The purpose of this procedure is to give specific guidance to assist the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) with implementation of, and ensure institutional compliance with, Institutional Policy DO-01: Academic and Professional Standards, in regards to reporting student professional behavior.
This procedure applies to all WVSOM students.
WVSOM reserves the right to amend this procedure at any time, as necessary or appropriate.
Medical education is a period of intense student learning. Much as they must learn the scientific foundations underlying medical practice, they must also learn what behavior is expected of them as medical students and, ultimately, practicing physicians. The stated goal of WVSOM is to approach lapses in professional conduct as mentoring opportunities. WVSOM reserves the right to impose sanctions when necessary but our overriding goal is to help students learn what is expected of them and to remediate unprofessional conduct.
The standards of professional conduct for WVSOM students are provided in Policy DO-01: Academic and Professional Standards, Section 4.
Examples of areas of exemplary behavior that would prompt the completion of an observed positive “Professional Behavior Report” include, but are not limited to:
Examples of areas of concern that would prompt the completion of a negative “Professional Behavior Report” if they are observed as an enduring pattern include, but are not limited to:
Examples of uncommon but serious areas of concern that would prompt the completion of a “Professional Behavior Report” if they are observed even in isolation include, but are not limited to:
Any member of the WVSOM community who observes a student behave in a way that is considered to be an example of exemplary professional behavior or that raises concerns about professionalism is expected to address the behavior by doing one or both of the following, depending upon the nature of the behavior and what would be most helpful to the student:
Provide verbal or written feedback to the student with specific suggestions for improvement or, when appropriate, praise for exemplary conduct.
Complete a “Professional Behavior Report” which is available on MyWVSOM located at https://my.wvsom.edu/cas-web/login?service=https://my.wvsom.edu/index.cfm, under the Faculty/Staff link, and submit it to the Associate Dean for Preclinical Education for Years 1 and 2 or the Associate Dean for Predoctoral Education for Years 3 and 4 (or their designee). Reports submitted via the MyWVSOM portal will be automatically routed to the appropriate Associate Dean.
Any professionalism concern must be reported within a timely manner to support an environment where student learning is paramount
Upon receipt of a negative Professional Behavior Report, the appropriate Associate Dean or designee will review the reported lapse in professionalism and, if deemed the report warrants further investigation, will meet with the student to discuss strategies for addressing the reported lapse and preventing future lapses. Students receiving more than one negative Professional Behavior Report are required to meet with the appropriate Associate Dean to discuss expected standards of behavior.
Students who feel they have been unfairly reported for a professionalism concern may contest this report by reviewing it with the appropriate Associate Dean, who may choose to affirm or retract the report after consultation with both parties.
If the appropriate Associate Dean determines the student committed a violation of the Standards of Professional Conduct, they may take such action as may be appropriate including administratively imposing any penalties and sanctions for violations of student professional conduct listed in Section 6 of Policy DO-01 with the exception of dismissal and revocation of admission and/or degree, which can only be imposed by the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean.
Should there be any question as to the veracity of the complaint filed against a student, the appropriate Associate Dean may, at their discretion, request that the Fact-Finding Committee investigate the concern.
The appropriate Associate Dean shall inform the accused student of the charges in writing within ten (10) business days and submit the case to the Fact-Finding Committee. The Fact-Finding Committee will report its findings back to the referring Associate Dean for determination of action regarding the matter in question.
The appropriate Associate Dean may at any time request that the Student Promotions Committee offer a recommendation regarding appropriate sanctions for students deemed to be guilty of unprofessional conduct.
Within ten (10) business days following receipt of the written report from the Student Promotions Committee, the Associate Dean shall review recommendations for the disposition of the case and take such action as may be appropriate. In the case of dismissal, the Associate Dean will forward the recommendation of the Student Promotions Committee along with his/her independent recommendation to the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean for disposition of the case
Any student receiving more than two negative Professional Behavior Reports will be reviewed by the Student Promotions Committee who may make a recommendation for sanctions to the appropriate Associate Dean.
If any part of the Associate Dean’s or Dean’s decision is adverse to the student, the Associate Dean or Dean, usually within five (5) business days of notifying the student of the decision, shall advise the student of his/her rights to appeal and the appropriate appeal procedures. The student and other appropriate WVSOM employees/faculty shall be notified in writing of the decision.
Students may appeal the decision of the Associate Dean to the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean. The decision of the Dean shall be final, except in cases of expulsion or dismissal.
The complete appeals process is set out in Policy DO-01, Section 14.
All negative Professional Behavior Reports may be disclosed in the Medical Student Performance Evaluation at the discretion of the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean. Generally, the first two negative Professional Behavior Reports should trigger the formative mentoring process outlined above. A third negative Professional Behavior Report should be reported on the MSPE as guided by the following standards:
Isolated concerns in the Preclinical Curriculum that are not deemed egregious will be reported only if there are additional concerns reported in the Clinical Curriculum.
Concerns in the Clinical Curriculum that are not deemed egregious will be reported only if there are two or more such concern reports submitted.
Positive Professional Behavior Reports may be reported in the MSPE at the discretion of the Vice-President for Academic Affairs and Dean.