The purpose of the Professionalism Committee is to serve as a focus of expertise and as a resource for recognizing exemplary professional behavior and for monitoring and improving lapses of professional behavior in students. The committee will manage lapses in student professionalism across all years of instruction. The primary function of the committee is to review Professionalism Improvement forms that have been submitted to the chair, gather information about the incident or issue, and offer a recommendation for remediation as appropriate. The committee will also monitor outcomes of remediation. Repeated or serious lapses, or failure to engage in remediation, may be reported to the Student Performance Committee (SPC) for further disciplinary action. The committee will also review exemplary professionalism forms and recognize outstanding examples of professionalism among students.
Examples of unprofessional behaviors that would warrant further action include repeated tardiness; non-inclusive or discriminatory behavior, offensive or inappropriate use of language, unexcused absence from a required activity; disruptive behavior in the classroom, clinical setting, or administrative setting; academic dishonesty; abdication of responsibility for patients, harassment, or violence.
The Professionalism Committee is a standing committee of the Student Performance Committee (SPC) that promotes professional behavior in students. The committee confidentially reviews and considers unprofessional allegations submitted on Professionalism Improvement Forms and offers remediation for the unprofessional behavior or violation of the honor code. The Chair of the Professionalism Committee will be a voting member of the SPC appointed by the Dean. The Associate Dean of Student Affairs will take lead in supporting to the student in meeting competency expectations for professionalism.
A Lapse of Professionalism allegation will be documented through the Professionalism Improvement Form (PIF), indicating that a student may need additional help developing or demonstrating professionalism skills. The cited student will be notified by the Office of Student Affairs.
A serious professionalism lapse or repeated lapses may lead to adverse academic actions, including failure of the relevant course/clerkship and may become part of the permanent record of the student as reported on the Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE) or Program Director’s Letter.
Any employee or student who is concerned about a student's professional behavior should give informal feedback to the student and make suggestions for improvement. However, if this is unsuccessful or inadequate improvement is seen, then the employee or student should submit a Professionalism Improvement Form (PIF), which will be forwarded to the Chair of the Professionalism Committee. The PIF should be submitted as close to the incident of concern as is practical. The identity of the employee or student submitting a PIF will remain confidential unless it is later required as part of a formal investigation.
If a student is uncomfortable submitting a PIF regarding another student, they should report this issue to the Assistant/ Associate Dean of Preclinical Education, Assistant/Associate Dean of Clinical Education, or the Assistant/Associate Dean of Student Affairs, who may submit a PIF for the reporting student.
Initial minor lapses of professionalism can be handled by the Chair of the Professionalism Committee. However, repeated occurrences and/or failure to improve will necessitate discussion by the entire committee. Serious allegations may be referred to the SPC. The SPC may conduct further investigation and will make a recommendation to the Dean for final action.