Attendance and Absences

In the first and second year preclinical courses, daily attendance is expected, but not absolutely required, at lectures. Course directors may require attendance for small group and laboratory sessions (see course syllabi for details). If you are absent, you must notify the course director or the faculty member in charge of the small group session. In the third and fourth year clinical clerkships and electives, daily attendance is required for all aspects of the clinical rotations. 

Unexpected Absences

In the case of an unexpected, single day absence due to illness in the preclinical years, students must notify the course director or the faculty member supervising small group sessions. In the clinical years, the students must notify either the supervising attending physician or senior resident and the clerkship secretary. If a student is unable to contact the clerkship secretary, he/she should notify the staff in either the Office of Student Affairs ((352) 273-7971) or the Office of Medical Education (273-8575). If the absence is of greater duration than a single day, the staff in the Office of Student Affairs or the Office of Medical Education must be notified, in addition to the course director (preclinical) or the supervising attending or senior resident and the clerkship secretary (clinical clerkships). If the absence occurs while in Jacksonville on a clinical rotation, the Office of Educational Affairs in Jacksonville (904-549-5128) must be notified, in addition to the Student Affairs Office in Gainesville.

Planned Absences

In the case of a planned absence to attend a scientific meeting or a family event such as a wedding or reunion, students must meet with the course or clerkship director as far in advance as possible to discuss the request and obtain the permission of the course or clerkship director to be absent from assigned responsibilities. Once permission is obtained for the planned absence, the student must notify the Office of Student Affairs or the Office of Medical Education of the approved dates for the absence.

Observance of Religious Holidays

After students notify their instructor, they shall be excused from class or other scheduled academic activity to observe a religious holy day of their faith. Students shall be permitted a reasonable amount of time to make up the material or activities covered in their absence. Students shall not be penalized because of absence from class or any other scheduled academic activity resulting from religious observances.

Faculty and administrators are encouraged not to schedule examinations or major events on evenings or days observed as holy days by a significant number of students. Students who ask to be excused from class for religious reasons will not be required to provide second-party certification. A student who believes that he or she has been unreasonably denied an education benefit due to religious beliefs or practices may seek redress through the student grievance procedure.

Note: Students should make requests for absence to observe religious holy days in a timely manner.

Holidays for Third and Fourth Year Students

Students are allotted the following holidays: Thanksgiving and summer and winter breaks (see the academic calendar for details).  The Thanksgiving holiday starts at 5pm on Wednesday and ends at 5am on Monday.  Third and 4th year students on scheduled clerkships and electives are NOT automatically off duty on official one-day holidays listed on the academic calendar.  Clerkship directors, at their discretion and depending on the clerkship schedule, excuse students from work on a holiday (e.g.,  Labor Day outpatient clinics are closed, and a clerkship director may give the students assigned there the day off).