MS4 Electives and Capstone Attendance

Attendance Policy and Procedures for Transitions to Sub-Internship (TSUB-I) and Capstone

  1. Excused Absences during TSUB-I and Capstone

    1. (1a) All learning activities for TSUB-I and Capstone are required. See students’ course calendars or communication from course chairs or course coordinators for more details for each session. 
    2. (1b) Attendance will be recorded for all required learning activities during TSUB-I and Capstone. 
    3. (1c) For any absence, the Course Chair(s) or Course Specialist will determine how and by when missed coursework can be remediated to fulfill course requirements. Students are responsible to remediate material they miss due to an absence. 
    4. (1d) In the event a student needs to report an absence of an urgent nature, they must submit the Absence Request Form. For students with an emergency, the Absence Request Form should be submitted as soon as this is feasible in the setting of the underlying circumstances.
    5. (1e) Students are expected to attend required sessions on their assigned date and time. Students are expected to attend for the entire duration of the session.  
      1. (1e.1) Students must inform the Curricular Affairs Office, course specialist, and course director if they anticipate the rare event of arriving late and/or leaving a required session early. 
      2. (1e.2) Students who arrive 10 or more minutes late and/or students who leave a session early who do not inform the Curricular Affairs Office, course specialist, and course director beforehand (or as soon as possible in the setting of an emergency that makes communication prior to a session impossible or the setting of an unanticipated urgent issue that arises during a session) will receive an Unexcused Absence Notification. 
    6. (1f) Attendance will be recorded for all learning activities.

  2. TSUB-I and Capstone Procedures

    1. (2a) Due to all TSUB-I and Capstone activities being required, absences may not be excused unless they are of an urgent nature specified in the Universal Attendance Excused Absence Policy.
    2. (2b) Students must submit a notification of an absence due to illness, health care for which appointments cannot be rescheduled, or personal emergency using the Absence Request Form
    3. (2c) In submitting the notification, it is the student’s professional responsibility to notify the course chair, the course coordinator and (where relevant) the course faculty, such as core educators, of the absence due to illness, health care for which appointments cannot be rescheduled, or personal emergency.

 Updated by DGSOM Dean's Office August 2024

Attendance Policies and Procedures for Fourth Year Electives

  1. Excused Absences during 4th Year Electives 

    1. (1a) For absences of an urgent nature, please contact the Site Director, Coordinator and your clinical team to let them know you will not be in attendance. 
    2. (1b) In the event a student needs to report an absence of an urgent nature, email the Curricular Affairs Office at CA@mednet.ucla.edu. All absences will require submission of an Absence Request Form. For students with an emergency, the Absence Request Form should be submitted as soon as this is feasible in the setting of the underlying circumstances.

  2. Unexcused Absences during 4th Year Electives 

    1. (2a) An unexcused absence may result in automatic failure, requiring the student to repeat the course. 
    2. (2b) Failure to notify course chair, coordinator, and clinical team will result in an unexcused absence. 

  3. Religious Observances during 4th Year Electives 

    1. (3a) Faculty and staff are committed to supporting diversity at DGSOM. The DGSOM at UCLA allows for the observance of religious holidays; however, students are required to make up missed time. Medical students are professionals with a responsibility for patient care that may require them to work on religious holidays.  
    2. (3b) Students must request approval for absence for the observance of religious holidays from the Course Chair at least one month prior to the start of the elective. Attempts will be made to adjust the student’s schedule to allow for the use of a day off on the requested religious holiday or rescheduling of clinical shifts. 
    3. (3c) The Course Chair will notify the coordinator and clinical team of any approved absences. Should the requested number of religious holidays exceed the maximum days off for the elective, then these requests must be discussed with the Associate Dean of Student Affairs to ensure that course requirements are fulfilled. 

  4. University Holidays during 4th Year Electives 

    1. (4a) All medical students are excused from clinical duties on Thanksgiving Day.  
    2. (4b) Students are required to be present on all other holidays and holiday observances if the clinical service is operational. 
    3. (4c) For any absence, the Course Chair(s) will determine how missed time will be made up in order to fulfill course requirements. 
      1. (4c.1) For electives scheduled to fulfill the requirements for consecutive weeks of DGSOM Sub-Is (300-level, 400-level, and ICU electives):  
        1. (4c.1a) If missed time during such electives cannot be made up before the elective concludes, then the elective will not count towards fulfilling the graduation requirements for consecutive weeks of DGSOM Sub-Is (300-level, 400-level, and ICU electives).  
        2. (4c.1b) The student may make arrangements (if permitted by the Course Chair, and schedule permitting) to complete the elective at a later date to earn elective credit towards the total number of weeks of elective training to meet graduation requirements, but not towards the 12 weeks of required consecutive 300-level, 400-level and ICU training.  
      2. (4c.2) For electives not scheduled to fulfill the requirements for consecutive weeks of DGSOM Sub-Is (300-level, 400-level, and ICU electives):   
        1. (4c.2a) If missed time during such electives cannot be made up before the elective concludes, if permitted by the Course Chair and schedule permitting, the student may make arrangements to complete the elective at a later date to earn elective credit towards the total number of weeks of elective training to meet graduation requirements. 

  5. Days Off Policy for the MS-4 Year 

    1. (5a) According to the David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM) Duty Hours Policy for the Clinical Years, students must have 1 day off per week, averaged over the course of the elective.  
    2. (5b) For electives in which students have no duties scheduled on weekends: 
      1. (5b.1) The weekend days are considered the scheduled days off. 
      2. (5b.2) During these electives, students are not permitted to request additional days off between Monday and Friday, except for emergencies as described above. 
      3. (5b.3) In some cases, if the service does have clinical activities during the weekend, a student may request the approval of the Course Chair and supervising resident and attending to work on the weekend in place of an equivalent number of weekdays for certain events. However, these scheduling requests should be discussed with the Course Chair in advance of the start of the course. 
    3. (5c) For electives in which students have weekend duties: 
      1. (5c.1) Students will have 1 day off per week averaged over the rotation (e.g., 3 days off for a 3-week elective). 
      2. (5c.2) Students may request a change to their scheduled days off to accommodate residency interviews, but approval must be obtained from the course chair and supervising resident and attending (when applicable). 

  6. Policy for Scheduling Residency Interviews

    1. (6a) Interviews for Internship/Residency are not excused absences.  
    2. (6b) Students may not request days off for interviews during scheduled elective rotations (except during research electives).  
    3. (6c) Students may use scheduled days off for interview purposes. As noted above, students may request a change to their scheduled day(s) off to accommodate residency interviews but must obtain approval from the course chair and supervising resident and attending (when applicable). 
    4. (6d) As noted above, students may request approval from the Course Chair and supervising resident and attending for time off during the week for an interview if the rotation is one in which the student may be able to work on a weekend to make up the missed day(s). 

  7. 4th Year Electives Procedures

    1. (7a) Absences on scheduled fourth year electives may not be excused unless they are of an urgent nature specified in the Universal Attendance Excused Absence Policy.
    2. (7b) In the event that a student has an absence on a fourth year elective, students must submit a notification of the absence due to illness or personal emergency using the Absence Request Form
    3. (7c) In submitting the notification, it is the student’s professional responsibility to notify the elective chair, coordinator and the clinical team.

 Updated by DGSOM Dean's Office September 2023