Students who enroll in DO programs understand the high standards they must meet, not only in school but also in their future professional fields. Yet the realities of rigorous academics and clinicals, along with the personal challenges and pressures everyone faces, can create situations that threaten their good standing.

If you or your student is facing possible dismissal from the Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine (BCOM) or has already been told that dismissal is imminent, your next moves may define your life.

This article should help you get your bearings—quickly, because time is of the essence—as you determine how to fight for your continued enrollment at BCOM.

Any student facing dismissal should not hesitate to call the LLF National Law Firm Student Defense Team right away at 888-535-3686 or contact us online. We have considerable experience helping DO students fight false allegations of wrongdoing and finding alternatives to dismissal that keep their dreams in medicine intact.

Even If Dismissal Seems Imminent, You Should Continue the Fight to Stay at BCOM (With Our Help)

We don’t know you yet, so we can’t know exactly where you stand in the disciplinary process. Just know that, if you have already been told that dismissal is imminent, that does not mean the fight is over.

Even if you have exhausted your opportunities for appeal, there may be resolution opportunities outside of BCOM’s formal disciplinary avenues.

Our Student Defense Team talks with attorneys. We may be able to negotiate an alternative to dismissal with the school’s preeminent decision-makers, including BCOM’s legal counsel. It is always worth speaking with our team, as you may have options that you are presently unaware of.

Why Can Students Be Dismissed from Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine?

There are two primary reasons for which a student may be dismissed from BCOM, which are:

Academic or Clinical Failures

Medical professionals are held to a high standard, and those standards first apply during their training as students. BCOM’s remediation policy is that:

  • A student may be given the opportunity to remediate a course “element of a course” they have failed

  • Remediation at BCOM generally takes the form of an examination

  • Students must successfully remediate any failures before the next academic term starts

  • If the student passes the remediation exam, they receive the “minimum passing grade” on that course or course element

  • If the student does not pass, they receive a failing grade on the course or course element

If the student fails to remediate a course and they end up with two course failures in any term, they “may be administratively withdrawn.”

There is also the possibility that a student may be academically suspended, demonstrating that dismissal is not the only appropriate response to students’ academic difficulties.

Behavioral Misconduct

Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Code of Professional Conduct issues the broad mandate that “Students…shall conduct themselves in a professional and ethical manner at all times and abide by all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.”

If a student is accused of behaving in a professional or unethical manner, whether once or repeatedly, dismissal from the college is among the possible outcomes of related disciplinary proceedings.

How Do Administrators Decide to Dismiss a Student?

Medicine is a process-oriented field, so it’s only fitting that students undergo a process before being dismissed from BCOM. Cases of academic failure (or failures to adhere to Satisfactory Academic Performance expectations) are handled differently from cases of alleged misconduct.

Cases of Academic Progression

BCOM’s Student Performance Committee (SPC) and the Dean of the College have primary authority over cases of academic dismissal. The school’s Student Handbook explains how the relatively straightforward path to academic dismissal typically unfolds:

  1. A student meets the criteria for possible administrative withdrawal stemming from their academic performance (which includes two course failures in one term)

  2. The SPC reviews the course failures

  3. The SPC may recommend that the student be allowed to repeat the academic year in which they failed one or more courses

  4. The SPC may not make such a recommendation, in which case the student may be administratively withdrawn

The SPC may generally recommend administrative withdrawal if a student’s “overall body of work is sufficiently below expectation.” The phrase “below expectation” introduces the kind of subjectivity our Student Defense Team often highlights when arguing that dismissal is not the appropriate course of action.

Students are permitted to appeal “any adverse determination,” including academic administrative withdrawal, to the Dean of the College.

Cases of Alleged Misconduct

When BCOM students are accused of falling short of behavioral expectations, the following process may be followed:

  • A formal complaint is filed with the Office of Student Affairs

  • The Office of Student Affairs appoints a Conduct Officer to complete a preliminary review of the complaint

  • The Student Affairs Department Head may dismiss the complaint, or the disciplinary process may continue

  • The Conduct Officer completes an initial investigation and provides their report to the Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs within three days of the investigation’s conclusion

  • The Student Conduct and Professionalism Committee may take over the case, completing a case review and hearing, and eventually rendering a decision

If the Student Conduct and Professionalism Committee finds a student responsible and recommends discipline, the Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs will review (and likely sign off) on the Committee’s decision. BCOM students have the right to appeal behavioral dismissal to the Dean of the College, given sufficient grounds to do so.

Alternatives to Discipline That May Preserve Your Enrollment at BCOM

We know that dismissal from a DO program can change the trajectory of a person’s life. When a student remains in school, they may have the opportunity to overcome their difficulties and proceed to a rewarding career serving countless patients.

Our Student Defense Team will explore the possibility of probation, temporary suspension, and any other alternative that might spare you from expulsion.We take our advocacy for students incredibly seriously, and we will exhaust every possible path to a resolution less severe than dismissal.

Call the LLF National Law Firm Student Defense Team right away at 888-535-3686 or contact us online, and do not wait. There is no time to wait when your future in medicine is at stake.

Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine

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