Delay of Examinations

I. The Preclinical Years

Students are expected to take all required examinations and complete all required coursework and assignments on the scheduled dates. If a student cannot take a scheduled examination or complete a required assignment because of illness or other exceptional circumstances, it is his or her responsibility to obtain the proper excuse from the examination or coursework.

Any student requesting to be excused from an examination and/or required assignment must obtain an administrative excuse, prior to the examination or required assignment. The first step in this process is to contact Sharon Windsor, Assistant Registrar at 966-6404. Examples of an administrative excuse are an illness of several days’ duration, a family death, or illness in the student’s immediate family. In the case of acute (within twenty-four hours of the examination) illness, students should contact Sharon Windsor to report the illness. When appropriate the student is granted an administrative excuse and the course director and the Medical Sciences Teaching Laboratory are promptly notified. The student may be advised to seek treatment at the Student Health Services.

The student is expected to contact the course director within twenty-four hours to arrange a makeup of the examination or required assignment. Examinations and other required coursework must be made up as soon as the reason for the excuse is resolved and at the convenience of the course director.

Guidelines for Makeup Examinations

1. The course director normally provides an equivalent makeup exam within a reasonable period of time.
2. The course director determines the type and format of the exam offered. Under the present honor code and in situations where the exam could be given within two or three days it might be possible to give the same exam. When this is not possible the makeup exam need not be in the same format as the original. However, the makeup exam should be defensible as equivalent in any possible appeals of promotion decisions based on the outcome of that exam.
3. Whenever possible the makeup exam should be scheduled so that it does not impede the normal scholastic progress of the student.
4. The syllabus for each course should state specifically the policy to be followed when a student has an excused absence from an examination.

Extended Delays in Required Course(s)

In instances where a delay in required coursework may exceed several days and would impede the student’s normal progress in the curriculum, the Educational Resources Coordinator, in consultation with the course director and the student’s class advisor, may advise the student to enter a decelerated curriculum, or take a leave of absence. The Educational Resources Coordinator will work with the student and the class advisor to arrange for the student’s return to the curriculum.