Non-involvement of providers of student health services in student assessment and promotion

Purpose/Background

This policy outlines the procedures to avoid potential role conflicts for health professionals who provide health services and serve as clinical educators.

Who Needs to Know This Policy

Faculty, Residents, Medical Students

Policy

Health professionals who provide health services, including psychiatric care and psychological counseling, to a medical student will not be involved in the academic assessment and promotion of the medical student receiving those services. In the case of a treatment relationship with a student, these health professionals may serve as faculty, and may provide large group/class teaching, but may not make evaluative decisions, including the completion of end of course/clerkship evaluations. They may not serve as clinical preceptors for a student for whom they have provided health service nor shall they participate in the activities of the Student Promotion and Conduct Committee (SPCC) for that student.

At the beginning of a small group session, each facilitator will be asked to review the students assigned to his or her group and alert the course director if reassignments are necessary.

In the event that a student is assigned to a health professional who has provided health services to that student, it is the responsibility of both the student and the health professional to seek out the appropriate change of assignment. The student and/or health professional shall contact the director of the course / block / clerkship / elective, the Associate Dean for Medical Education and/or the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs. The student assignment will be immediately changed.

In the event that a student seeks health services from a health professional who is a member of the School of Medicine faculty, that faculty will be prohibited from involvement in the academic assessment and promotion of the medical student. Urgent/emergent health services, where a delay in treatment could cause harm, should be provided to the student as appropriate, with transfer of care occurring as early as is clinically appropriate.

Definitions

• Large group/class - teaching sessions in which the full class will participate.
• Small group - teaching/facilitation of a defined subset of the class.