W. Va. Code § 18B-1-6
Grades for clinical rotation courses will be compiled by the Office of Clinical Education. Requirements and procedures for grading will be specified in the Clinical Training Manual and may differ by course.
During clinical rotation courses of the curriculum the vacation weeks can be used for additional elective courses of two (2) or four (4) weeks in length. When this is done, the grades received for these vacation electives will be recorded and sent to the Registrar in chronological order. These will be recorded on the transcript with the specialty service, length of time, and grade notes. The grade will not be calculated in the final grade point average (GPA). The last elective taken will be considered "vacation" if no other vacation time was previously scheduled and taken, and that grade cannot be substituted to replace an earlier elective grade.
All students are required to report to their rotations on the assigned date, remain at the site for the entire assigned period, and not leave until the last assigned date unless otherwise agreed upon by the training physician, the Director of Medical Education (DME) and the Regional Assistant Dean or Associate Dean for Predoctoral Clinical Education. Failure to comply with the attendance requirements will result in a grade of 65 (F) being issued for the course.
Grades for clinical rotation courses are submitted to the Registrar by the Office of Clinical Education. Grades will be calculated and reported as a numerical value by the Office of Clinical Education, based on preceptor evaluations or other grading criteria published in a course’s syllabus.
If a faculty member/DME/preceptor dismisses a student from a clinical rotation course for cause under performance criteria set forth in this policy, the final grade for the rotation shall be a failure (65).
Failure of a course will result in the student being automatically placed on Academically-at-Risk Category 2.
The student is referred to the grade appeals section of Institutional Policy DO-01: Academic and Professional Standards for information on how to appeal a failing grade(s). Once a failing grade becomes final (i.e., after reaffirmation by a grade appeal or if no appeal is filed), the student’s records will be remanded to the Student Promotions Committee for review. See Institutional Policy DO-01 and related procedures for referral of a student to the Student Promotions Committee. After review of the student’s record including professionalism, the Student Promotions Committee may recommend any of the following:
Remediation,
Repeating an entire year,
Repeating a portion of the curriculum, or
Dismissal.
In addition, the Student Promotions Committee may include other recommendations to improve the student’s performance.
If grades are averaged due to split clinical rotation courses, or for any other reason, averaging will occur only when all grades are 70 or above. Failure of any course, no matter how short, is a failure and will be treated as such in accordance with policies dealing with failing grades.
A student may repeat a clinical rotation course with the written permission of the Associate Dean for Predoctoral Clinical Education on the recommendation of the Student Promotions Committee. The student will remain on Academically-at-Risk Category 2 until the failed course is successfully completed. The Associate Dean for Predoctoral Clinical Education may allow the student to use vacation weeks to remediate a failed clinical rotation course.
If a student fails a clinical rotation course while on Academically-at-Risk Category 2, the student’s records will again be remanded to the Student Promotions Committee for review. Prior to making a recommendation, the Student Promotions Committee will interview the student. See Institutional Policy DO-01 and related procedures for referral of a student to the Student Promotions Committee. Should the Student Promotions Committee recommend remediation (1, 2, or 3 above), the student may be allowed to continue with new clinical rotation courses only after successful completion of the required remediation.
Performance in each of the following eight categories on the clinical education course evaluation form are essential characteristics of an osteopathic physician:
Medical Knowledge;
Data Collection, History, and Examination;
Application of Knowledge to Clinical Care/Clinical Judgment;
Osteopathic Principles and Practices;
Professionalism, Responsibility, Dependability, and Reliability;
Interpersonal Communication;
Practice-Based Learning; and
Systems-Based Practice.
Students are required to obtain overall passing scores on each of the categories set forth in Section 6.1. Students who fail to obtain an average of 70 in any category for either the third year or overall for the two clinical years will be regarded as "failing" this category, and will be referred to the Student Promotions Committee for review.