Attendance Policy

General Attendance Policy

As a member of a health care team during the third and fourth years of medical school, students are expected to attend all scheduled hours of clinical responsibilities and didactic instruction.  There is no guaranteed time off for holidays. Students are expected to follow the holiday practice of the clinic/hospital/site at which they are rotating.   Clinical responsibilities such as night call and rounding take precedence over holiday schedules.  If situations arise which require students to miss time from clerkship responsibilities, the guidelines below will be followed.

Excused Absences: Definitions and Required Actions:

Anticipated Absences:

Presentation of research at professional meeting

  • Maximum of one meeting per academic year; and
  • Same research project may not be presented at more than one meeting; and
  • Time away is only for presentation of data and travel time; and
  • Requests must be submitted to Clerkship Directors for approval no later than 6 weeks prior to date of presentation. If approved, the student is responsible for notifying the attending/resident and their team in advance of all anticipated absences.
  • The student must complete the absence form, have it signed by the Clerkship Director and forward it to the Office of Student Affairs.
  • ŸRequests for exceptions to this policy (e.g., for those on National Committees or those with compelling reasons to give additional research presentations) must be discussed with the Clerkship Director in advance.

Residency interviews

  • During interview months of October-January, students will be allowed to take time off for interviews.
  • On 4-week rotations, the maximum number of days allowed is 4 (no more than 3 consecutive days).   On 2-week rotations, the maximum is 2 days.  Requests for additional days must be discussed and approved by the rotation director.  If request exceeds the maximum number allowable, student may be required to repeat the rotation.
  • Requests must be submitted in writing to Clerkship Director/s prior to the start of the affected rotation/s or within 24 hours of an interview offer during the course of the rotation.
  • Once approved, the student is responsible for notifying the attending/resident and their team in advance of all anticipated absences.
  • The student must complete the absence form, have it signed by the Clerkship Director and forward it to the Office of Student Affairs.

Meeting with core advisor or Dean of Students

  • May schedule one meeting with advisor or Dean of Students during each clerkship/elective
  • Meeting/s must be approved in advance by the Clerkship Director; and
  • Meeting/s must be scheduled at a time that minimizes disruption of clinical responsibilities, didactics and other clerkship activities; and
  • Absence includes time for meeting and appropriate travel time only; and
  • Students are required to be present at clinical sites before and after meeting/s as dictated by their clinical schedules.

 Unanticipated Absences:

  1. Hospitalization of student
  2. Death of family member
  3. Illness
  • ŸAn excused absence may be granted if you are ill.
  • These absence require that a note from your physician be obtained and given to the Clerkship Coordinator within 24 hours if:  illness lasts 72 hours or more at any time, lasts 24 hours during the final week of a rotation, or at the discretion of the Clerkship Director; and
  • The Clerkship Coordinator and the attending physician/resident physician on your clinical team are notified by you in a timely fashion (e.g., before the start of AM rounds); and
  • The student absence form is completed, signed by the Clerkship Director and forwarded to Student Affairs.

Failure to comply with any component of the above instructions will result in unexcused absence and loss of 5 points from the final clerkship grade for each day missed

Residents or faculty directly working with students cannot grant approval for absence.   Please do not approach these individuals, as approval by them is not official.

Unexcused Absences: Definitions and Required Actions:

Unexcused Absences include:

  • Vacations, personal days or social events, including weddings, graduations or birthdays
  • Routine doctor/dental appointments
  • Taking Step 2 exams during the third year
  • If the student chooses to travel for personal reasons during the rotation (e.g., a weekend off), it is expected that the student will return to her/his clinical responsibilities on time.  Delays in returning (e.g., bad weather, missed flights) will be considered as unexcused.
  • Missing any portion of the Orientation to the Third Year, the M3 Capstone, the M4 Capstone or the Longitudinal Curricular Sessions
  • In the event of an absence from the clerkship without permission from the Clerkship Director, the student will lose 5 points for each unexcused day.  These points will be taken off the final clerkship grade.
  • Additional remediation may be required at the Clerkship Director’s discretion (e.g., the taking of extra call).

Revised 5/6/2014