Clinical rotations require a full-time commitment by students. Clinical training involves students with patient care as part of the healthcare team and requires attendance at all didactic activities, completion of assignments and self-directed learning.
The faculty considers participation and engagement to be essential components of professionalism. Students must participate in all required educational activities as defined by clerkship directors. Clinical faculty take participation into account when determining grades.
Students are required to be at the hospital/clinic daily, Monday through Friday, as well as evenings and weekends if scheduled by the site and be on-call night and weekends as scheduled by the clerkship director. During clinical rotations, excessive tardiness can result in an F in the professional behavior component and no unexcused absences are permitted. Missing a lecture or failing to fulfill a clinical assignment will call into question a student’s ability to accept the necessary responsibilities required of a physician. If a student must be absent for a period of a few hours, or a day or two, the student must obtain permission from the clerkship director before leaving. If a student is absent without permission from a scheduled rotation (including electives), the absenteeism could result in a lower or failing grade, and/or disciplinary action.
Students who are unable to participate in a rotation, should formally request a Leave of Absence, which counts towards a student’s timeline and may, therefore, be denied it if will result in the student being unable to complete the MD program within the required 6-year maximum timeframe. Lengthy absences from a rotation without permission from the clerkship director, DME and the Office of Clinical Education Operations constitute a failure to complete required clerkship activities and will result in a failing grade for the clerkship.
The scheduling of clinical clerkships requires a great deal of work by the Office of Clinical Education Operations and hospitals. Because orientation is given at the beginning of each clerkship, students are responsible to be at the hospital at the assigned time. If a student cannot make the assigned starting date or plans to be late, the student must notify the Office of Clinical Education Operations and the DME at the hospital at once. Core rotations cannot be cancelled except for emergency reasons. The school does not allow employment in any capacity during clinical rotations.