You are here: Home > Current Students > Academic Policy Manual Part II > Attendance Policy

Academic Policy Manual Part II (3rd and 4th Years)
Attendance Policy

1. Attendance is mandatory for all clinical courses (clerkships, electives, and selectives) during the third and fourth years including orientation, didactic lectures, and conferences. Students who have a pressing need to be missing from clinical duties for part or all of a day should notify their immediate supervisors in advance. Throughout all years of enrollment, any absence of more than three consecutive working days requires prompt notification by the student to the Associate Dean for Student Affairs. This notification constitutes a request for an "excused absence" due to illness or other legitimate extenuating reasons. Examinations or other required academic activities which are missed may be made up only if the Associate Dean for Student Affairs has received a formal request and granted permission for the absence. Illness requires written documentation from the Student Health Service and/or the physician who is treating the student. A form for this purpose is available in the Office of Registration and Records, or from the Student Health Office on campus.

   An absence for any length of time may need to be made up at the discretion of the course director according to the form and/or format specified by the department.

2. Students in the third and fourth years are eligible for regularly scheduled vacation periods according to the official academic calendar published annually. Additional discretionary time, not exceeding eight weeks, may also be possible within a clinical student's individual schedule as stipulated in the policies of the clinical clerkship track system published annually. A junior or senior student must file an "Application for Discretionary Time" with the Office of Registration and Records in advance for approval for any period of one week during which they wish to not be enrolled in full-time elective courses. Complete policies governing availability of discretionary time in the clinical years are published in the Elective Catalogue.
    
3. Students serving on required or elective clerkships at Foster G. McGaw Hospital or the affiliated hospitals, with the exception of required subinternship type of clerkships, will not be on duty during the day or on call on evenings of days designated as "No Class Days." These days include:

   July 4
   Memorial Day
   Labor Day
   St. Luke's Day
   Thursday and Friday of Thanksgiving
   Good Friday
   Match Day (Seniors Only)

   With the exception of St. Luke's Day and Match Day, students will not be on duty during the day or on call on the Saturday and Sunday which either immediately precede or follow these holidays.

   Students serving on a required subinternship type of clerkship, either at Foster G. McGaw Hospital or an affiliated hospital, will be on call if it is his/her scheduled turn on official Stritch School of Medicine "No Class Days," and if it is the opinion of the course director that taking call is in the best interests of patient care and the educational intent of the clerkship.