Planning Around SGUSOM Policies and Clinical Requirements
Students must consider SGUSOM policies and clinical rotation requirements, including scheduled electives, when arranging residency interviews. Students with multiple residency interviews are encouraged to arrange a 4-week LOA or bridge time to accommodate their interview schedule and should consider the impact of such time off on their graduation timeline. Students who cannot take time off should disperse interviews across the interview season, when possible. Students should consult their academic advisor with questions about timeline or SGUSOM policies.
Interview-Related Absences
A residency interview does not automatically qualify as an excused absence. Students who need time away from a rotation for a residency interview must obtain advance approval from the attending physician, DME, clerkship director, or preceptor, preferably before the rotation begins. Time off is not permitted during sub-internships.
Absences without prior approval, including for residency interviews, may result in an incomplete or failing grade for that rotation.
Making Up Missed Clinical Time
Students must complete the full duration of every rotation, and students must be certified that they have completed the required duration of each rotation by the clerkship directors, DMEs and/or preceptors. Therefore, missed clinical time, including time away for interviews, must be made up before completion of the rotation. Time may be made up, at the discretion of the clerkship director, through additional clinical duties, such as on-call or weekend assignments, or through educational activities, including research assignments or presentations.
Cancellation Policy
Approved electives and sub-internships may not be cancelled without approval from the hospital and the Office of Clinical Education Operations. Students must notify the hospital and the Office of Clinical Education Operations of cancellation at least 90 days before the start date of an elective or sub-internship. Students are required to upload the approved cancellation to the Elective Confirmation/Cancellation system. Students who cancel with less than a 90-day notice are responsible for cancellation fees and are referred to the Office of Student Affairs for unprofessional behavior. A second cancellation with less than a 90-day notice may lead to suspension from the School and notation of the suspension in the student’s MSPE in conjunction with paying the cancellation fees.
If a student cancels a rotation, the student is responsible for full tuition for the cancelled rotation and will not receive credit for any rotation during that same time period. Regardless of the policy that a hospital has, the SGU Clinical Elective Cancellation policy stands for all students. Hospitals should not cancel electives; students should notify the Office of Clinical Education Operations if this occurs. Cancellation fees may be waived by the School for students who must cancel scheduled electives because of a failed NBME Clinical Subject Examination within 3 months of the rotation start date.