Planned Absence

Absence for attendance of a professional meeting or other educational or research related activity must be submitted for approval to the course director at least 2 weeks (preferably 6 weeks) prior to the event. Each request for absence will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Personal travel plans will not be considered a valid excuse for missing an exam. To receive an excused planned absence, the student must submit a completed exam absence request form to the course director. A copy of the written request must also be submitted to the MCOM Office of Student Affairs as soon as possible prior to the scheduled exam. The course director or designee will make the final determination to grant or deny the request and will inform the student and the MCOM Office of Student Affairs of the decision.

Exam: Unplanned Absence

If the student has an unplanned absence on the day of an exam, they must contact the course director and the MCOM Office of Student Affairs (or 813-974-2068) by 8:30 a.m. on the day of the exam. When the student returns to school they must fill out and sign the Absence Report form. Any exam absence due to illness requires a note from the student’s healthcare provider.

Students who miss an examination for any reason are required to contact the course director 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 Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education in consultation with course directors.

In general, make-up examinations for Year 1 and Year 2 courses must be taken within 48 hours of the original examination date.

Exam: Unexcused Absence

An initial unexcused absence will be reported to the course director and the student will be counseled regarding expectations for future exams. Depending on the circumstances of the unexcused absence, an impact on the student’s exam grade will be made by the course director. A second unexcused absence will result in an exam grade of “0” and referral to the Academic Performance Review Committee (APRC) for review of the student’s lapse in professional behavior.

Whether or not an absence is excused is at the discretion of the course director. The course director will use the following guidelines when determining if an absence is excused or unexcused. In certain circumstances, such as curricular events that are difficult to replicate, the course director may choose to not excuse a student, even if the guidelines below state that the absence is potentially excused.

Preclerkship Guidelines for Excused and Unexcused Absences

All ‘Events’ (see below) require submission of the appropriate Request Form. Events indicated below by an asterisk (*) are to be submitted at least 2 weeks in advance.

All absence requests (excused and unexcused) are logged and tracked by the MCOM Office of Student Affairs.

Medical Student Hours in Year 1 and Year 2

The USF Morsani College of Medicine (MCOM) must balance student academic load, including scheduled instructional activities and required assignments outside of class, with protected blocks of time that allow for independent study, self-directed learning and other activities. The Curriculum Committee has determined academic load parameters for the pre-clerkship phase of the curriculum to ensure that there is a balance between student academic load, including scheduled instructional activities and required assignments outside of class, with protected blocks of time that allow for independent study, self-directed learning and other activities.

This policy limits the amount of scheduled time for a given week during the pre-clerkship phase of the curriculum. This policy also affirms the Curriculum Committee’s responsibility for oversight of the academic load.

This policy applies to the Pre-Clerkship Phase of the Curriculum (Year 1 and Year 2) of the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, Core and SELECT medical degree programs.

Academic Load Parameters:

1. Students are limited to a maximum of 35 required curricular contact hours for any given week.

2. The following are the Pre-Clerkship Academic Load parameters per week are averaged over a semester, not including academic breaks, in the Pre-Clinical Phase of the curriculum:

• The curricular contact hours are 26 hours per week.
• Students are given 15 hours per week for independent study and self-directed learning.

Students are given at least 4 hours of protected time per week specifically for self-directed learning, with blocks of time being no less than 2 hours. This self-directed learning time to allow medical students to develop the skills of lifelong learning. This self-directed learning time is an addition to the self-directed learning experiences provided within the formal curriculum and is monitored and executed by the student.

• 9 hours per week to account for travel between curricular sessions which may be in different academic buildings and clinical locations and wellness breaks. This does not include travel to and from the student’s home at the beginning and end of the academic day.

Procedures:

1. The Assistant Dean for the Pre-Clinical Curriculum and the Director for Curriculum Management oversee the academic program calendar, including the initial scheduling and sequencing of courses, instructional activities, and protected time.

2. The Assistant Dean for the Pre-Clinical Curriculum and the Director for Curriculum Management work with Course Directors to develop a draft academic program calendar in adherence with the Pre-Clinical Curriculum Academic Load parameters.

3. Annually, the Curriculum Committee reviews and approves Academic Load parameters.

4. Prior to the start of each semester, the Assistant Dean for the Pre-Clinical Curriculum will present the proposed calendar for the upcoming semester and report on compliance with the past semester.

5. Course Directors requesting the scheduling of an academic activity during Pre-Clerkship phase of the curriculum must present a proposal to the Assistant Dean for the Pre-Clinical Curriculum and the Director for Curriculum Management for approval. The request will be evaluated on the basis of the educational value and the workload assigned to students. If the course modification creates a potential for policy violation, the Curriculum Committee will review the request.

6. Students will be notified of the policy using communication mechanisms including, but not limited to the student handbook, orientation sessions, Canvas learning management platform, syllabi and other meetings with students, as appropriate.

The full policy statement can be found HERE.

Clinical Clerkships and Courses – Year 3 and Year 4

During the clinical years the student’s responsibilities lie within the individual clerkship. Attendance within a given clerkship is a demonstration of attitude and professional behavior. This behavior impacts all members of the healthcare team, including fellow students and patients. Any absence from the clerkship may have a direct impact on student performance, the clinical experience, the evaluation of professionalism, the overall grade, and the successful completion of the clerkship. Consideration will be given for activities such as elected student representation to various committees and/or organizations. The clerkship director will respond to the student’s request in writing with a copy to the MCOM Office of Student Affairs. 

The student must provide any supporting documentation requested to the clerkship director and the MCOM Office of Student Affairs addressing their absence. Students who miss scheduled hours are expected to acquire the same level of competency as other students in the clerkship. Lectures, reading assignments and clinical duties will not be re-created or offset to accommodate any absences.

All absences are at the discretion of the clerkship director. The clerkship director will use the following guidelines when determining if the absence is excused.

Clinical Clerkships – Guidelines for Excused and Unexcused Absences

Students are expected to attend all scheduled clerkship didactic conferences, lectures, workshops, and daily patient rounds. Mandatory sessions and participation requirements in the clinical years are determined by the individual clerkships. Recognizing that situations arise such that students miss time from their lectures/clinical responsibilities, the procedures presented below will be followed when an unplanned absence is necessary.

Unexcused Absence Report: Emergencies for Personal Illness, Family Illness, etc.:

The student should contact the direct supervising preceptor and resident/intern/rotation or section head AND the clerkship director and clerkship coordinator in charge to report their absence on the first day of being absent. They should indicate the nature of the unexpected illness or emergency. The MCOM Office of Student Affairs must be notified of all absences by telephone (813-974-2068) or via e-mail (kkz@usf.edu), or on the USF-Lehigh Valley campus, Dr. Melissa Brannen (Melissa_L.Brannen@lvhn.org). It will be at the discretion of the clerkship director, following consultation with the student, to excuse the absence or request additional information about the absence. This may include requesting a physician’s note or an explanation of the absence in detail. The Absence Report form must be completed by the student and forwarded to the MCOM Office of Student Affairs and copied to the clerkship director and clerkship coordinator.

Excused Absence Request:

In order to be excused from a mandatory clerkship event, the student must submit either an Absence Request Form or Exam Absence Request Form to the clerkship director and send a copy of the request to the MCOM Office of Student Affairs and the clerkship coordinator. The clerkship director will make the determination to grant or deny a request in addition to any required remediation.

At the discretion of the clerkship director, excused absences may require remediation of missed clerkship work, additional days and/or make-up work and may proportionally affect the final grade of the clerkship.

A copy of the written request must be sent to the MCOM Office of Student Affairs and the clerkship coordinator. The request must be submitted 8 weeks in advance or as soon as the student knows of the scheduled event PRIOR to the start of the clerkship. Last minute requests (received after the start of the clerkship) will require supporting documentation as to why the request is being submitted late. The decision to grant or deny the request and determine subsequent action will be at the discretion of the clerkship director. As such any excused absences may require additional days and/or make-up work and may proportionally affect the final grade.

Students are expected to make up all unexcused and excused (but required) clerkship time. Such remediation should be made up at the earliest time available and should not interfere with other ongoing curriculum.

Medical Student Duty Hours in Years 3 and 4

MCOM students are held to the same work hour guidelines as are residents, per ACGME guidelines:

· Students are limited to a maximum of 80 duty hours per week including in-house call, averaged over four weeks.

· Students must be given one day out of seven free from all clinical and educational responsibilities, averaged over four weeks.

· Students cannot be scheduled for in-house call more than once every three nights, averaged over four weeks. Students may not work more than 28 consecutive hours.

· Students should be given at least ten hours for rest and personal activities between daily duty periods and after in-house call.

· Students, residents, and faculty are not permitted to allow/require deviation from the above rules.

Holidays

· Thanksgiving: shall be observed beginning at 6pm on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and ending on Sunday evening; these count as days off.

· Students are not required to report to clerkships over the university winter break. In rare instances, students may work over winter break to make up for any absences due to residency interviews.

· Other university holidays (e.g., Independence Day, Labor Day, Memorial Day, Martin Luther King Day) shall be treated like weekend days, on which students may be on call.

Procedures

It is the responsibility of both students and clerkship leadership/administration to comply with duty hour guidelines as described above.

The clerkship directors and coordinators are responsible for creating medical student schedules for each individual rotation that comply with the above guidelines. The Office of Curricular Affairs will monitor compliance with Clerkship Directors and Course Directors. The Committee on Curriculum will review work hours violations for each course during course reviews.

Courses and Clerkship directors are also responsible for and expected to disseminate specific duty hour guidelines to residents and attending clinicians who supervise medical students in each course or clerkship.

Students are individually responsible for complying with the duty hour policy and must monitor their hours. Every student is asked to report any concerns of a potential violation in advance to the clerkship director or Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education.

Violations should be reported to the clerkship director, the Assistant Dean for Clinical Curriculum, the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education, or the Associate Dean for Student Affairs. Reporting duty hour concerns or violations will not affect student grades.

The full policy statement can be found HERE.