Attendance & Absences

Attendance is required at all clerkship activities. In the third and fourth year clinical clerkships and electives, daily attendance is required for all aspects of the clinical rotations. During clinical rotations, typical “holidays” are not taken unless specifically mentioned by the clerkship (Christmas and Thanksgiving are exempt from this rule). If you have any unexpected or planned absences, you MUST notify those faculty members who supervise your clinical experiences and the Neurology clerkship coordinator and director.

On the Neurology clerkship, we consider you an integral member of the team with patient care responsibilities.  Thus, when you are absent, someone else covers these responsibilities. Unlike an undergraduate course, you cannot “make-up” most assignments. For this reason, on this clerkship, planned absences are strongly discouraged and should be reserved for emergency situations. In the event of an unplanned absence, you will be required to make-up the time missed in order to ensure an adequate clinical experience. This may require an extra call or weekend experience.  Failure to adhere to these policies and procedures will result in a lowered grade due to not meeting professionalism competency expectations.

Unplanned Absences

In the event of a single-day, unexpected absence due to illness, you MUST notify your site’s (GNV or JAX) Neurology clerkship coordinator and director, preferably by email but also by phoning the clerkship coordinator as soon as physically possible. If unable to reach the Neurology clerkship coordinator, contact the UF Office of Student Affairs. If longer than a single day, the COMCEC staff must be notified in addition to the Neurology clerkship coordinator. COMCEC can be reached at (352) 273-8575.

Planned Absences

Students must contact the clerkship director as far in advance as possible (these requests must be made at least 4 weeks prior to the beginning of the clerkship) to discuss and obtain the permission of the clerkship director to be absent from assigned responsibilities in the case of planned meetings, events such as weddings or family gatherings, or the observation of a personal religious holiday. Once permission is obtained for the planned absence, the student must notify COMCEC of the approved dates for the absence.

Holidays

Students are allotted the following holidays: Thanksgiving Break and Winter Break. Thanksgiving Break is defined as beginning 7 pm Wednesday and ending 5 am Monday. The UF COM Academic Calendar determines Winter Break. The COM recognizes other holidays, both religious and secular, which are of importance to some individuals and groups. Students wishing to observe these holidays must inform the Neurology clerkship coordinator and director before Clerkship begins. In the event of such request, an alternate assignment or arrangement may be provided to the student to ensure adequate clinical experience. The timing of this make-up work is at the discretion of the clerkship director and may fall during other holiday periods when appropriate. Missed days which cannot be completed by the student before the clerkship end date results in a grade of “Incomplete”.