Policy on Student Attendance and Absence

The curriculum has been carefully designed to insure that students attain the educational objectives of New York Medical College. Students should attend all academic activities scheduled for each course or clerkship. During the first two pre-clinical years, students are required to attend all small group conferences, laboratories, clinical preceptor sessions, and other teaching exercises specified by the course director. In the third and fourth clinical years, students are required to attend all clerkship functions, including night and weekend duty, as specified by the clerkship director. Lack of attendance for any reason does not relieve the student of responsibility for the material covered during his/her absence.

All absences from required academic activities (in both the basic science and clinical curricula) will be recorded by the course or clerkship director on the student's record, along with the reason for such absences. Students must seek prior approval and provide acceptable reasons for any anticipated absences with the appropriate course or clerkship director. Unapproved absences must be recorded and reported by the course or clerkship director to the Dean for Student Affairs. Under certain circumstances, a student may be required to receive clearance from the Dean for Student Affairs, Student Health Service or Student Mental Health Service, prior to returning to the course or clerkship (e.g. unapproved absences, illnesses, etc). Students with repeated absences (approved and/or unapproved) will be required to make up the time missed and may be subject to review by the Professional Integrity Subcommittee of the Student Academic Performance Review Committee (SAPRC) for professional misconduct and/or the appropriate Promotions Committee.