All medical schools consider professionalism to be a very important part of the medical school curriculum, and the East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine in Greenville, North Carolina, is no different. If you are enrolled as a medical student at BSOM, you are probably aware of some of the expectations that the school has when it comes to your professional conduct, though you may also note that some of the school’s professionalism standards can be vague and open to multiple interpretations.
That means that sometimes allegations that a student has committed unprofessional conduct may be unfair, or that the school may apply different standards to different students. When that happens to you, you need the help of an experienced attorney who understands how to resolve these kinds of cases in a way that protects your medical career. The LLF National Law Firm’s Student Defense Team can help when this happens to you. Call us at 888.535.3686 or submit our online contact form to schedule a confidential consultation so we can learn more about your case and explain what we can do to protect your future.
The Meaning of Professionalism at BSOM
While the concept of professionalism is woven through many of the policies affecting students at BSOM, the school also has a specific set of Professionalism and Community Standards that go into a lot of detail about what professionalism means at BSOM. The school notes that its professionalism standards are “informed” by a number of other polices that apply to BSOM students:
- BSOM Code of Student Conduct
- BSMO Code of Conduct
- BSOM Code of Professional Conduct
- ECU Student Conduct Process
- ECU Academic Integrity Policy
The Code of Professional Conduct, for example, is very broad and acts as a set of aspirational guidelines that BSOM students are expected to follow. It covers matters such as “Trustworthiness,” “Professional Demeanor,” “Responsibility and Sense of Duty,” “Concern for the Welfare of Patients,” “Respect for the Rights of Others,” and “Conduct Toward Students.”
BSOM’s Professionalism and Community Standards go into significantly more detail about the kinds of conduct that can lead to a student being sanctioned for unprofessional behavior. It lists a number of examples of “Unprofessional Conduct,” including:
- Dishonesty such as cheating and plagiarism
- Lying or making misrepresentations
- Providing false information to a BSOM school official or faculty member
- “Forging, altering, or misusing” a BSOM document
- Theft or attempted theft of school property or of computer time
- Violating any “law or regulation, state or federal”
- Illegal use or possession of narcotics or controlled substances
While these prohibitions are fairly clear, other types of “Unprofessional Conduct” can be subject to different interpretations depending on who is observing the conduct and the situation. For example, students can be accused of unprofessional conduct for:
- Communicating in an “unprofessional manner”
- Cell phone usage that is “excessive and distracting” during group meetings, clinical rounds, or other settings.
- “Disorderly, lewd or indecent conduct”
- Failing to dress in a professional manner according to the BSOM dress code
- Showing a lack of “composure and professional demeanor”
- Being “rude or disrespectful” to patients or others
These are standards that can have differing meanings depending on who is involved. For example, concepts such as lewdness or indecency are ones that do not necessarily have a fixed definition. Similarly, speaking directly and clearly to a patient might be interpreted as being rude or disrespectful, when in fact the goal was to provide useful information in a way that the patient understands. And anyone who has used a mobile phone in an intergenerational setting may have experienced differing standards for what constitutes “excessive” cell phone use.
While in most cases, at least initially, professionalism concerns will not result in a notation on the student’s transcript at BSOM, repeated instances of unprofessional conduct can end with the student being sanctioned in a way that can be noted on their permanent record. That is why it is important to take allegations of unprofessional conduct seriously, even if it’s your first one and you don’t believe it is serious.
Some of the consequences that can result from a finding of unprofessional conduct include:
- Required professionalism counseling or online professionalism training
- Being assigned a “faculty professionalism mentor” or a “peer or resident professionalism mentor”
- Being required to write a “short paper on professionalism”
- Required communication skills training
- Suspension from BSOM
- Dismissal from BSOM
The last two sanctions – suspension or dismissal – require the matter to be referred to the BSOM Professional Conduct Committee or another “appropriate university office.”
Whether you have been accused of unprofessional conduct because of actions that are arguably not unprofessional, or because you are alleged to have committed a specific violation of one of BSOM’s conduct-related codes, you owe it to yourself to make sure you understand the allegations against you, and that you mount the strongest defense or response possible.
The LLF National Law Firm’s Student Defense Team is here to help you deal with what can be a stressful and unwelcome distraction in the middle of your medical school education. With the LLF National Law Firm’s Student Defense Team on your side, you’ll have the experience and support you need to make sure you are treated fairly and are not sanctioned for conduct that you do not deserve to be penalized for.
Reporting Unprofessional Conduct at BSOM
There are different levels of reporting at BSOM when it comes to professionalism concerns.
The first is called a “Professionalism Alert,” and is the least serious. It is for relatively minor matters that “do not constitute a serious concern.” If a student accumulates four such Professionalism Alerts, they can receive a written warning, and after seven Professionalism Alerts, they will be scheduled for a professionalism meeting. If a student receives 7 Professionalism Alerts in a single academic year, it will be elevated to the next level.
This next level is called a “Professionalism Concern.” This is for unprofessional conduct that is to be addressed by the BSOM Professionalism and Community Standards Committee. The Committee is responsible for monitoring and hearing “professionalism concerns” and implementing the BSOM Professionalism and Community Standards policy. The Committee will decide what steps to take if a Professionalism Concern is reported to it.
The Professionalism and Community Standards Committee may require the student to appear before it for a Professionalism Meeting. The purpose of the meeting is “to address the professionalism concern and the circumstances surrounding it.” Students called before the committee may have a BSOM faculty or staff member or a fellow student with them at the meeting as a supporter. The supporter is allowed to participate with the accused student during the committee meeting.
While the committee has specific standards and procedures it applies in these cases, the “professionalism meeting is intended to be informal and conversational in nature.” The student will typically be notified by the committee of its resolution of the issue within 1 week of when the meeting takes place.
Even though the meeting with the committee is meant to be relatively informal, it is still vitally important that you be prepared for it – to address the allegations made against you, and to provide context or a defense to those allegations. The LLF National Law Firm’s Student Defense Team can help you do just that. By going over the allegations, gathering facts, and formulating defenses, we can prepare you for this meeting and increase the likelihood that you will come through it with as little impact on your future as possible.
The LLF National Law Firm Can Help Resolve Professionalism Issues
At the LLF National Law Firm’s Student Defense Team, our experienced attorneys regularly help medical school students accused of unprofessional conduct and other types of misconduct at schools all across the country. We know the laws, regulations, rules, and procedures that apply in these types of cases, and we will use our knowledge and experience to help you defend yourself against the allegations you are facing.
With so much of your medical career ahead of you, it is important to protect yourself now from allegations of unprofessional conduct. The best way to do that is with the help of one of the experienced student defense attorneys from the LLF National Law Firm. Call our Student Defense Team today at 888.535.3686, or fill out our online contact form. Let us schedule a confidential consultation so we can learn more about your case and explain how we are able to help.