Phase 2-3 Participation Expectations

  • Responsible: Office of Educational Affairs, Senior Associate and Associate Deans
  • Audience: Students, Faculty, Staff
  • Approved by:  CCIA
  • Approval Date: 5/7/2025
  • Previous revisions:  7/3/2024; 4/7/2021;
  • Purpose: Further clarity is needed on how absences related to delays in student travel plans will be handled. This is needed due to an increase of students requesting excused absences due to flight delays. We want to ensure this is handled equitably across campuses. This language was drafted at Phase 1 SEADs and clarifies the process that is occurring on each campus for both Phase 1 and Phase 2/3. This will make this process transparent to students so that they are aware.Additionally, changes in policy were needed to address consistent exam and OSCE arrival requirements. This will ensure that students who arrive late to an exam or OSCE are treated the same way across each campus.

Expectations for Participation in Phase 2 and Phase 3 Course Experiences

Duty hours considerations

Students on clinical rotations are considered active working members of the patient care team, and one goal of the clinical rotations is to prepare students for their postgraduate role as residents, providing direct patient care under the supervision of faculty attending physicians. As such, the College of Medicine policies for students’ participation in and absences from clinical educational experiences parallels those policies in effect for residents, under the aegis of the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education:

  • The maximum number of required hours at clinical sites (hospital, clinic, nursing home, etc.) should not exceed 80 hours per week, on average over a month’s time.
  • Students should not work longer than 16 continuous hours.
  • Students should have an average of at least 24 continuous hours each week free of clinical responsibilities (including lectures, seminars, clinic, and rounds). Students must have eight hours free of duty between scheduled duty periods.
  • In addition, students will be provided a full day for study prior to the administration of the clerkship final examination.

The above limitations do not include independent study time apart from clinical duties or optional activities in which the student voluntarily participates.

Expectations for weekend duties and attendance on university holidays will be at the discretion of the course director.

Scheduled and unscheduled absences

With prior approval, students may have up to four days of excused absence within an eight‐ week course before being subject to any need to make up the missed time; likewise three days for a six‐week course, two days for a four‐week course and one day for a two‐week course. Beyond this threshold, the need for a student to make up missed time will be at the discretion of the course director, and dependent upon the student’s access to opportunities to fulfill all course learning objectives within the time remaining.  Beyond this threshold, students need to make up missed time.  The course director will determine the composition and logistics of the missed time

During Phase 2/3 non‐clinical courses, either in‐person or online, students may seek excused absence from up to 10% of total classroom time. Beyond this 10% threshold, any need to make up missed experiences will be at the discretion of the course director. In any case, all structured course assignments must still be completed and submitted in order to obtain course credit.

These absence thresholds are expanded for students in courses between October and January of their M4 year, who may accrue up to one day of excused absence per week of total clerkship time, or up to 20% of scheduled time in a nonclinical course, to help accommodate residency interviewing.

This policy is also intended to accommodate students’ needs for regularly scheduled appointments that require absence at a defined time each week. An appointment schedule that results a full half‐day absence each week will accrue absence time according to the above limitation.

College of Medicine‐required student meetings and educational activities are excused absences that do not count when calculating the amount of time a student is allowed to miss within a course. Outside of illness or unexpected urgency/emergency, absences require minimum one week advance notice, without which an absence may be considered unexcused. Anticipated absences should be communicated as soon as known for consideration. Documentation outside of religious holiday observation may be requested. Documentation must be provided within 7 calendar days of the absence. Unexcused absences may have an impact on the students grade and ability to progress through the curriculum.

Examples of absence requests that are typically approved:

  • Illness of student, significant other or immediate family member
  • Health care appointment for student
  • Funeral of family member
  • Religious holidays* UIC approved religious calendar
  • Presentation at a medical conference
  • Own wedding
  • Jury duty or court date (provide notice immediately upon receipt of summons)
  • Residency interviews
  • USMLE Examinations
  • Delayed arrival from personal travel (e.g., due to airplane, train, or bus delay) when the scheduled arrival time was on or before the calendar day prior to the missed mandatory session.^

* Prior approval of absences for religious holidays should be done within excused absence guidelines above

^ Students who miss a session due to delayed/canceled travel for personal reasons will only be excused if the original arrival time of the transportation was scheduled at booking to arrive at least one day prior to the missed session, the student communicates the delay/cancel prior to the start of the session, and documentation of the delay/cancellation is provided.

Examples of absence requests that may be approved at the discretion of the Course Director:

  • Illness of extended family member or friend
  • Funeral of a friend
  • Wedding of a family member or participation in a wedding of a non‐family member
  • Teaching Electives
  • Attendance at a medical conference (not presenting)

Late Arrival to a Clerkship Final Exam

Students are expected to arrive before the scheduled start time of an exam. Late arrival to exams is disruptive to faculty, staff, and classmates.

Students who arrive late but within 10 minutes of the scheduled start of an assessment (i.e. exam) are still eligible to sit for the exam. Their exam will end at the originally scheduled end time (i.e., they will lose the time that they were late).

Students who arrive more than 10 minutes late will be directed to the appropriate exam administrator. Students with an excused absence (refer to the definition listed above), will be rescheduled to take the exam at a later date and/or time determined by the administration. Documentation may be required within seven calendar days of the exam date to qualify as an excused absence. Students without an excused absence will receive a score of zero for the exam.

Late Arrival to a Clerkship OSCE

OSCE exams require precise timing in order to ensure that each student has the required time to successfully complete their exam. Any student who arrives at a Standardized Patient activity after the communicated reporting time for their group has started will be turned away. Students with an excused absence (refer to the definition listed above), will need to reschedule the exam at a later date and/or time determined with the administration. Documentation may be required within seven calendar days of the exam date to qualify as an excused absence. Students without an excused absence will receive a score of zero for the exam.

COVID Absence Procedure for Phases 2 and 3

As above, students are permitted one excused absence day for every two weeks of rotation length, except during interview season when one day of absence is allowed per week. Policies related to how long an individual must be isolated may vary between clinical sites, and a student should always abide by the COVID isolation policies of their current clinical site

  • Work that a student completes asynchronously or remotely can offset time missed up to a maximum of 10 days, but no longer than the required isolation period of their clinical site.
  • After a student is cleared to return to clinical work, asynchronous work is no longer allowed.
  • Asynchronous work is only allowed for students with a positive COVID test, not for other types of absences. Documentation of the COVID test results may be required.
  • Asynchronous work is only allowed for COVID-related absences, not other types of absences.
  • Absences that exceed the allowed number of excused absences must be made up.
  • If a clerkship has a minimum number of in-person days as part of its syllabus, and COVID absences do not allow for the student to meet those minimum days in-person, the student may be required to make up days in person.
  • Students on their required subinternship may not complete work asynchronously or remotely. Missed clinical work (exceeding allowed excused absences) must be made up in person.