Attendance
Due to the intense nature and rapid pace of the curriculum, attendance for all classes and required activities within the Department of Physician Assistant Studies is mandatory. Students are expected to be on time for class and should plan their schedules accordingly. Failure to arrive on time is considered a professionalism violation and may result in a meeting with the APPC chair. Please try to schedule medical and personal appointments around the class schedule as much as possible.
Requests for absences during the academic year must be submitted to the chair of the Academic and Professional Progress Committee (APPC) using the Program’s “Academic Year Absence Request Form” located online in the DPAS Resource Folder (see Appendix D) prior to the absence. It is the student’s responsibility to notify the course director and arrange for any missed work due to any absence. If the APPC chair is out of the office or there is an emergent request, absence forms should be submitted to the Program Director. Absences in the clinical year will be addressed by the clinical team according to the policy in the Clinical Year section of this Handbook.
Student Bereavement Policy
In the event that a student experiences a death of an immediate family member or household member, the student will be excused from class for funeral leave, subsequent bereavement, and/or travel considerations for up to three (3) consecutive business days. The student will communicate the need for leave to the APPC chair or Program Director and complete a student absence request. Upon notification of the absence the student will arrange to complete missed classroom work and each faculty member shall excuse the student from class according to this policy and provide an opportunity to complete missed exams, quizzes, and other required work. Ultimately, the student is responsible for all material covered in class and must work with each individual professor as soon as they return to complete any required work.
In the event that a death occurs to a family member or friend that is not specifically covered by the student bereavement policy, or more than three days are needed, students can communicate the circumstances to the APPC chair or Program Director to consider the request based on unique circumstances.
Absence Requests
All absences due to illness, accident, bereavement or other unexpected personal or family events must be reported via e-mail or phone to the chair of the Academic and Professional Progress Committee, or Program Director as soon as the student is aware that he/she may miss class time. All other absences that are not approved by the APPC Chair will be considered unexcused.
Process for requesting an absence:
- The student should fill out the absence request form found on Moodle.
- In the academic year, the form is submitted to the chair of the academic and professional progress committee. In the clinical year, the form is submitted to the director of clinical education.
- If the absence is approved by the APPC chair, the student is responsible for notifying the course directors of the absence. The student will be responsible for making up any work missed during those courses.
While the Program has a 100% attendance policy, we recognize that each student has times when they need to be absent for their health and wellbeing. As such, each student is allowed six (6) personal days during the academic year for personal events/activities. These can be used for medical appointments, mental health days, personal obligations, preventative, and acute healthcare, etc.
The days can only be used one day at a time. Personal days may NOT be used during the Fall II module due to the unreproducible nature of the training required in the Clinical Phase Preparation course. These days must be approved in advance (with the exception of acute illness) by the APPC chair. Notify the APPC chair as soon as possible. Personal days for non-acute illness cannot occur on days when there are exams, quizzes, procedure, or skills check-offs – or on a day that involves specialized instruction in areas such as ACLS testing or Gyn/GU training with standardized patients that cannot be made up.
Students will be responsible for any material missed during a personal day. Personal days are requested by submitting an absence request form to the APPC chair.
Students with extenuating circumstances requiring consecutive days of absences needed should schedule a meeting with the program director for further discussion.
If the absence request is for an ADA accommodated condition, the student should also notify Elon Disability Support Services of the absence.
Tardiness Policy
As noted in the Assessment of Professional Behaviors (p. 28) and the Professional Conduct Policy (p.29), arriving late and unprepared for scheduled activities and appointments is considered unprofessional. Students should arrive to class and be fully prepared prior to the start time, so that the activity can begin as scheduled and to not be a disruption to the class. On the day of an examination, students are expected to be in their seats five minutes prior to the scheduled start time for the examination. No allowances for extra time will be given.
Unexcused absences, repeated absences or repeated tardiness is considered unprofessional behavior and may result in a disciplinary hearing with the APPC, professional probation, or dismissal from the Program.