Attendance Standards

Attendance is mandatory at all small group sessions, laboratories, ASM sessions, Frontiers in Science lectures, COMPASS I, and any sessions or classes designated as "patient encounters" where patients or families are present.

Students should refer to the Academic Calendar on the Registrar’s website when planning any travel. The course calendars may be changed without advance notice. If plans are made for time away based on a day having only lectures scheduled, the student could be in jeopardy of missing a required activity if the schedule is changed. If the course schedule changes within two (2) weeks of the planned absence, the student will be excused from the required activity. Unexcused absences are considered unprofessional behavior, will be recorded, and may have an adverse effect on a grade including failure of a component of a course or an entire course. The following will be considered excused absences:

• Illness that physically prevents a student from participating in a session
• Urgent medical evaluation
• Disability related absences covered under accommodation
• Religious observance
• Jury duty
• Significant family event (e.g., graduation, family reunion, religious ceremony, wedding, illness)
• Unanticipated caregiver obligation (e.g., illness of a child)
• Death of a family member or close friend
• Attending a wedding in which the student is a member of the wedding party
• Presenting work at a regional, national or international conference
• Attending a meeting of a national committee (e.g., AMSA, AMA, AAMC) of which student is a member with a leadership role.
• One conference (medical or scientific) per academic year as an attendee, if student receives funding from a department, a scholarship, or grant
• Attending an Executive OversightCommittee (EOC), Promotions Committee, or Mistreatment Committee meeting as a student member
• Longitudinal Clinical Experience (LCE) patient appointment (will be approved in conjunction with your relevant course director, ASM faculty and Student Affairs)

Reporting your absence for Years 1 and 2

To request an excused absence, students must fill out the Year 1 and Year 2 Absence Request Form and attest that they are abiding by the Absence Policy and the Student Code of Conduct. This form will notify Student Affairs and the students’ Course Director(s). In the event of an urgent situation, a student may email medstudentabsence@mssm.edu AND their Course Director for an immediate response.

Requests for excused absences are reviewed by Student Affairs and students will be notified of approval or non-approval within three (3) business days of sending a request.

• Students must fill out the Year 1 and Year 2 Absence Request Form to request an excused absence.
• Excused absences need to be requested two (2) weeks in advance (this does not pertain to illness that physically prevents a student from participating in the session, unexpected caregiver obligation, urgent medical appointment, or death in the family).
• Requests made after a class session begins will not be considered, will not be considered except in extenuating circumstances and for disability related accommodations.
• Absences longer than two (2) days for illness or disability related accommodations require that a doctor’s note be submitted to medstudentabsence@mssm.edu.
• Students attending a conference will have to submit an acceptance letter, or proof of funding from a department, scholarship or grant.
• Student Affairs reserves the right to request a doctor’s note or other documentation in the event of a pattern of absences or any absences immediately preceding or following a holiday.
• Although an absence may be excused, students are responsible for any missed work. The Course Director will inform the student of appropriate make-up work and timeline.
• It is the student’s responsibility to make sure that the make-up is completed in a timely manner.

Consequences of Unexcused Absences for Years 1 and 2

Students must attend all mandatory sessions (as listed above) or submit an absence request prior to the session. Unexcused absences will be tracked with a Flag in My Access and Resource Center (MARC) and will have the following consequences:

First absence:                     2 points off final grade

Second absence:                2 more points off final grade and an Incident Report

Third absence:                   Course failure

Punctuality

Timely attendance is an expectation of performance for all School of Medicine students. This shows respect for peers, patients, faculty and staff. Students will be held accountable for adhering to their course schedule, and all late arrivals will be tracked with a Late Flag in My Access and Resource Center (MARC) regardless of reason. A pattern of lateness during an academic year will be escalated to the Senior Associate Dean for UME & Student Affairs and the Senior Associate Dean for UME & Curricular Affairs, and may result in an Incident Report.

Test Policy

In Years 1 and 2, the ability to take a test (examination or quiz) online and in a window of time over several days provides students with flexibility when and where they take the test. Given this flexibility, there are only a few instances when permission to take a test outside the test window may be granted by the Office for Student Affairs. Students may request permission to take a test outside of the test window only for illness or a personal emergency. Please see the Policy for Scheduling an Alternate Test Window in the Assessment and Grading section of the handbook for full details.

Longitudinal Clinical Experience (LCE) Absences

A student who wishes to be excused from a mandatory course session in order to meet with their LCE patient must fill out the Year 1 and Year 2 Absence Request Form. The ASM course directors, the relevant course director and Student Affairs will jointly decide whether the event is of significant magnitude to justify the Year 1-2 session absence.

The clinical phase of the curriculum requires a full-time commitment by the student in patient care and didactic activities. Students serve as members of the health care team and assume an active role in the care of patients. Student presence, participation and engagement at the bedside form the cornerstone of learning in the clinical environment. In these clinical years, students are required to attend all clerkship functions including night, holiday, and weekend duty, as well as participate in all educational exercises (e.g., InFocus Weeks, Shelf Exams, COMPASS 2, and any required remediation). Unexcused absences from any of the above may result in an Incident Report or failing grade, and students may be required to make up days missed or the entire clerkship depending on the length of time involved.

The following will be considered excused absences:

• Residency interview or interview for a scholarly year
• Step 2 CS and Step 2 CK exam days
• Illness that physically prevents a student from participating in patient care or an educational session
• Urgent medical evaluation
• Disability related absences covered under accommodation
• Religious observance
• Jury duty Significant family event (e.g. graduation, family reunion, religious ceremony, wedding, illness)
• Unanticipated caregiver obligation (i.e., illness of a child)
• Death of a family member or close friend
• Attending a wedding in which the student is a member of the wedding party
• Presenting work at a regional, national or international conference
• Attending a meeting of a national committee (e.g., AMSA, AMA, AAMC) of which student is a member with a leadership role
• One conference (medical or scientific) per academic year as an attendeeAttending an Executive OversightCommittee (EOC), Promotions Committee, or Mistreatment Committee meeting as a student member

Reporting your absence for Years 3 and 4

To secure an excused absence, the following email must be sent at the student’s initiative:

To:         Clerkship Director(s), Clerkship Coordinator(s), site preceptor(s), elective(s) director

Cc:          Student Affairs (medstudentabsence@mssm.edu)

Body:

Name of student:

Name of clerkship: 

Dates and number of days excused:

Reason for the excused absence from list of approved excused absences:

At the discretion of your clerkship, you may also be required to report your absence by calling and/or paging your preceptor(s). This shall happen in addition to the email outlined above.

Note:

• Excused absences need to be requested a minimum of one (1) month in advance of the clerkship (this does not pertain to illness or death in the family).
• Absences longer than two (2) days for illness or disability related accommodations require a written doctor’s note be submitted to Student Affairs (medstudentabsence@mssm.edu) and the Clerkship Director.
• Student Affairs reserves the right to request a doctor’s note or other documentation in the event of a pattern of absences or any absences immediately preceding or following a holiday.
• Requesting absence from a scheduled shelf exam follows the same process as above. Both the Clerkship Director and Student Affairs must approve the absence from a shelf exam.
• For any absences that occur in the clerkship:
  • The clerkship director may offer make-up experiences, if available or possible.
  • If make-up experiences are not possible, then at the discretion of the clerkship director, the student will need to reschedule the clerkship.

If the student knows that they will need more than three days of excused absences during a rotation, they will need to request elective time for that period when completing the lottery. Requests for excused absences are approved by the Clerkship Director and are reviewed by Student Affairs. Students will be notified of approval or non-approval within three (3) days of sending a request. 

Policy for Residency Interviews and Second Looks

Advance notification of at least one (1) month to the clerkship director(s) and clerkship coordinator is critical to ensure that clinical obligations are met. It is understood that on occasion this is not possible, but students are expected to advise the Directors and Coordinators immediately or with one month’s notice.

If a student needs to miss for residency interviews and/or second looks, they will be expected to make up the missed time. The clerkship director(s) will determine when and how this happens.

If a student needs to miss three (3) or more days during a clerkship, then s/he will need to do one extra week of the clerkship. The timing of this will be determined in conjunction with the clerkship director(s).

As with all absences, the student should email the clerkship director, clerkship coordinator and copy medstudentabsence@mssm.edu using the template outlined above.