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Academic Policy Manual Part II (3rd and 4th Years)
Single and Multiple Course Failures

Single Course Failures

All third and fourth year courses (clerkships, electives and selectives) for which a student is officially registered, must be passed or successfully remediated to be eligible for graduation.

Unsatisfactory performance or academic failure in a course may result from three sources:

1. inadequate performance in examinations or other required assignments;
2. or inadequate performance of those responsibilities assigned to the student with respect to patient care (floor performance);
3. behavior which is judged by the student's immediate supervisory physician(s) to be inappropriate, disruptive, or in any way deleterious to the delivery of proper and humane medical care. When such behavior occurs, the supervisory physician(s) shall document it in writing to the director of the course, who will then notify the student in writing. The student will meet with the director of the clerkship and/or the chairperson of the department, who will determine an appropriate course of action. This course of action may include but will not be limited to termination of the student's floor performance on a clinical clerkship. Termination of floor performance will automatically result in a grade of Fail for the entire clerkship, and will be referred to the Committee on Promotions for appropriate action according to the Academic Policy Manual;

Assignment and Remediation of a U Grade (Unsatisfactory)

If a student's floor performance was satisfactory, but performance on the final written exam, an in-course exam, a paper, or case report, was unsatisfactory, the department may report a grade of U (Unsatisfactory) or a grade of F (Failure) depending on the severity of the deficiency.

The U grade normally should be used when a student's floor performance is evaluated as satisfactory but the objective evaluation indicated that the student's knowledge of the course content is marginally unsatisfactory.

The U grade normally must be converted within a period no less than 30 and no more than 60 working days (excluding official holidays) or approximately six to twelve calendar weeks. A U grade can only be converted to a P or F grade. The department may require additional remedial work prior to offering the student an opportunity for clearing the U grade. No academic credit will be given for this remedial work. Only one remediation opportunity will be offered to the student who receives a U grade. The remediation of the U grade should be appropriate to the portion of the course in which the student's performance was marginally unsatisfactory.

Upon prior written petition from the department or the student, the Associate Dean for Student Affairs, or designate, may approve an additional 30 working days if:

1. Compliance with the 30 to 60 day rule is not possible because the department cannot offer the remediation examination within this period and/or;
2. Compliance with the 30 to 60 day rule would result in the student taking a regularly scheduled clerkship or elective final exam or a National Board Exam and the U grade remediation examination within the same two calendar week period.

A student who is not able to remediate satisfactorily or does not attempt to remediate the U grade within the 30 to 60 working days allowed (or 90 working days if an exception is granted in writing by the Associate Dean for Student Affairs or designate), will automatically have the U converted to a grade of F by the registrar.

Assignment and Remediation of a F Grade (Failure)

If a student fails the floor performance portion of the course or receives an overall failure of both the written and floor performance portions of the clinical course, the department must report a grade of F.

A student who receives a grade of F for a course during the third and fourth years will have one opportunity to clear this grade. The remediation of a grade of F will be appropriate to the component(s) of the course which was failed.

1. If a student fails both written and floor performance components of the clinical course, the entire clerkship must be repeated and both portions must be remediated simultaneously. Remediation of a grade of F must be completed within the equivalent of one academic quarter (three months) from the time that the grade of F was reported to the Registrar. The department and/or the Committee on Promotions may require additional remedial work for a student prior to the start of the prescribed remediation period.
2. If the non-clinical portion of the course examination(s) or paper(s) was failed, the student will be expected to remediate this portion of the course. The department or the Committee on Promotions may require or recommend additional remedial work which may include additional floor experience. No academic credit will be given for remedial work.
3. If floor performance was unsatisfactory, the student must repeat no less than half, and in some cases, the entire clinical course; this may include written or oral re-examination even if the final exam was originally passed.

In all instances of a clinical year course failure, the student will be required to undertake the remediation at Loyola University Medical Center under the direct supervision of Stritch faculty. In the case of a failed extramural elective, the appropriate Stritch department will determine a suitable comparable elective remedial experience.

If the student successfully remediates the failed clinical course, the department will report a change of grade from F to P* (Passed by remediation). If the student is not successful in remediating the failed clinical course, the department will report the remediation failure to the Registrar. The Associate Dean for Student Affairs will automatically terminate the student's registration academic failure according to the provisions of the Academic Policy Manual, Part II.

In this case, students will not receive academic credit for any remedial work or for repeat floor time spent remediating a failed clinical course. Remediation of a failed clinical course may result in delayed graduation and/or modification of the remainder of the student's clinical program.

Multiple Course Failures

All courses in the third and fourth years must be passed or successfully remediated for a student to graduate. In addition, during the last two years, a student may not receive grades of F or P* for more than a total of 24 weeks of clinical training.

A temporary grade of U which is successfully converted to a P will not be counted under this rule except in cases where the student already has 24 weeks of F or P* grades recorded on his/her transcript. If a grade of U or F is reported for additional weeks of clinical training beyond the 24 week limit, the student will be dismissed by the Associate Dean for Student Affairs according to the provisions of the Academic Policy Manual, Part II. The student with 24 weeks of F or P* grades on record will not be given an opportunity to remediate the additional course for which a grade of U or F was reported. A student who exceeds the capstone of 24 weeks of F or P* grades during the clinical years will be immediately withdrawn from all clinical rotations.