If a student is unable to attend a required academic event (e.g. clerkship day, quiz, exam, lab), he or she must seek an Excused Absence approval from the Director of Preclinical Education or the Department of Clinical Education at their respective campus location by completing the Excused Absence Request Form prior to the required session, except in cases of emergency where proactive communication is not possible. Examples of situations which would generally be approved for an Excused Absence from a required event include significant mental, emotional, or physical illness, emergency, or presentation at a professional conference.
Examples of situations that would generally not be approved for an Excused Absence from a required event include weddings, graduations, or religious holidays.
Students seeking an excused absence for a medical reason must provide a signed note from a licensed physician (DO or MD) indicating they were seen/treated. Family members may not provide a note in support of excused absence requests.
If a student is absent from a required event and does not submit the appropriate Excused Absence Request Form in advance or if the request is not approved by the Director of Preclinical Education or the Department of Clinical Education, the student will receive a grade of zero for that event.
If an absence is appropriately excused, a student will be allowed to make-up the required activity/exam. In order to take an examination at any time other than the originally scheduled time (early or late), a student must be approved for an Excused Absence. A student who does not take an examination at the scheduled time and is appropriately excused will be allowed to take a make-up examination, if eligible. A student who does not take a quiz at the scheduled time and is appropriately excused will generally receive a 0/0. However, under certain circumstances, a make-up quiz may be administered. A student who is excused from attending a required lab will not miss any required points for the lab. However, that student should not expect faculty to recreate the lab experience. Hence, it is critical for students to attend all labs, whenever reasonably possible. If the student misses a scheduled make-up examination, he or she will receive a zero for that examination.
For pre-clinical students, the Excused Absence form is located on the RVU iNet webserver.
Clinical Education
The focus of the clinical experience in years 3 and 4 is patient care and interaction. One hundred percent attendance is, therefore, required to be sure that continuity of care is maintained. It is understood that certain situations may arise that will result in an absence from required daily participation. In such instances, the following policies will be observed:
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Absences for any reason must be approved by both by both the Preceptor and Clinical Dean.
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Preplanned absences - Submit the Clinical Education Excused Absence Request form in iNet for preplanned absence as soon as event dates and details are known.
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Emergency absences - Submit the Clinical Education Excused Absence Request form in iNet the same day as any emergency absence
Didactics and Simulations
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Attendance is required unless approved by the Clerkship Director.
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Absences or partial attendance must be directly related to rotation requirements, illness or accident, or another emergency to be approved by the Clerkship Director.
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Requests for absences or partial attendance should be submitted before the didactic/simulation session or as soon as possible after the session when prior notification is not practicable.