UMMS Student Handbook 2012/13

SECTION THREE: Academic Regulations

ATTENDANCE, RESCHEDULING, WITHDRAWING

Changes to Core Clinical Experience (CCE) Schedule

Postponing a Required Core Clinical Experience (CCE) 

** Please note: Assigned CCE’s remain on a student’s official schedule until the approved Schedule Change Request Form is received in the Office of Student Affairs. It is the student’s responsibility to follow up and monitor the accuracy of their educational schedule via the Peoplesoft/Student Administration system.

3: Rescheduling a Postponed CCE into Advanced Studies

• If a postponed CCE is being rescheduled into Advanced Studies, the student must participate in both the CCE and Advanced Studies EVOS for the following academic year.
• Prior to entering the Advanced Studies EVOS, the student must contact the Lottery Administrator to make arrangements for rescheduling the postponed clerkship.
• All core clinical rotations must be completed by March of the year the student is expected to graduate.

4: Attend Transition to Core Clinical Experiences & Thematic Orientation Session.

• ALL students are required to attend the Transitions to Core Clinical Experience Program before any core clinical experience can be taken regardless of when they will be participating in their first rotation. The Transitions to Clinical Years Program is a required activity and is offered once each academic year.
• ALL students are also required to attend the Thematic Orientation as scheduled regardless of which block they will begin their rotations for that given thematic section. This is a required orientation and is only offered once per thematic section.

Important:

• It is very important for students to provide adequate notice of their intent to postpone a clerkship because clerkship preceptor’s schedules are finalized months prior to the start of any clerkship. As noted above, requests to postpone for USMLE test preparation must be presented TWO WEEKS prior to the start of the scheduled rotation.
• The School’s thematic sections involve shared academic elements across disciplines; this is most evident in shared OSCE’s, but there are also some shared assignments. Students who postpone a CCE must take the integrated OSCE on the basis of the CCE(s) that they have completed and will receive a preliminary grade. This will allow students to move forward and apply for advanced electives and away electives in related fields even though they may not have been able to complete the postponed rotation. The grades will be finalized when the clerkships and shared elements are completed. Student will have access to the online materials during the theme so that they are available for review prior to the shared OSCE.
• Please note that course postponements may have other financial consequences for financial aid recipients. Please contact the Bursar’s Office or the Office of Financial Aid for details.

Postponement of a Required Interstitial

Rescheduling a Required Course Activity 

Time Away Policy from Required Core Clinical Experiences

The goals of this policy are to support student wellness, to develop more uniform management of time away requests, to foster professional communication, and to minimize administrative burden of untimely or unusual requests. Attendance is mandatory for all required core clinical experiences (includes transitions, clerkships, interstitial curricula). Students must follow the schedule of their specific clerkship site (see Weather Watch). Vital Needs/Unplanned Absence:

The Vital Needs/Unplanned Absence Policy applies to all clinical rotations.

• The Vital Needs/Unplanned Absence Policy applies to all clinical rotations.
• Students will be excused for acute illness, medical needs, or personal emergency (e.g. to attend a funeral) by the Clerkship Director. To maintain student privacy, students may state they have an "illness", "family emergency" (which includes serious illness or death of close family member), or a "medical appointment" and are not required to disclose details. Note that childcare arrangements must be made for routine illness of children, school closures, etc as these are not considered emergencies. Students are expected to report to work in inclement weather. Students must inform the clerkship director and their direct supervisors as soon as possible. For chronic illness issues, please refer to the ADA policy.
• Any required make-up will be at the discretion of the Clerkship Director.

Planned Absence from Required Core Clinical Experiences:

• With advance notice, students will also be excused from required core clinical clerkships ( Family, Internal Medicine, Neurology, OB/Gyn, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Surgery) for up to 2 planned days for significant personal, professional or academic events (conferences, interviews, weddings, family events, religious observance, remediation of another course, etc.).
• These personal/professional days must be approved by the Clerkship Director and reported to the Associate Dean for Student Affairs, who will track total number of days used. Time taken for religious observance will be considered a planned absence day. The Planned Absence request policy applies only to required core clinical experiences, whether they occur in the third or fourth year of training. It does not apply to the required Sub-Internships, the Comprehensive Core Clinical Assessment (CCCA), or to Senior Electives. Neurology allows only one absence during the clerkship at the discretion of the directors; 30 days notice is required. Personal days are not permitted during sub-internships.
• Students are requested to plan absences to minimize disruption of their clerkship duties if possible. Medical appointments should be scheduled to minimize length of time away from clinical or classroom duties. A planned absence day should be used if routine medical appointment will cause student to miss the entire day. ADA policy may apply to students with frequent medical appointments due to chronic illness.
• Students must request approval for any excused absence by e-mail from the Clerkship Director as far in advance as possible (before course begins, ideally 30 days or more in advance). Approval for planned absences may not be granted if they are requested late, impact key clerkship components or if they create undue hardship for the clerkship. The clerkship Director will notify the student, clinical supervisors, and the Associate Dean for Student Affairs if the request is approved. The Associate Dean for Student Affairs will confirm that the student has not already utilized these days.
• The Clinical Science Academic Evaluation Board (CSAEB) will review student requests that exceed the 2 day limit. Consideration will be given to support students in achieving important educational, spiritual and professional goals. Students may contact the Associate Dean for Student Affairs to initiate an appeal to the CSAEB, which meets monthly.

Withdrawal from a Required Pre-Clerkship Course

A student may withdraw from a pre-clerkship course without academic penalty up to two weeks before the final examination or end of the course, whichever comes first. Permission to withdraw must be requested from the Basic Science Academic Evaluation Board. The student must provide the Associate Dean for Student Affairs with a written request including the reason for the withdrawal request. The Associate Dean for Student Affairs will then present the request to the Basic Science Academic Evaluation Board for approval. This action may only be taken once for any specific course. The Basic Science Academic Evaluation Board may require or permit course withdrawal at other times during the academic year. Course withdrawal will not be indicated on the transcript once the course is successfully completed.

Withdrawal from a Core Clinical Experience

(Revisions have been made to this section since the original posting date of 08/27/12. Revisions approved by the CYC 10/22/12 )

Policy: Students may withdraw before the before the established withdrawal deadline of a clerkship without penalty.

These withdrawal deadlines in CCE are as follows:

• End of week 1 of a 3 week CCE (Neurology)
• End of week 3 of a 5 week CCE (Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Family Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology)
• End of week 6 for the 8 to 10 week clerkships (Surgery, Internal Medicine).
  
  This decision must be made in conjunction with the Associate Dean for Student Affairs, the student’s mentor and with the agreement of the clerkship directors. Permission to withdraw must be requested from the Clinical Science Academic Evaluation Board (CSAEB). This action may only be taken once for any specific clerkship. Course withdrawal will not be indicated on the transcript once the course is successfully completed.
  
  Explanation: Withdrawals after the the above deadlines will generally be unacceptable. Students must complete the rotation and will receive a grade. In extenuating circumstances, the student may be allowed to withdraw without penalty with the approval of the clerkship director and the CSAEB. Evaluations of the student’s performance in the clerkship completed prior to the time of withdrawal will become part of the student’s permanent record. Generally, the student will be expected to repeat the entire clerkship. However, the clerkship director and the CSAEB may modify this requirement based on factors such as the circumstances leading to the withdrawal, the amount of clerkship completed, and the student’s performance to the time of withdrawal.
  
  Procedure: Students should write a letter outlining the reasons for requesting a withdrawal from the clerkship to the Associate Dean for Student Affairs. The request will be presented to the Clinical Science Academic Evaluation Board for consideration.
  
  If approved the student will be required to complete a CCE Schedule Change Form.
  
  If the Clinical Science Academic Evaluation Board is requiring a student withdraw or postpone a CCE, the Office of Student Affairs will notify the student and the CCE Coordinator.
   Coordinator.

Auditing a Pre-clerkship Course

A student may audit a pre-clerkship course only by permission of the course instructor and with the approval of the Associate Dean for Student Affairs. The student must register for the course as an auditor with the Registrar’s Office. When the student meets with the course coordinator, the course coordinator will inform the student in which activities of the course the student may participate in (i.e. lectures, small groups, use of CAI equipment, labs). Usually, auditors will not be permitted to sit for examinations or be required to write papers. Exceptions may be made by the course coordinator. No grade will be recorded on the student’s transcript for an audited course. A student registered for a course as an auditor may not change his/her status in that course to receive course credit.

In the case of a student who is already enrolled in one or more courses for a semester and who elects, in addition, to audit one or more courses, there is no change to billing or fee schedules as a consequence of the audited course/s.

Exam Policy FOM 1 and FOM 2

To create an environment comparable to licensure exams and to maintain the integrity of the examination itself, the bubble sheet, pencils/pens, a simple hand-held calculator, and the exam itself are the only items to be used during exams. The use of electronic devices (MP3 players, iPODs, cell phones, PDA’s, lap tops, and any devices capable of recording, retrieving or transmitting text, numbers, images or sound) are prohibited without the explicit approval of the instructor.

(Approved by the First and Second Year Curriculum Committees 03/06)  

EVALUATION OF COURSES

Evaluations of Course and/or Clerkship - Completed By Student Each student is REQUIRED to submit to the Office of Educational Affairs completed final evaluations for every course and/or clerkship. A student will not receive a final grade for the course and/or clerkship until he/she submits completed evaluations to the Office of Educational Affairs. To insure confidentiality, a student’s NT login will be retained when an on-line evaluation form is submitted; however, student names will not be associated with specific responses-only summary tables will be provided. Evaluations of Electives - Completed By Student .

Each student is REQUIRED to submit to the Office of Educational Affairs a critique of each elective taken, whether for credit or non-credit. Student will not be given the evaluation of his/her performance in an elective until he/she returns a completed critique of that elective. The completed critique will be kept on file in the Office of Educational Affairs as a reference for the elective’s department as well as for future students choosing elective programs.

EVALUATION OF STUDENTS

 Principles of Evaluation

I. Purpose of Evaluations
Evaluations are meant to provide both students and faculty with accurate appraisals of the students’ learning of the subject matter. They are to be used by the Academic Evaluation Boards in making decisions about academic advancement, remediation, or dismissal, and they provide the Associate Dean for Student Affairs with meaningful information for use in the writing of the Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE). The student’s mentor of record will also receive a copy of the mentee’s grades and evaluations.

II. Principles Underlying Evaluations

UMMS does not rank students within their class and therefore requires that evaluations of performance be based on criteria of competence, rather than on predetermined statistical curves. Thus, the evaluation system is designed to promote a spirit of cooperation and to eliminate unhealthy competition between students.

III. Pre-Clerkship Evaluations

Performance ratings in pre-clinical courses are usually based on results of written or oral examinations, papers or other written assignments. Narrative evaluations may also be prepared to provide information which is not obtainable through the examination process or not apparent in the performance ratings, and which may be pertinent to the student’s overall record. This information is helpful in assisting the Academic Evaluation Board, in providing the student with a more comprehensive assessment of his/her strengths and weaknesses, and in aiding in the preparation of the Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE). Examples of themes which appear in the narrative comments are: progress in learning the subject matter, the nature of extenuating circumstances which might have influenced performance, and the pursuit of independent research or projects. IV. Pre-Clerkship Performance Ratings

It is the responsibility of each course coordinator to distribute to each student on or about its first day of classes a syllabus which contains a description of the evaluation tools and procedures to be used. This is to include the relative weight of each examination and a statement defining the levels of proficiency required to attain each of the ratings. Ratings which are used by UMMS courses include:

• Credit - Pass - Indicative of totally acceptable and competent work;
• Credit/Marginal- Low pass - Work of uneven or consistently borderline quality. This grade appears on the transcript as "Credit" however a student is allowed to carry only one such grade into the Clerkship years. Any additional Credit/Marginal course grades must be remediated.
• No Credit - Work of unacceptably low quality; failure to submit required work will result a No Credit for the course unless the student receives an approved extension.
• Incomplete - A temporary designation indicating that a final rating is not yet available although the course has ended. This rating is used at the discretion of the course director with the approval of the Basic Science Academic Evaluation Board (BSAEB) such as in cases where the course work is incomplete due to physician-certified illness, death in the immediate family, or a reason of comparable magnitude. Requests for a temporary grade of incomplete must be made to the course coordinator prior to the end date of the course. If an Incomplete grade is granted, the incomplete work must be made up in the time frame specified by the course coordinator. If no time frame is specified, the work must be made up in a prompt and orderly fashion within one year. Extensions to this one-year limit may be granted by the course coordinator with the approval of the Basic Science Academic Evaluation Board. If a student is carrying two or more grades of Incomplete, the student’s academic record will be reviewed by the Basic Science Academic Evaluation Board.
• Honors - Prior to academic year 2010/11 a grade of Honors was indicative of exceptional and clearly outstanding performance.

An asterisk (*) accompanying any grade indicates that this rating has resulted from a single attempt to remediate an initial course rating of NC (No Credit) or F (Failing).

V. Clerkship Evaluations

 Students doing clerkship rotations shall be evaluated as objectively as possible for competence in each of the following three areas:

1. Knowledge - This may be assessed through written examinations, through evaluation of clinical performance with regard to the ability to apply and integrate facts, and through evaluation of the ability to discuss and relate facts about particular cases in the setting of conferences and rounds.
2. Skills - This refers to the student’s capacity to function effectively in areas such as clinical decision-making, physician-patient relationship, the carrying out of procedures, and formulation of various diagnostic and therapeutic courses of action.
3. Attitudes - Students are also judged as to their overall maturity, their professionalism, their ability to relate to staff and patients, and their ability to adapt to the pressures and responsibilities of medical practice.

Additional Guidelines for Clerkship Evaluations

Each clinical discipline is expected to define the relative importance of the various measures used to assess knowledge, skills, and attitudes, as well as to define the nature of the procedures to be used in arriving at final performance ratings. This is to be described in writing to the students at the beginning of the rotation. While each discipline is allowed flexibility in evaluating students, based upon the uniqueness of that specialty, the following guidelines are to be used:

• A poor initial performance on a single written final examination should not, in and of itself, result in a rating of "Fail." Assuming that other areas of performance are deemed satisfactory, an "Incomplete" is to be assigned until the student has the opportunity of retaking the test.
• A second poor performance on a written examination or an initial poor performance on more than one clerkship component may result in a grade of "Incomplete," "Below Expected Performance," or "Fail" at the discretion of the clerkship director or grading committee.
• If a student fails to pass an exam or course component after two attempts, the course director may require additional tutorial or clinical work, may change the format of the exam, or may require partial or complete course repeat. Only one attempt to pass a course by course repeat is allowed.
• All clinical grades must be Expected Performance or above to graduate.
• If a student has accumulated two or more Incomplete grades, the Clinical Science Academic Evaluation Board may vote to require the student to stop progress until one or more grades is remediated or to take other actions.
• Students with a particular handicap or learning disability shall be afforded every reasonable means of meeting the specific requirements of any course according to ADA guidelines.

VI. Clerkship Performance Ratings

VII. Elective Evaluations

• For all electives on a students schedule within the UMass system: The Registrar’s Office will automatically send an evaluation form [electronically] to the Elective Coordinator for completion. The evaluation will be emailed midway through the elective.
• For all electives on a students schedule outside the UMass system (External Electives): The Registrar’s Office will email an evaluation form to the student. It is the student’s responsibility to give this Evaluation Form to the elective coordinator for completion.
• For all International electives, students should obtain an evaluation form from the Registrar’s Office before they leave for the elective. Students should have the Elective Coordinator complete the evaluation form and bring the completed form to Mick Godkin, PhD for UMass sign-off. Dr. Godkin will forward the Evaluation Form to the Registrar’s Office.

Timing of Evaluations

Conflict of Interest

In order to ensure that there is no conflict of interest between the roles of faculty and resident physicians functioning as physicians or therapists and the roles of faculty and resident physicians in academic evaluation and promotion, the designated director of a course or health delivery service is responsible for a plan to ensure that health professionals who provide psychiatric/psychological counseling or other sensitive health services to a medical student must have no involvement in the academic assessment or promotion of the medical student receiving those services.

Procedure: under the leadership of the Associate Dean for Student Affairs, oversight for this policy will rest with the Office of Student Affairs. The policy will be stated in the Handbook and disseminated to all affiliates.

Review of Evaluation Criteria

Academic Evaluation Boards/Review of Academic Records

Adverse recommendation

(As defined in Sec. 2.2 of the school’s Appeal Policy)

Progress Board

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Criteria for Academic Review and Advancement

B. Academic Review and Advancement During the Pre-clerkship Years
In general, In general, a student whose internal record shows no ratings of CREDIT/MARGINAL or NO CREDIT and less than two ratings of INCOMPLETE does not require individual review.
Specific requirements for advancement are:

Promotion from FOM1 to FOM2:

1. Completion of all required courses for FOM1; no unremediated rating of NCR. Students who have received more than one rating of CRM will be reviewed by the BSAEB and Progress Board (if necessary) to determine whether or not they can progress for each course to FOM2.
2. Course coordinators for each course will establish prerequisites for progression to that course or block of a course. Students who have satisfied the prerequisites will be permitted to progress to that course or course block.
3. Students who have not satisfied all requirements to go on to FOM2 may be permitted to take one or more blocks of FOM2 occurring in the first academic year. This promotion to FOM2 is on a provisional basis. In order to continue progression in FOM2 students must satisfy all requirements to move to FOM2 by the start of the second academic year.

Promotion from FOM2 to Core Clinical Experiences (CCE):

1. Completion of all required courses in FOM1 and FOM2, no unremediated ratings of NO CREDIT, no ratings of INCOMPLETE and not more than one unremediated rating of CREDIT/MARGINAL.

Students meeting these requirements are eligible for advancement unless additional information brought to the attention of the Board (e.g., demonstration by the student of qualities of character or personality which are incompatible with a career as a physician) requires further deliberation and action.  

C. Academic Review and Advancement During the Clinical Years

The Core Clinical Experience (CCE) and Advanced Studies (AS) constitute the clinical portion of the curriculum. Prior to the core clinical experience, the student is assigned by computer match to thematic sections Similarly, an approved subinternship and a clerkship in Neurology are scheduled during the fourth /Advanced Studies year/s, in addition to *electives chosen by the student. (*Advanced Studies beginning in AY 2013/14). 

2. Only Only one chance to remediate a less-than-CREDIT/EXPECTED PERFORMANCE rating by repetition of the course is allowed. Students attempting a remediation by course repeat are not eligible to take the remediation exam following this course repeat. If a student fails to obtain a grade higher than the initial grade by repetition of the course, the original grade will stand. If the original grade was a NO CREDIT/FAILING or BELOW EXPECTED PERFORMANCE in a required clinical course, or if the grade results in another condition subject to dismissal the student will be subject to dismissal, as described in the Criteria for Academic Review and Advancement.3. A course may not downgrade a post-remediation rating as a penalty for a previous performance.

4. The grade which shall be recorded on a student’s transcript following a successful attempt to remediate an Internal CREDIT/MARGINAL or BELOW EXPECTED PERFORMANCE rating by examination can only be CREDIT. If the CREDIT/MARGINAL/BELOW EXPECTED PERFORMANCE rating is successfully remediated by repetition of the course, the result which can be recorded may be the appropriate course grade, including EXPECTED PERFORMANCE (EP), ABOVE EXPECTED PERFORMANCE (AEP), or OUTSTANDING (O).

The grade which shall be recorded on a student’s transcript following a successful attempt to remediate an Internal CREDIT/MARGINAL or BELOW EXPECTED PERFORMANCE rating by examination can only be CREDIT. If the CREDIT/MARGINAL/BELOW EXPECTED PERFORMANCE rating is successfully remediated by repetition of the course, the result which can be recorded may be the appropriate course grade, including EXPECTED PERFORMANCE (EP), ABOVE EXPECTED PERFORMANCE (AEP), or OUTSTANDING (O).

5. The grade which shall be recorded on a student’s transcript following a successful attempt to remediate a NO CREDIT rating by examination can only be CREDIT (CR). If the NO CREDIT or FAILING rating is successfully remediated by repetition of the course, the result must be recorded as the appropriate preclinical or clinical course grade, such as CR, or AEP. Grades remediated from a NO CREDIT or FAILING rating will also be noted on the transcript.  

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Dismissal

The Basic Science Academic Evaluation Board and the Clinical Science Academic Evaluation Board are charged with reviewing the progress of all medical students. From time to time, these Boards find it necessary to make recommendations to the Progress Board which may recommend to the Dean of the Medical School an extended period of study or otherwise affect a student’s progress. A student may, on occasion, feel such decisions are unfair in some way. This document outlines the procedures associated with filing an appeal.

Students are encouraged to try all other routes for resolving differences before resorting to the filing of a formal appeal. Students should seek the counsel and help of the Office of Student Affairs and consider such an appeal only after all alternative routes have been explored.

An appeal alleges a mistake in the facts relied upon for the decision or that the facts support different action by the Progress Board.

(2) Definitions

Advanced Standing

Given the integrated model for our courses and curricular framework, requests for advanced standing will be considered on a case by case basis. Under the oversight of the Associate Dean for undergraduate medical education, requests for advanced standing in a given course will be reviewed by the respective curriculum committee and subject to approval by the designated course co-leaders.

Requests for advanced standing should be directed to the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education.

Certification For Graduation

The Registrar certifies that each candidate for graduation from the Medical School has completed all academic requirements and all administrative requirements of the Institution. No student may graduate who has outstanding fees or fines (i.e. tuition, loans, library books, parking fees or tickets. Final determination that the student has satisfied academic requirements rests with the appropriate faculty academic evaluation board. Certification Process:

Credit Hour Definitions

(Revisions have been made to this section since the original posting date of 08/27/12.)

The University of Massachusetts Medical School, which consists of its School of Medicine, Graduate School of Nursing and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, fulfills the following Federal definition of a credit hour:
“Except as provided in 34 CFR 668.8(k) and (1), a credit hour is an amount of work represented in intended learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement that is an institutionally established equivalency that reasonably approximates
not less than:

(1) One hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out-of-class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester or trimester hour of credit, or ten to twelve weeks for one quarter hours of credit, or the equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time; or

(2) At least an equivalent amount of work as required in paragraph (1) of this definition for other academic activities as established by the institution, including laboratory work, internships, practica, studio work, and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours.”

Faculty and Student Notifications:
The credit hour assignments will be included in the appropriate student handbook and they will be provided to the Office of Faculty Affairs for inclusion in the orientation program for new faculty. It will also be presented at relevant curriculum committee meetings to ensure faculty awareness.

Credit Hour Assignments

Existing Curriculum:
Each grade-granting course is assigned credits based on the following process, which builds on standard educational benchmarking and local expertise in curriculum development and expectations for clinical work:

• Year 1-2 foundational curricula: approximately 15 classroom hours and two out-of classroom hours per classroom hour/semester (minimum 45 hours) = one credit
• Years 2-4 core clinical and elective experiences: one week = one credit
• Year 3-4 required sub-internship: one week = two credits

The Credit-Hours Work Group (CHWG) will present the slate of course credit hours annually to the relevant curriculum sub-committee of the Education Policy Committee (EPC) for review and endorsement, and to the full EPC at the request of the EPC curriculum sub-committee.

New Course Development:
Newly approved courses will apply this metric to confirm appropriate credit.

Adjustment:

• The CHWG will be convened annually three months before the start of the academic year to review any need to adjust policy or procedure, and on an ad hoc basis throughout the year as time sensitive issues arise. These meetings will be called by the CHWG Chair, the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education.
• The credit-hours work group consists of the Associate Deans for Undergraduate Medical Education and Student Affairs, Chairs of the EPC curriculum sub-committees, Chairs of the Basic and Clinical Sciences Academic Evaluation Boards, the Registrar and the Financial Aid Director.
• A sub-committee with expertise in elements unique to the MD/PhD program will meet annually and as needed to address credit-hour issues related to that program. This MD/PhD CHWG will be comprised of the Dean of the GSBS, the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education, the Chair of the relevant EPC sub-committee, MD/PhD leadership, the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and other content experts as necessary.
• The policy will be posted on the EPC website.

The CHWG will be convened annually three months before the start of the academic year to review any need to adjust policy or procedure, and on an ad hoc basis throughout the year as time sensitive issues arise. These meetings will be called by the CHWG Chair, the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education.

 Credit Hour Audit Process
The Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education in the SOM, the Dean of the GSBS and the Dean of the GSN will annually supply a list of all credit granting courses to the Associate Dean for Allied Health and Interprofessional Education Programs(the “Associate Dean”), who will randomly select two courses from each of the three schools for an audit to determine credit hour compliance with this policy.

The Associate Dean will formally notify each of these three individuals concerning the initial results of this audit. If there is a disagreement concerning the findings, the Associate Dean will meet with the individual for further discussion. The Associate Dean will report his final audit conclusions to the Provost.

(Approved by EPC 12/08/11)

Extended Program

Fifth Year Option for the MD Degree

The Fifth Year Option requires extension of the educational program for completion of the MD degree, including a minimum of 12 credits per semester for up to two semesters.

This Option is not intended for students who are required to extend their program in order to complete courses required for the regular MD degree (eg decelerated students, students remediating courses, or students who took a leave during their regular program).

The Option is under the oversight of the Office of Student Affairs and will be overseen by the Associate Dean for Student Affairs.

Common reasons for application for entry into the Fifth Year Option:

• extended international experience
• extended research experience
• extended clinical experience

Requirements for completion of Fifth Year Option:

Opportunities to apply:

• Student may apply for the Fifth Year Option at any time after matriculation; the expectation is that most proposals would be made at the end of the third or beginning of the fourth year.
• Proposals must be submitted to the CSAEB for approval by April 30 of the year preceding the fifth year of enrollment (eg by April 2013 for entry into the Option in AY 13/14).

Application process:

Student must meet with:

• His or her Learning Community mentor.
• Assoc Dean for Student Affairs or designee.
• Appropriate sponsor/s.
• Research mentor if a Research proposal.
• Director of International Medic al Education Option if an International studies proposal.
• Specialty Advisor if specialty field has been chosen; otherwise the LC Mentor letter of support will be used.
• Director of Financial Aid or designee.
• Others as determined by the Assoc Dean for Student Affairs.
  
  Option details:
• Enrichment courses may be started during fourth or next to last year of enrollment, with required courses completed during fifth or graduation year.
• A single semester Option may be completed in fall or spring semester.
• Students may be eligible for Federal financial aid – see Financial Aid director for details.
• Institutional gift aid will not be made available to Fifth Year Option students.
  
  Application must be submitted in writing to Associate Dean for Student Affairs containing:
• Student’s description of his/her Option including educational goals/ objectives and stating whether this is a one semester or two semester proposal.
• Letter of support from mentor.
• Letter of support from research mentor or Director of International Medical Education Program.
• Letter from Director of Financial Aid or designee attesting that student understands the financial ramifications of application for this Option.
  
  Approval will be by the CSAEB; CSAEB may choose to appoint a subcommittee to pre-review all proposals and recommend action before voting by the entire committee.
  
  Courses taken to fulfill the requirements for the Option will be noted in the MSPE and on the transcript.
  
  (Approved by EPC on 6/4/2012)

Leave Of Absence

A leave of absence is a temporary interruption of studies for one or more semesters; generally not for more than one year, except in the case of students pursuing joint degrees at UMass or in conjunction with another degree-granting program. A student on an approved leave of absence prior to the start of the semester will not be assessed tuition and fees, although the student may choose to maintain his/ her health insurance coverage by paying the appropriate fee. All other students are assessed a refund of tuition and fees based on the date of withdrawal and whether or not he/she is a Title IV Financial Aid recipient. Leaves of absence may have other financial consequences for financial aid recipients. Please refer to the Bursar and Student Financial Aid sections of the Medical School Student Handbook or contact the Bursar’s Office or the Office of Financial Aid for details.

I. STUDENT INITIATED

A student in good academic standing may, at any time, request a leave of absence for a specified period of time not to exceed one year.

A student in good academic standing may, at any time, request a leave of absence for a specified period of time not to exceed one year.

A. Administrative Leave of Absence

A student in good academic standing may, at any time, request a leave of absence for a specified period of time not to exceed one year. The request must be made in writing (e-mail from the UMass email account is acceptable) to the Associate Dean for Student Affairs, who will bring the request to the appropriate Academic Evaluation Board for consideration. The appropriate Academic Evaluation Board will determine whether or not such a leave of absence is to be granted, whether or not it can be renewed, and what, if any, conditions for readmission will be set.

A student in good academic standing may, at any time, request a leave of absence for a specified period of time not to exceed one year. The request must be made in writing (e-mail from the UMass email account is acceptable) to the Associate Dean for Student Affairs, who will bring the request to the appropriate Academic Evaluation Board for consideration. The appropriate Academic Evaluation Board will determine whether or not such a leave of absence is to be granted, whether or not it can be renewed, and what, if any, conditions for readmission will be set.79

B. Medical Leave of Absence

A student in good academic standing may request a medical leave from the appropriate Academic Evaluation Board with a supporting letter from his/ her physician or therapist. Medical leaves are normally for a period not to exceed one year, although they may be extended after review by the appropriate Academic Evaluation Board.

A student in good academic standing may request a medical leave from the appropriate Academic Evaluation Board with a supporting letter from his/ her physician or therapist. Medical leaves are normally for a period not to exceed one year, although they may be extended after review by the appropriate Academic Evaluation Board.

If the medical reason for the leave is expected to be a simple, acute, self-limiting condition, e.g. pregnancy, injury, the request and supporting letter from the physician or therapist should be sent to the Associate Dean for Student Affairs, who will present it to the appropriate Academic Evaluation Board. If a second medical leave is requested for the same condition, it will automatically be considered to have become more complex (see below).

If the medical reason for the leave is expected to be chronic or more complex, the student must apply for the leave through the Academic Accommodations/ Achievement Committee (AAC), which will review the case and will present it to the appropriate Academic Evaluation Board for consideration once the committee feels it has enough evidence to support a medical leave.

C. Parental Leave: Maternal, Paternal, Adoptive, etc.

Students may request leaves, with or without extensions of their academic program, to fulfill parental responsibilities. Requests should be discussed with the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and will require approval of the appropriate Academic Evaluation Board (Basic or Clinical).

Students may request leaves, with or without extensions of their academic program, to fulfill parental responsibilities. Requests should be discussed with the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and will require approval of the appropriate Academic Evaluation Board (Basic or Clinical).

II. SCHOOL INITIATED

A student with academic deficiencies may, under certain circumstances, be placed on an Administrative Leave for a specified time, either to bring the student’s schedule back into synchrony with the curriculum, or to require or allow specific support activities (e.g., counseling, remedial reading or other background courses, etc.)

A student with academic deficiencies may, under certain circumstances, be placed on an Administrative Leave for a specified time, either to bring the student’s schedule back into synchrony with the curriculum, or to require or allow specific support activities (e.g., counseling, remedial reading or other background courses, etc.)
1. A student appealing a Board recommendation which makes that student ineligible to progress academically shall be placed on an Administrative Extension during which the student will be ineligible to attend classes and will not be charged tuition for the semester which begins while the situation is under appeal. The tuition refund policy will apply for changes to Administrative Extension that occur during a semester.

RETURN FROM A LEAVE OF ABSENCE

• Return from a medical leave requires a supporting letter from the student’s physician or therapist and approval of the Board.
• The student is responsible for contacting the appropriate departments to make any necessary arrangements before returning to school. More specifically, the student must contact the Registrar Office thirty (30) days prior to the start of courses to make arrangements for the pre-registration of classes. In addition, for a student returning to a clinical year, the office of Student Affairs must be notified no later than January 31st in order to participate in the appropriate core clinical or fourth year/ advanced studies EVOS.  Students will not be permitted to take required sub-internships until all prerequisites have been successfully completed. Students participating in Financial Aid Programs must also contact the Office of Financial Aid for specific details.
• A student who fails to attend the Medical School regularly or fails to return from a leave of absence, in spite of notification by the Associate Dean for Student Affairs, will be considered to have withdrawn voluntarily from Medical School and cannot be reinstated without positive action of the Committee on Admissions.

Matriculating Student Status

Number of Years to Complete the MD Degree

A leave of absence during which the student remains matriculated but is not actively enrolled may be requested by a student or required by an Academic Evaluation Board.

Conditions for a leave of absence are as follows:

A leave of absence for personal or medical reasons is normally for a period not to exceed one year and may be renewed only by the appropriate Academic Evaluation Board on appeal by the student.

A leave of absence for personal or medical reasons is normally for a period not to exceed one year and may be renewed only by the appropriate Academic Evaluation Board on appeal by the student.

• Students in our combined MD/PhD are by definition on leave during their research time, but are not required to apply annually for extension of their leave and are not held to the 4 year maximum by the SOM. Any maximum on leave time devoted to dissertation research for MD/PhD students will be determined by the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
• Students pursing another degree (e.g. MPH, MBA, etc) or participating in a program at an external agency or institution must get approval from the appropriate Academic Evaluation Board and reapply for extension annually of their leave. The same appropriate Academic Evaluation Board reserves the right to reverse its permission to pursue another degree or participate in a program at an external agency or institution.
• The number of years of leaves of absence shall not exceed two academic years (4 semesters) unless the student is pursuing another degree either at UMass or though a previously approved program at an external agency or institution.

A student will be considered to be making satisfactory progress towards the MD degree if the following percentage of the curriculum is met:

End of first year of enrollment 10% of curriculum

End of second year of enrollment 20% of curriculum

End of third year of enrollment 30% of curriculum

End of fourth year of enrollment 50% of curriculum

End of fifth year of enrollment 75% of curriculum

End of sixth year of enrollment 100% of curriculum

Percentage of curriculum completed will be calculated based on the percentage of the curriculum which would normally be completed in 4 years.

Exceptions to the maximum number of years (6 enrollment/ 2 leave) can be made only in circumstances of extraordinary medical or personal hardship, on appeal to the appropriate Academic Evaluation Board.

to the maximum number of years (6 enrollment/ 2 leave) can be made only in circumstances of extraordinary medical or personal hardship, on appeal to the appropriate Academic Evaluation Board.

6/10 approved by the Educational Policy Committee (EPC)

Withdrawals

Voluntary Withdrawal 

A student may withdraw voluntarily from the Medical School at any time upon written application to the Associate Dean for Student Affairs. A student who is withdrawn is not guaranteed readmission. Application for reinstatement must be received in writing at least two months prior to the date of requested readmission and must be approved by the Committee on Admissions. The level of reinstatement within the curriculum will be determined by the appropriate Academic Evaluation Board.

Administrative Withdrawal

A student may be administratively withdrawn from the University if, after due notice, the student fails to satisfy an overdue financial obligation to, or to comply with certain administrative requirements of, the campus of the University of Massachusetts at which the student is registered. Conditions warranting Administrative Withdrawal include failure to comply with administrative requirements such as failure by a student to satisfy an overdue financial obligation to the University, consisting of tuition, loans, fees, library (charges), or other student charges, including orientation, student activities, health services, failure to comply with other administrative requirements, such as the submission of health forms, etc., forgery, fraud, or falsification of information on any official University form or document, such as student grade report, recommendation, (transcripts), etc. At the Medical School, such failure is considered a violation of the Professionalism policy.

The appropriate administrative official, including an assistant registrar, may recommend in writing to the Registrar that a student be administratively withdrawn from the University. An attempt to resolve the matter must have been made by the administrative official by mailing to the student at his last known address a written notice of the proposed recommendation for withdrawal and the reasons therefore, such matter not having been successfully resolved with fourteen calendar days of the mailing of said notice. If the Registrar is satisfied that the conditions warranting administrative withdrawal have been satisfied, he/she shall send a certified letter to the student at his/her last known address setting forth the recommendation for withdrawal and the reasons therefore, and notifying said student that he/she may within fourteen calendar days after said letter is mailed request a hearing on the matter. If the student does not request a hearing or take action satisfactory to the Registrar to resolve the matter within the time allotted, the Registrar shall administratively withdraw the student from the university no sooner than the fifteenth calendar day following the mailing of the notice provided for. If the student requests a hearing, it will be held by an appointed subcommittee of the appropriate Academic Evaluation Board.

Any student who has been administratively withdrawn may at any time during the semester in which the withdrawal was made make arrangements with the Registrar for the resolution of the matter. Upon such a resolution satisfactory to the Registrar, the Registrar shall forthwith reinstate the student to active enrollment status. Any student who has attempted to resolve the matter but has failed to satisfy the Registrar may petition for reinstatement by mailing or delivering to the Associate Dean for Student Affairs a written statement why the student believes himself/ herself entitled to reinstatement. This statement will be reviewed by a subcommittee of the appropriate Academic Evaluation Board. The determination of whether a reinstated student shall receive credit for the period for which he/she was withdrawn shall be made by the instructor for each course involved.  

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