Excused and Unexcused Absences

Definition of Excused and Unexcused Absences 

Excused Absence:

An Excused Absence is an absence for which permission has been granted by either the Course Director, Director of Didactic Curriculum or the Director of Clinical Education

There are different types of excused absences:

  • Voluntary Absence: An absence for an event or events such as personal appointments and family events. Voluntary absences are generally not permitted.
  • Involuntary Absence: An absence for serious illness, jury duty, and academic needs specified by the RVU PA Program (i.e. remediation).
    • Jury Duty
      • Students summoned to jury duty must notify their individual advisor for a didactic course or the Director of Clinical Education and the Preceptor for a clinical rotation overlapping their summons for jury duty. The student will contact the appropriate court to determine if they have been called for appearance.
      • If the student is called to appear for jury duty, they will need to provide the excused absence form from the court to the faculty advisor (or Director of Curriculum) or Director of Clinical Education, verifying their attendance for jury duty.
      • If the student is not called to appear for jury duty, they must report to the required courses or clinical rotation site for that day.
      • If an exam is scheduled for the day the student is summoned to appear for jury duty, the student will follow the guidelines above, and if called to appear for jury duty, the student will work with the Course Director to reschedule the exam for a later date.
  • Unexpected Preceptor Absence: An Unexpected Preceptor Absence is an absence necessitated by an unexpected change in the Preceptor’s schedule or due to Preceptor illness/ leave.

Didactic Phase Excused Absences:

  • Excused absences in the didactic phase of training can be requested for up to 1 week in duration.
    • If the absence is involuntary due to an unforeseen illness, the student is to contact the faculty advisor to let them know of the absence (or the Director of Curriculum if the faculty advisor is unavailable). The faculty advisor will inform the other Course Directors of the excused absence.
    • If the absence is 1-3 days in duration, the student does NOT need to complete the Excused Absence form found on the iNET.
    • If a student needs to take an excused absence of >3 days duration, the student must meet with the Director of Curriculum (DOC) and his/her/their faculty advisor to discuss financial aid implications, how the absence could affect progression through the program, and the ability to complete missed work versus the need for an official leave of absence.
    • Following meeting with the DOC and the faculty advisor, the student is to submit the appropriate completed form on the iNET—either an Excused Absence form or a Leave of Absence form.
  • Students are not allowed to have consecutive excused absences of 1 week or more in duration.
  • Students are permitted one, 1-week duration excused absence per semester.
  • Unexcused absences within the didactic phase could affect the professional development assessment tool (PDAT) component of the course grade.

Clinical Phase Excused Absences:

It is the student’s responsibility to notify the Clinical Team of any absences as soon as possible. Failure to do so may result in a notation on the PDAT or failure of the rotation.

  • If a student has an illness or other emergency, they must contact their preceptor(s), as well as the Director of Clinical Education and the Clinical Team, as soon as possible or prior to missing any time.
  • Unique circumstances where a student is requesting a voluntary excused absence must be submitted in writing to the Director of Clinical Education within ten business days from the requested day(s) off. If adjustments can be made, an appropriate plan will be developed by the Director of Clinical Education, with or without assistance from the advisor and/or the Clinical Team. Multiple requests for voluntary absences will not be allowed.
  • Students will not be responsible for making up a single day due to an unexpected preceptor absence, and the absence will be considered Excused if the Clinical Team is notified within 24 hours of the cancellation. If a preceptor absence includes multiple days, students will need to make up multiple days. If it is not possible for the student to make up all the missed days and it results in students not meeting the minimum hours required for a rotation, the Clinical Team will assign additional clinical experiences to meet the requirement.

If there is a pattern of absences, whether excused or unexcused, through the semester or year, a remediation plan may be warranted.

 

Unexcused Absences: 

An unexcused absence is an absence which has not been approved by the Course Director, Director of Curriculum or the Director of Clinical Education.

 

Other Clinical Experience Considerations:

Mandatory Testing: During Clinical Experiences, the student will be required to be on the RVU campus for Competency Assessments (e.g., Point of Entrustment exams, Summative Examination, Capstone). Preceptors will be notified of these excused absences.

Inclement Weather: Students are expected to attend clinic even if the Rocky Vista University campus is closed. If the rotation site is open during inclement weather, the student must make every effort to attend. If the site closes due to weather, the student must notify the Director of Clinical Education and the Clinical Team immediately. If the student will not be attending clinic, it is the student’s responsibility to contact the preceptor first to notify them that they will not be there and why. After contacting the preceptor, the student must email the Director of Clinical Education who may consider make-up options, as needed.

Emergency or Illness: If the student is ill and it would be inappropriate for the student to see patients or if there is an emergency, the student must contact their preceptor. After contacting the preceptor, the student must email the Director of Clinical Education to discuss make-up options.

Other Absence Requests: If the student needs to miss clinic for any reason other than an acute illness or an emergency, the student must receive approval from the Director of Clinical Education prior to approaching the preceptor. Requests must be submitted ten business days prior to the requested time off.

University Breaks/Holidays: Students are required to attend clinic during the Rocky Vista University PA Program Winter Break, Spring Break, and holiday days.

On-Call/Night Shifts: On-call responsibilities may be required for a rotation, and the student must discuss the schedule with the preceptor at the beginning of the rotation. A rotation may require on-call nights or overnight shifts.

Job Interviews: Scheduling a job interview during another clinical experience will not be approved. Job interviews must be scheduled during the student’s off- hours.