PURPOSE / SCOPE:
The purpose of the Exam Standards of Student Behavior policy is to establish and uphold expectations for academic integrity for all enrolled pre-clinical medical students across applicable written course assessments. These standards maintain a fair and equitable testing environment, ensuring that exam outcomes reflect each student’s independent mastery of medical knowledge. The honesty and discipline demonstrated during exams serves as a critical foundation for future clinical practice, evidencing that our graduates are genuinely competent to ensure patient safety and uphold the profound public trust required of the medical profession.
POLICY:
Exams will be given as specified in the course schedule. Student physicians who have a certified disability and are registered with Student Services will be given appropriate accommodations for exams, which may include additional time and/or a separate exam room. Any student physician with accommodations will be notified of the exam start time and location by the Educational Course Coordinator.
Examinations, closed-book quizzes, and assessments at ICOM may be administered in a written format including, but not limited to, paper hard copy, Scantron, essay, short answer, or electronic format including fully online delivery formats that may include online proctoring and monitoring. Student physicians must have access to an electronic device and a stable, secure internet connection that meets the requirements for assigned assessments. ICOM is not responsible for inconveniences or psychological impacts to students associated with the failure of any communications network, Internet connection, hardware, or software, whether or not provided by ICOM, that prevents or delays the administration of any examination, quiz or assessment.
For all forms of examination and assessment, student physicians will be expected to display the highest standards of professional and ethical behavior to support academic integrity, avoid cheating, passing exam-related content or other exam information to another student physician, or otherwise gaining an unfair advantage over their classmates.
The student physician's expectations include:
- Student physicians are expected to arrive prior to the start of the exam and with the exam downloaded onto their iPad.
- Student physicians are expected to have their iPad with them with appropriate software installed which will allow the examination to be completed.
- No bags, purses, or electronic devices EXCEPT the student physician's iPad and Apple Pencil are allowed in the exam room. The use of headphones or earbuds is prohibited during exams. Earplugs will be provided and made available at the beginning of all exams.
- Once the exam begins, there are to be no student-to-student conversations. This no-talking policy is in effect in, and around, the testing location and across the first and third floors.
- Students are expected to ensure there is adequate battery power on the iPad to last the entire examination and/or have a power source that will plug into the outlets provided on the lecture hall desktops. Not all exam spaces may have power availability.
- Students are expected to enter the code provided to begin their exam when so instructed.
Students must arrive on time. Exam room doors close at the start of the exam. Students who arrive late will not be granted additional, compensatory time for lateness. Students arriving late must check-in with the Dean of Academic Affairs (DAA), and will sit for the exam at the discretion of the DAA. This check-in can be completed after the exam is taken with approval by the DAA. It is incumbent upon the late or tardy student physician to contact the DAA; the DAA will determine if the failure to appear at the appropriate time is excused. Lack of preparation or planning is not an excuse for missing the exam time. Multiple instances of non-emergent excuses for lateness is a professionalism concern and may result in a conversation with the DAA, their designee. Frequent (more than once per semester) excuses to take an exam late will be reviewed by the PAR committee, and further documentation could be required. Repeated exam extension requests, or tardiness, may result in a discussion about the student’s ability to continue with the curriculum. If the tardiness is excused, the Course Director will determine when a make-up exam will be administered. If the tardiness is not excused, the student physician will receive a score of zero for the exam.
When completing the exam, student physicians are expected to thoroughly read each question and select the best answer. Student physicians are expected to appropriately pace themselves to complete the exam in the allotted time; student physicians are also responsible for ensuring they have answered each question and that their exam has been submitted prior to leaving the exam room.
All exams will be proctored. Should an issue arise during an exam, student physicians are expected to raise their hand to speak to a proctor. Please note, proctors will not answer questions related to the exam content. Any concerns about exam questions must be submitted during the exam as described below. The exam proctors are the final arbiters of the exam time. When it is announced that time is up, student physicians are expected to submit their exams.
Any student physician observed cheating on an exam will earn a grade of zero (0) and will be remanded to the PAR Committee for disciplinary action. Any incident reported will be investigated as per the policy outlined in the College Catalog prior to being remanded to the PAR Committee. Since these rules are strictly enforced, please avoid all appearance of academic dishonesty.
Exam proctors will have the final say regarding restroom usage during an exam. In general, only one male and one female student may use the restroom at any time. Any student caught cheating during a restroom break (i.e. looking up answers in a textbook or other source) will be remanded to the PAR Committee.
Students are not allowed to wear hats or hoods during the exam. An exception will be made for religious headwear. In addition, all watches, phones, wearable smart/AR glasses, or other electronic devices, with the exception of their iPads, are not permitted in the exam room and should be left in the student physician’s locker or car.
Food is not allowed in the exam room. Drinks are only allowed in closed containers.
“Hacking,” or otherwise gaining unauthorized early access, into any examinations prior to the designated exam date and time will result in an automatic failure of the examination and referral to the PAR Committee for appropriate disciplinary action.
Once a student physician has started an exam, he/she must submit their exam, whether complete or not, prior to leaving the exam area. In cases of a family and/or medical emergency that takes place immediately prior to, or during, an exam, student physicians may appeal to the DAA, in consultation with the Course Director, to be awarded a make-up exam.
Student concerns about exam questions
Student physicians who have a concern about an exam question’s clarity and validity must comment on the question at the time of the exam by entering their comments in the notes feature of the testing platform. Students should not seek out faculty immediately after an exam to discuss concerns or exam content. To access the notes feature in Examplify/ExamSoft, student physicians should click on the “Tool Kit” menu, then the “Notes” option. Student physicians must click the “Request Feedback” option to submit their comments. If, upon self-reflection after grades are released several days after the exam, a student requires further guidance addressing a knowledge gap, they should coordinate a meeting time via email with a content expert, including the Course Director in those email communications regarding a meeting. Impromptu meetings should be documented by the student with a follow-up email to the faculty member and the course director restating the conclusions from these discussions. Following completion of the exam, the Course Director will review the exam statistics, and comments submitted by student physicians will be reviewed by the appropriate faculty and the Course Director. Following review of the exam by the Course Director and faculty and any exam corrections, final exam scores will be posted within five business days after the exam. All exam grades are considered preliminary until the exam review process has been completed. The Difficulty Calculator evaluation is conducted after exam review by the faculty and Course Director, and any exam difficulty adjustments deemed appropriate will be made at this time. After posting of final exam grades, no further exam grading adjustments will be made.
Missed Exams
If a student physician must miss an exam due to illness or unexpected emergency, they are expected to contact the Academic Affairs Team by submitting an excused absence request in the LMS and following up with an email to excusedabsence@icom.edu as soon as possible and preferably prior to the start of the exam. At the discretion of the Course Director, in consultation with the Dean of Academic Affairs, student physicians may be given an excused absence and will be allowed to take a makeup exam. To be considered for an excused absence, the student physician must follow the procedures specified in the College Catalog. A student physician who misses an exam due to an unexcused absence will be given a grade of zero (0) for that exam.
Make-up Exams
The Course Director will work with Academic Affairs to schedule make-up exams for student physicians with an excused absence as soon as possible after the original exam date. Special circumstances will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. The content, format, and scheduling of the make-up exam will be at the discretion of the Course Director. The Course Director will work with the Educational Course Coordinator to ensure the make-up exam is scheduled and proctored.
POLICY OWNER:
Dean of Academic Affairs
APPROVAL:
Effective: 7/10/19
Last Reviewed: 08/18/2026
Review Requirement: 3 Years