/Institutions/University-of-Texas-Rio-Grande-Valley/json/som/policies-local.json

/Institutions/University-of-Texas-Rio-Grande-Valley/json/som/policies.json

EAA028 Providers to Care for Medical Students

Policy Number: EAA028
Policy Title: Providers to Care for Medical Students

A. Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to provide clear guidelines to assure that academic evaluation/progression are independent from confidential or protected health information; to ensure that individuals charged with academic evaluation/progression base their decisions on agreed upon performance measures and to assure that medical students can obtain and receive private and confidential medical care from the Student Health Services and/or mental health counseling/psychiatric care on their own or as referred by the Counseling Services, and that health care providers of sensitive medical or mental health counseling/psychiatric care to medical students have no role in evaluation/progression of medical students through the academic curriculum.

B. Persons Affected

This policy will cover the students participating in the UTRGV SOM curriculum. 

C. Policy

The UTRGV School of Medicine (SOM) is committed to providing an educational environment that is supportive and respectful to its faculty, staff and students. This policy is established to ensure that students are evaluated based on common agreed upon performance measures that are independent of confidential or protected health information .This is essential to ensure that student's academic performance is evaluated properly and to ensure that students are not discouraged from seeking medical and/or mental health counseling/psychiatric care that is held in the strictest standards of patient privacy and confidentiality, without concern for consequent adverse actions or repercussions.

Students and health care providers should follow these procedures to make certain that the appropriate care is sought and provided.

Health care professionals who provide medical and/or mental health counseling/psychiatric care to medical students must:1. Have no role in the formal academic or professionalism evaluation of medical students at the present or future time.

2. Have no role in advancement/progression/graduation of medical students at the present or future time.

3. Recuse himself/ herself from the formal academic or professionalism evaluation of medical students and from academic or professionalism decisions of advancement/progression/graduation of medical students, if a dual relationship with medical students is anticipated or is discovered, and, when appropriate and without breaching confidentiality, alert a Dean for Student Affairs immediately.

4. Providers of health care to students should also consider whether personal, familial, or social relationships with students constitute, or might be perceived to constitute, a conflict of interest which should cause the provider to recuse from academic assessment.

D. Process

Students:

1. Seek medical care through the Student Health Services. This medical care is usually provided by registered nurses, physician assistant or advanced nurse practitioners under the supervision of the Student Health Services Medical Director. The health care providers in the Student Health Services may refer medical students to other academic or community health care providers for further/follow--up care.
2. Seek psychological/psychiatric care directly through the UTRGV Counseling Center or through the SOM Counseling Services provided by the SOM Student Health and Wellness office. A multidisciplinary staff, who is not involved in academic or professionalism evaluation and/or decisions of advancement/progression through the curriculum, provides evaluation and short--term treatment including counseling, psychotherapy, and medication management when necessary to medical students with mental health, situational, social, or academic concerns. The health care providers in the SOM Student Health and Wellness Office may refer medical students to other academic or community health care providers for further/follow-up care.
3. Inform staff in the Student Health Services and the SOM Student Health and Wellness Office that they are students at the SOM.

Faculty Preceptors/Residents/Fellows/Course, Module, Clerkship Directors:

• Faculty preceptors, residents, fellows, course, module, and clerkship directors are required to certify on each student evaluation form (CPA) that they have not provided healthcare to the student being evaluated.

• Course, module and clerkship directors must have a contingency plan in place specifying the person(s), who will compile and issue final grades if they have provided healthcare to the student(s) in a course/module/clerkship. The plan is to be submitted to the Office for Educational Affairs (OEA) on an annual basis.

Compliance and Monitoring

• Clerkship directors will include this policy in annual faculty/resident development sessions. Attendance at each session must be tracked with a sign in sheet. Copies of sign in sheets are to be submitted to the Office of Educational Affairs (OEA) at least annually. There must be a follow-up plan in place for residents/faculty not in attendance to receive the information and certify receipt.

• Clerkship directors will monitor student evaluations in one45 for instances when a faculty member indicates they have provided healthcare services to the student being evaluated. In those instances, the faculty members evaluation and narrative feedback must be excluded from use in the calculation of a student's final clerkship grade and summary.

•The Office for ARCQI, through the director of accreditation, compliance, and quality improvement will monitor required reporting outlined in this document.