Foundations 1 Policy on Assessment Absence and Rescheduling

Purpose

To specify the expectations and requirements for rescheduling Bridges Curriculum Foundations 1 assessments and viewings for individual students; including written, online, laboratory, and oral examinations, and direct patient care skills assessments.

Overview

The Foundations 1 (F1) phase of the Bridges Curriculum evaluates student competency and progress through a range of assessments, a number of which involve complex logistics for faculty, staff, and facilities. This policy takes into account:

The desire to provide flexibility where possible for students with personal exigent life events (e.g., religious observance, family obligations, professional commitment) that coincide with scheduled assessments.
Consideration of students' need for assessment preparation.
The availability of faculty, staff, and facilities for assessments.
The importance of maintenance of assessment security.

Related LCME Standards

9.4: Assessment System

9.5: Narrative Assessment

Principles

Predictable and unpredictable personal and professional events can arise for individual students that conflict with scheduled assessments. UCSF SOM policy and procedures allow for students to request to reschedule assessments, for faculty and staff to consider the requests on a case-by-case basis, and for decisions about rescheduling, where possible, to be made that are fair and consistent across students and the curriculum.
To minimize academic risk, assessments should not be rescheduled to times that overlap with ongoing curricular activities, or at times that would significantly reduce student ability to prepare for the assessment.
Students are accountable for:
- Completing all required assessments.
- Communicating professionally in advance about the perceived need to reschedule an assessment.
- Monitoring their on-time attendance.
- Accurately managing their schedules.

Policy

Students may request the rescheduling of an F1 assessment activity for exigent non-emergency reasons. Requests are considered on a case-by-case basis and decisions made based on precedent and circumstances unique to the student, the time point in the curriculum, and the logistics of the assessment.
A student who is unable to complete an assessment because of an unforeseen illness or personal/family issues must notify the relevant faculty director and staff member as soon as possible, preferably before the assessment begins and, if not possible before, within 24 hours after the scheduled exam start time, using the contact information available on the Bridges Faculty page.
A student with a pattern of recurrent assessment rescheduling requests may be counseled by a faculty member or dean and may receive a Professionalism/Physicianship evaluation.
CMC clinical skills standardized patient examinations generally cannot be rescheduled.
Exam viewings will not be held for individual students outside of the time scheduled in advance for the entire class, except in cases described below.

Procedure

To request the rescheduling of an F1 assessment activity for non-emergency reasons, students should submit an assessment rescheduling request form as early as possible and at least 30 days in advance of the assessment.
- Requests for CMC and ARCH/PI weeks assessment rescheduling will be reviewed by element leadership;
- Requests for Foundational Science (FS) block assessment rescheduling will be reviewed by an Assessment Rescheduling Request Committee. This committee is comprised of: Manager, FS blocks; F1 Ops chair; director of Element in which the assessment resides;
- Requests for rescheduling of FS laboratory exams must be approved by the organizer of the laboratory exam, in addition to the Assessment Rescheduling Request Committee.
Some assessments in the CMC or ARCH/PI Week element (e.g. clinical skills exams, Comprehensive Basic Science Exam) are generally not eligible for rescheduling due to the logistical complexity. If rescheduling is approved for extraordinary circumstances, there may be a financial cost to the student.
For students in good standing who submit a timely request, circumstances most likely to approved for a reschedule of an FS assessment are unique immoveable events in which the requestor has a significant role or relationship, including: sacred practices (e.g. observation of major religious holidays), weddings or funeral services for people of significance in the requestor’s life, attendance at a professional meeting to present work or formally represent UCSF or medical students as an elected delegate or voting member of a committee. Other personal events are considered if felt by the student to be equivalent to other precedents as described above. If travel required for participation in such an event presents the conflict with the assessment, approvals may be given to accommodate minimal travel time within the US. Approvals will not be given to accommodate travel cost preferences or purchases made prior to checking assessment dates.
The date at which a rescheduled assessment takes place will be determined by the element director. Some assessments cannot be completed early, before the date scheduled for the rest of the class.
At the discretion of the block leadership team, individualized viewings may be scheduled for students who experience an unavoidable personal emergency at the time of the scheduled viewing. Under these circumstances, students can submit a request to the block leadership team for an individualized viewing with an ACE coordinator. Students who do not meet overall performance expectations on an exam should attend scheduled viewings, and will also have an additional opportunity to view their exam privately with a block director.

Accountable Dean or Director: Associate Dean, Competency Assessment and Professional Standards

Related Policies

Approval Date and Governing Body: December 13, 2022, CCEP