Attendance

At the core of Yale’s system of education is the belief that our students are mature and highly motivated to learn. We believe they will take responsibility for learning what they need to know. As a result, attendance in basic science courses is not taken during the preclinical years. 

However, in keeping with the philosophy of the Yale System of Medical Education, attendance is required only in those teaching sessions designed to impart specific skills and/or teach material that cannot be effectively learned in other ways. The small group module workshops are intended to teach the skill of clinical reasoning and require active student participation. Mandatory attendance in module small groups will apply to those modules that meet specific standards for small group teaching.  These include:

1.  Emphasis on Clinical Reasoning and Interactive Pedagogy.  Workshop syllabus materials must be designed to require interactive participation and impart the skill of clinical reasoning. 

2.  Preparation of Workshop Faculty.  Module Directors must ensure that workshop faculty understand the pedagogical approach and are appropriately prepared to conduct interactive, clinical reasoning skill-building sessions. This requires at least one orientation session for small group teaching faculty to discuss the materials and the environment to be used in creating an interactive and student-centered pedagogy. Longer modules are encouraged to have at least one mid-course session for faculty debriefing and faculty development. 

3. Consistent Workshop Leaders.  A module must have at least three workshops, all conducted by the same faculty member(s), so that faculty can develop a working relationship with their group of students.  For longer modules that have different sub-components with workshops grouped by topic, there must be continuity of faculty through all of the workshops within each sub-component (and at least three workshops per component). 

4. Student Preparation.  Students should be given specific instructions to prepare for the workshops, including reading assignments and guidance regarding weekly assignments and questions posed in the materials. 

5. Group Size.  Such pedagogy is developed for small group sessions.  Therefore, the class must be divided into a minimum of eight groups of students (~12 students per group).  Consistent with all small group teaching, student switching between groups is discouraged. Students who wish to change groups must obtain permission of the module director and the leader of the assigned small group as well as the new group leader. This will ensure that the number of students per group is consistent with that which is optimal for effective teaching.

Being able to deliver continuous, attentive and professional care to patients on a clerkship is considered an essential element of medical education. On the Clinical Clerkships you will be part of a team providing continuous medical care to patients. Your professional responsibilities as a team member include being accountable to the team or medical practice for your attendance, punctuality, and dress. Attendance on the clinical clerkships and clinical electives is required as is being on time and dressing appropriately and professionally. This policy holds for the didactic seminars during clerkships as well. Poor or tardy attendance at clinical experiences or didactics will be noted in student evaluations and may be considered by the Progress Committee as evidence of a student’s inability to meet the essential requirements for graduation.

The following constitute reasons why a student may be absent from a clerkship:

• Personal illness
• Death in the family 
• Religious holiday observances
  
• Participation in a scientific conference where the student is a lead author and is directly participating in the conference presentation.   

Students who are unable to attend a required clerkship activity for one of these reasons should notify their attending clinical supervisor as soon as possible. Students should also notify the clerkship director or clerkship administrator by telephone and follow-up with an e-mail to the clerkship director, clerkship administrator and medical school registrar to inform them about the absence.

For all absences, the Clerkship Director will determine whether students must make up activities they have missed during their absence. If more than 2 days are missed during a 4 week or longer clerkship, the student may be required to repeat the clerkship. If any absence occurs during clerkships of 2 weeks, the student may be required to repeat the clerkship.