Office of Medical Education

Academic Procedures

Schedule of Classes/Book List
Class schedules and a list of required textbooks are provided to students prior to each academic year. Only minor adjustments to the published schedule will be made during the academic year. Examination dates cannot be changed, except in extraordinary situations as initiated by faculty and approved by the Curriculum Committee.

COM Policies on Examinations

Excused Absences
Student attendance is required for all course activities, examinations, and clinical courses. An excused absence is granted by the Deans for Student Affairs in the instances of illness, death of a member of the student's immediate family, religious observance, or an authorized College related trip. The Deans for Student Affairs must be contacted prior to the examination to obtain an excused absence. Students seeking an excused absence must also inform their course or clerkship coordinator of their planned absence. An Absence Request form must be submitted to the Deans for Student Affairs.
Any student who misses an exam/quiz due to illness must be seen and examined by a physician on the day he/she is absent. The student must give a copy of the physician’s note/excuse to the Deans for Student Affairs the next day that he/she is able to return to school.

Failure to follow this procedure may result in the student receiving a grade of zero for that exam/quiz.

Secure Examinations
Various courses throughout the medical curriculum will have secure exams. These exams are the property of the department. Unlike other exams and course work which are returned to the class and provide study guides for future classes, these exams are off-limits for such purposes. When an exam is declared SECURE, any reproduction of the test materials or the content of any of the items through any means, including but not limited to photocopying, reconstruction through memorization, or dictation, and/or dissemination of these materials or any part of them is strictly prohibited. SECURE exams may be written, oral, computer-based or practical experiences. Each course must specify which exams are SECURE. Individuals possessing or sharing information about secure exams will be subject to Honor Code investigation.

COM Policy on Electronic Devices During Examinations
During an examination in the College of Medicine, students are not to have electronic devices such as cell phones, pagers, PDAs on them personally. Instead, these devices should be left either in the student’s locker or at the front of the classroom in the off position. Should a calculator be required for a particular course, it will be necessary for the course director to determine what type of calculator is appropriate. The instructor shall inform the students of this requirement at the start of the course and include that information in the course syllabus as well. Cell phones and PDAs should never be allowed to be substituted as calculators during exams.

COM Policy on Time Allowance for Examinations
Students should be aware that the total time allotted for a particular exam includes both the time to complete the exam itself and the time to transfer their answers to the appropriate answer sheet. Additional time shall not be given at the conclusion of the examination period for the transferring of answers from test booklet to the answer sheet.

COM Standard Examination Policy

• 1-2 proctors present in every examination room.
• If a student is ill and unable to take an exam they should notify the course director and complete a request for Medical Excuse from the Deans for Students Affairs PRIOR to the exam.
• Students must be present at the scheduled start of the exam; students must submit all exam materials at the time specified as the exam conclusion by the Course Director, without delay.
• A sign-in/sign-out sheet will be part of every examination.  The sheet will be with the proctor.  Only one student of each gender will be permitted out at any one time.  If a student must leave at any time during an exam, he/she will be required to sign-out as well as sign-in upon returning.  These sheets will include: name, departure time, return time, destination or reason for leaving the exam, and the student’s signature. Sheets may be reviewed if irregular behavior is suspected.  The examination materials must remain in the Examination Room.
• Multiple versions of the exam could be distributed. Because exam reviews follow exams in many courses, this may be done in the form of scrambling answers but keeping the order of test questions the same for all versions of the test.
• If a course utilizes a Student Liaison Committee, the committee will be elected by the class at the beginning of each course. The role of the Liaison Committee and the process for inquiring about exam questions will be defined by the Course Director at the beginning of the course and shall remain unchanged throughout the duration of the course. This policy should be stated in the Syllabus. If the policy must be changed, the course director shall contact the Office of Medical Education to initiate change.
• IRREGULAR BEHAVIOR (adapted from irregular behavior guidelines per the NBME).
• Irregular behavior includes any action by a student or another interacting with the student that subverts or attempts to subvert the examination process. If a student has information or evidence indicating that any type of irregular behavior or any infringement of legal rights has occurred, the student should submit a written report to or contact the Course Director and the Deans for Student Affairs immediately.

Specific examples of conduct that is deemed to be irregular behavior include, but are not limited to, the following:

• seeking and/or obtaining unauthorized access to examination materials;
• providing false information or making false statements on or in connection with an examination.
• impersonating an examinee or engaging someone else to take the examination for the student;
• giving, receiving, or obtaining unauthorized assistance during the exam or attempting to do so;
• making notes of any kind while in the secure areas of the examination except on the writing materials provided at the examination for this purpose;
• failing to adhere to any UKCOM  policy, procedure, or rule, including the instructions of the examination proctors;
• verbal or physical harassment of examination proctors or course faculty or other disruptive or unprofessional behavior during an examination and regarding any subsequent exam related activity up to final grade assignment;
• possessing any unauthorized materials, including photographic equipment, or communication or recording devices, including electronic paging devices and cellular telephones, at the exam seat;
• altering or misrepresenting examination scores;
• any unauthorized reproduction by any means, including reconstruction through memorization, and/or dissemination of copyrighted examination materials by any means, including the Internet; and communicating or attempting to communicate about specific test items, cases, and/or answers with another examinee at any time before, during, or after an examination.

NOTE: Looking in the direction of another examinee's test booklet or talking to another examinee during the examination may be reported as evidence of giving, receiving, or obtaining unauthorized assistance. The report may result in a determination of irregular behavior. Discussion of examination content or answers on the Internet may also result in a determination of irregular behavior.

NOTE: Behaviors that could constitute a real or potential threat to a standardized patient's safety, such as careless or dangerous actions during physical examination, may impact the student’s grade determination, may result in a determination of irregular behavior and annotation of the student’s UKCOM record, and/or may result in the imposition of conditions on retesting.

See COM Policies for actions which occur following identification of irregular behavior.

USMLE Subject Exams
Policies regarding USMLE Subject Exams

COM Policy on Duty Hours

The College of Medicine follows the ACGME guidelines on duty hours, namely that 1) medical students are to have on average one day out of every seven free from clinical duties; 2) medical students are never to work more than 80 hours per week; and 3) duty periods for medical students cannot last for more than 24 hours although a student may need to stay for a few additional hours longer than the allowed 24 hours in order to maintain continuity of patient care. Every effort should be made by the student’s resident to get the medical student out of the hospital post-call. If a student finds that the rotation that they are doing is not in compliance with these guidelines, the student should alert the Clerkship Director and the Deans for Student Affairs right away who will follow-up on this issue.

COM Policy on Completion of Faculty/Course/Clerkship Evaluations

Students are expected to complete faculty and course/clerkship evaluations upon the completion of each required course and clerkship while in medical school. Students will have one week following the end of each course and clerkship to complete the faculty and course/clerkship evaluations.

United States Medical Licensing Examinations (USMLE)

Students will be required to pass, in no more than three attempts, a written, comprehensive, standardized basic science examination (USMLE Step 1) before promotion to the third year; and, both a comprehensive, standardized clinical knowledge examination (USMLE Step 2-CK) and a comprehensive, standardized clinical skills exam (USMLE Step 2–CS) before graduation.

Students must take the USMLE Step 1 exam no later than June 30 prior to the beginning of their third year of medical education, unless approval is granted by the SPPC for an alternate date. Any student who fails the Step 1 exam will not start third year and will reschedule the exam between the earliest date permitted (first day of the month, 60 days after the first test date) and the first day of the fourth block of third year. Students who then pass the exam will enter a rotation group as soon as possible. Students who fail the second exam will take it for the third and final time between the earliest date permitted and June 30 of the following year.

Students must take both the USMLE Step 2-CK and Step 2-CS exams no later than December 31 of their fourth year, unless approval is granted by the SPPC for an alternate date. Any student who fails either exam must reschedule that exam between the earliest date permitted (first day of the month, 60 days after the first test date) and four weeks before graduation. Students who pass the second exam will graduate with their class. Students who fail the second exam will be permitted to participate in the graduation ceremony without receiving a diploma and will take the exam for the third time between the earliest date possible and July 1 of that year.

Clinical Performance Examination (CPX)

Students will be required to pass a Clinical Performance Examination before graduation. Students who do not pass the initial examination will be required to participate in remediation activities.

Weekend Exams/Clinical Work
Because of curricular requirements, Saturday examinations are occasionally scheduled. Allowances will be made for students whose religious beliefs prohibit participation in Saturday examinations. Clinical responsibilities during the third and fourth years will necessitate night and weekend work.

Medical Center External Missions Policy

Occasionally, students wish to pursue charitable or clinical service activity outside the Medical Center. The Medical Center External Missions policy states that students are not covered by the University's malpractice insurance unless the college is granting academic credit for the activity. If the activity is not part of the academic program and does not receive academic credit, malpractice coverage is provided only if the activity is approved by the Dean of the college or his/her designee. Such a request must be received by the Dean or his/her designee in writing no later than one week before the beginning of the activity. The Dean will provide a copy of the request with his/her approval or disapproval to the Risk Management Committee. In cases of disapproval, it is the responsibility of the student to provide malpractice coverage.

Jury Duty

Occasionally students receive a summons for jury duty that interferes with their curriculum. The College will provide a statement documenting the students situation and requesting relief from jury duty. Students should see the  Deans for Student Affairs when a summons is received.

Transportation

Required coursework during the four-year curriculum will on occasion be at off-site locations throughout the state of Kentucky. Students are responsible for their own transportation.

Employment

The demands of the medical school curriculum consume the entire efforts of medical students. Therefore, upon acceptance to the program of study, students are required to sign a statement indicating that they will not have outside employment during the academic year. For the exceptional case, permission may be granted by the SPPC upon petition by the student.

Hospital Standards for Dress and Appearance

Each student must wear a Medical Center identification badge at all times. Whenever students are in patient care areas or meeting with patients, the following hospital dress code is in effect:

• Male students must wear a tie on all services in the hospital with dress pants, and dress shirt/sweater (the only exception is when in scrubs). No jeans or other informal pants are permitted.
  
• Female students must wear dresses, or well-coordinated skirts/dress slacks and blouses/sweaters/jackets. Tank tops, jeans and sun dresses are not allowed. All students must wear white jackets over scrubs when they leave the sterile area.
  
• Scrubs should be changed when soiled. Scrubs should not be worn in combination with other clothing. Scrubs are not to be worn outside of the hospital.
  
• Athletic shoes and open-toed sandals are not allowed in patient care areas.
  These standards apply at both the Chandler Hospital and the VA Medical Center, while on clinical rotations, and when interacting with patients. Appropriate dress is expected when students are on off-site rotations.

Laboratory Safety Rules

In various courses in the first two years, students participate in laboratory experiences. All students pay a fee for microscope rental and are issued a lab station key. Students may not take any equipment out of the lab. Lab safety precautions must be maintained at all times and the lab must be cleaned up after every session. Food and drink is not allowed in the laboratory.

Withdrawal Policy

Students may not withdraw from individual required courses. A student may withdraw from enrollment in the College of Medicine at any time. The official withdrawal date is designated as the date Student Affairs receives a written request for withdrawal.

NOTICE: These materials constitute the official versions of Academic Procedures. Should need to be updated a new version with a date specifying its effectiveness will be produced and posted with links back to this prior version. Although other printed or electronic copies of this document may exist, the user is advised to refer to and rely upon this official version of this material when making significant decisions or judgments.