PURPOSE / SCOPE:
Provide guidelines to ensure that any health professional providing health services, through a physician patient relationship, must recuse themself from the academic assessment or promotion of the student receiving those services
POLICY:
Students may receive health care services from faculty members and resident physicians due to proximity, convenience, comfort, confidence, and the size of the local medical community. This applies to students both on-campus and off-campus. Such services may involve a therapeutic relationship and include provision of sensitive health services. For the purposes of this policy “provision of health care services” is defined as a licensed clinician assuming clinical responsibility for the evaluation, diagnosis, treatment and/or management of a student. “Therapeutic relationship” is defined as either ongoing provision of healthcare services (more than two interactions) or any health care services involving “sensitive health services”. “Sensitive health services” include but are not limited to: psychiatric/psychological counseling, to substance abuse.
If a student elects to establish a therapeutic relationship with a faculty member or resident or seeks to obtain health services which involve sensitive health services, that health care provider is precluded from any evaluation role for that student (irrespective of the wishes of the medical student) because of dual-relationship and conflict of interest issues. Faculty members and resident physicians who provide sensitive health care services to or are engaged in therapeutic relationships with students will not participate in performing academic assessments for grading purposes nor in decisions regarding promotions for such students, although they may continue to instruct and train such students according to the normal expectations of the curriculum.
Clinicians are strongly discouraged from entering into therapeutic relationships with students. In instances of pre-existing provider/student relationships, therapeutic relationships or sensitive health care services the clinician must discuss with the student the potential for a dual relationship and inform the student that they will recuse themself from any situation in which an evaluation is required if the provision of sensitive health services has occurred.
While the focus of this policy relates to conflicts of interest resulting from therapeutic
relationships and/or the provision of sensitive health services to medical students, other types of conflicts of interest may exist. In such situations, faculty members will also recuse themselves from participating in performing academic assessments for grading purposes and in decisions regarding promotions for such students.
All faculty and residents engaged in an established provider-patient relationship with a student or having other conflicts of interest pertaining to a student must identify themselves and recuse themselves from all assessment, grading, or promotional activities concerning that student. These faculty must declare their conflict of interest prior to or at the beginning of the meeting, and may be asked to not attend or participate in Professionalism and Academic Review Committee, Student Appeals, or other student affairs type meetings.
POLICY OWNER:
Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs
APPROVAL:
Effective: 8/1/18
Last Reviewed: 5/6/23
Review Requirement: 3 Years