Attendance Policy
Effective Date: July 1, 2014
Updated: October 26, 2015
Reviewed: August 22, 2016
Updated: May 8, 2017
Updated: February 21, 2020
Updated: August 10, 2020
Updated: July 12, 2022
Approved by Faculty Assembly: August 8, 2022
Except in the event of illness or emergency, the faculty and administration of the School of Dentistry expect every student to attend all scheduled lectures, seminars, laboratory sessions and clinic assignments.
The Attendance Policy is as follows:
Clinic:
Students must attend 100% of all block assignments, clinical rotations, and externships.
Students must attend a minimum of 90% of clinic sessions* in the general practice clinics. For example, if a student has 100 GP clinic sessions in a semester, that student must attend 90 sessions to pass.
* Please refer to clinic attendance guidelines as per the CCPM 538 and CCPM 548 syllabi.
Pre-Clinic:
Students must attend 100% of all pre-clinical laboratory sessions.
Lecture:
Students are expected to attend lectures as per the Academic Schedule or, if Mediasite is utilized, it should be viewed in real time or in a timely manner in relation to the lecture.
Specific course attendance guidelines will be determined by the course director and/or department. Course syllabi for each department and the Clinic Manual address specific departmental and clinical attendance policies and requirements, and delineate a policy for managing missed examinations, quizzes and other assignments. Students may lose the opportunity for remediation and/or re-examination if they do not meet published departmental/course standards for attendance.
Excused Absence:
The COVID-19 pandemic has created unique circumstances for considering excused absences. The School of Dentistry is committed to the health and safety of all students. If you have symptoms consistent with the SARS CoV-2 virus, please do not come to campus and complete the COVID-19 Report Form for further instructions. Additional information can also be found at the UMB website:https://www.umaryland.edu/about-umb/offices/public-and-occupational-health/covid-19/. It is still the student’s responsibility to request an excused absence for all school related activities.
Excused absences include and are limited to:
1. Illness with doctor's note*
2. COVID-19 illness or quarantine*
3. Hospitalization*
4. Religious holidays with one month advanced notice to course directors or faculty instructors
5. Death within family
6. Family emergencies
7. Up to 10 interview days for D4 students
8. Presentation at approved professional and/or research meetings*
* With documentation
All other absences are unexcused.
Excessive excused absences may result in the need to make up missed clinic sessions and may delay progression in the curriculum and/or graduation.
Excused absences for the pre-clinical D1 and D2 curriculum, and D3 lecture/laboratory courses should be requested from the Office of Student Affairs. Please contact Ms. Kelly Powers at kpowers1@umaryland.edu as soon as possible so that she may notify your course directors. Students have up to 3 days to provide proper documentation to support their request for an excused absence.
To request an excused absence from the D3 and D4 clinical curriculum, students should complete the Clinical Absence Request form and have it approved by the D3 or D4 student’s GP Director and forwarded to Student Affairs, the CCPM 538 or 548 course director, and Ms. Martha Kreiner at mkreiner@umaryland.edu. If the excused absence is “unplanned” (i.e., illness/family emergency, etc.), the D3 or D4 student should contact their patient(s) and the Patient Care Coordinator’s office at 410-706-8127. The PCCs must be made aware of any block assignment or patient appointments for that day.
Students who anticipate a long-term absence (longer than five days) should first review the Leave of Absence Policy and then contact the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs to discuss strategies for managing the impact of the absence on the educational program. The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs will, as needed, consult with the Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs and the Associate Dean of Student Affairs.
Unexcused Absence:
Pre-Clinic:
Attendance is considered an important indicator of each student’s sense of personal and professional responsibility. Accordingly, D1 and D2 students are required to attend all (100%) of pre-clinical laboratory sessions. Attendance will be recorded in all pre-clinical sessions.
Clinic:
Attendance is considered an important indicator of each student’s sense of personal and professional responsibility. Therefore, all D3 and D4 students are expected to attend a minimum of 90% of available GP clinic sessions*. Unexcused absences resulting in clinic attendance below the required 90% will be reflected in the 8 credit hour Comprehensive Care/Patient Management Course CCPM 538 for D3 students and the 12 credit hour Comprehensive Care/Patient Management CCPM 548 for D4 students. Clinic attendance of 90% is required to pass the course, as outlined in the CCPM syllabi. Additionally, excessive unexcused absences may delay progression in the curriculum and/or on-time graduation.
* Please refer to clinic attendance guidelines as per the CCPM 538 and CCPM 548 syllabi.
Unexcused absences include and are NOT limited to:
- Doctor and/or dental appointments
- Vacations
- Attendance to a wedding
- Attendance to a family/friend graduation
- Veterinary appointments
- Attendance to a conference if on block assignment or have a scheduled exam
Block Assignments:
Many of the block assignments such as Urgent Care, Oral Surgery and SPC are service oriented. Patients present to the School of Dentistry with the expectation that their dental needs will be addressed in a competent and timely manner. To provide these essential dental services, attendance is mandatory for all assigned block assignments. Students who are ill or have a family emergency must notify their block director of their absence and make every attempt to find coverage for their missed block assignment. In addition, students missing their block should complete the REQUEST FOR CHANGE IN BLOCK ASSIGNMENT.
Only students assigned to Hospital Block are excused from lectures and labs but must contact the course director in advance of the absence to arrange a time to make up missed activities. Hospital block rotation does not excuse students from attendance to exams or Translational Research Conferences (TRCs).
If a student fails to appear for an assignment or is more than 15 minutes late for the assignment, a make-up day of the specific missed block will be assigned; plus, one additional day will be assigned for the first incident. The second episode of absenteeism or tardiness to any block assignment will result in a make-up day of the specific missed block; plus 3 additional days. A third episode will be referred to the Judicial Board and can result in more serious consequences. All make up days will be assigned at the discretion of the director of the block and the Dean of Clinical Affairs and must be completed before advancement to the next year and/or graduation. If the whole/half day of assignment is missed, a whole/half day, plus whole/half penalty days will be assessed respectively.