For most students going through medical school, simply earning an acceptance letter and starting the journey to become a medical professional is a source of great pride and accomplishment. But getting into medical school is only the beginning of a long and arduous journey that will test your mental and emotional limits. Yet through this challenging experience, you still must always maintain the highest levels of integrity and professionalism.
For students at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, you’ve earned the right to study and learn at the state’s most comprehensive academic health system. To fulfill the demands of this prestigious institution, the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine expects its students to uphold all that the term “professionalism” encompasses, including “the principles of altruism, accountability, excellence, duty, service, honor, integrity, and respect for others,” according to the school’s website.
If you fail to meet these high standards, you can face serious repercussions that could have lasting effects on your academic and professional future. The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine doesn’t take violations of its professionalism requirements lightly. If you’re facing allegations of professional misconduct and potential disciplinary action, you need the support of a legal team that can protect your rights and your future. The Student Defense Team at the LLF National Law Firm has years of experience defending students at medical schools in Oklahoma and nationwide against accusations of misconduct. Call us at 888.535.3686 or fill out our confidential online form to learn more.
How Does the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine Define Professionalism?
The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine has developed a Student Professional Behavior in an Academic Program Policy that outlines the school’s standards of professional and ethical behavior for students, as well as its procedures for handling cases of misconduct. The policy establishes that students must maintain ethical and professional behavior in all educational and clinical settings, including classrooms, labs, clinics, hospitals, community health centers, and all other student clubs and meetings.
The school’s professionalism policy lists the types of behaviors that demonstrate honesty and integrity, a desire to learn, and concern and commitment to patients. As is often the case with standards of professionalism, many of these behaviors are inherently subjective, which can make problems worse for students accused of violations. As a student at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, even when you act with the best intentions, you can still face false or exaggerated complaints that throw a big wrench in your plans to become a medical professional.
Nonetheless, the school’s professionalism policy describes the kinds of behaviors that it considers ethically and professionally unacceptable. These include:
- Lack of honesty and integrity. This includes lying about or incorrectly reporting the care you provide, making clinical errors, or practicing outside the scope of your designated roles.
- Failure to act professionally with patients. This includes using offensive language and being under the influence of drugs or alcohol in school or clinical settings.
- Not meeting professional responsibility. This includes being late to or missing classes, acting offensively or disruptively in class or clinical settings, having poor personal hygiene, and not fulfilling duties and requests in a timely manner.
- Disruptive behavior. This includes physical violence, verbal threats, inappropriate statements in medical records, and any type of racial, religious, or sexual discrimination.
- Failure to work toward self-improvement. This includes not accepting responsibility for mistakes and resisting constructive criticism.
- Failure to respect cultural diversity. This includes discriminatory behaviors based on age, culture, race, religion, ethnic origin, gender, or sexual orientation.
- Failure to maintain appropriate relationships with coworkers or patients and their families. This includes inappropriate personal relationships and a lack of collaboration with coworkers.
- Breaches of patient confidentiality.
As you can see, the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine has a long list of things you can do that it considers violations of its professional standards. Whether you’ve knowingly acted inappropriately, simply made a mistake, or inadvertently offended someone, you can still face serious consequences.
What Happens When You Face Accusations of Misconduct?
The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine’s Student Professional Behavior in an Academic Program Policy details the school’s procedures for dealing with students who violate professional and ethical standards. The school will accept complaints that a student is behaving in a way that raises concerns about professionalism and safety from a variety of sources, including other students, faculty, patients and their families, and visitors.
For violations that the school considers egregious, such as mismanagement of patient records or behaviors that endanger patients, the dean can immediately suspend or dismiss you from the medical program. If this happens, you have the right to request a hearing according to the school’s Academic Appeals Policy. You can have legal counsel at the hearing, which will include opening and closing statements, documentary evidence, and witness testimony.
For less egregious behavior, the faculty member or program director handling the complaint can treat the case as an instructional matter rather than a disciplinary one. If this happens, the faculty member or program director can simply contact you directly to help you remedy the problem.
For cases in between these two extremes, the faculty member or program director can file a Professionalism Concerns Report, which involves an educational approach to help you successfully continue your coursework, clinical practice, and interactions with the health community. Once you receive this report, you’ll have an opportunity to provide information to defend yourself and to take actions to improve your behavior. You may also have to accept remedial action, such as a corrective action plan, counseling, or probation.
If you commit three separate offenses of professionalism violations, the school can take more serious action, including placing you on probation, suspending you, or dismissing you from the program. In this case, you’ll have a chance to present your side of the story, including relevant evidence to defend yourself, and you may file an appeal.
The LLF National Law Firm Has Your Back
Regardless of whether a complaint against you simply turns into an instructional matter or leads to a suspension or dismissal and a hearing, dealing with the accusations will surely cause you intense stress and anxiety. Especially considering the subjective nature of professionalism complaints, you probably won’t know what to do to get yourself out of this mess. If you find yourself in this unfortunate situation, you want to do everything you can to keep your academic and professional future on track.
The LLF National Law Firm’s Student Defense Team is your best bet to successfully handle allegations of professional misconduct at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. We have years of experience working with medical schools to protect students’ rights and defend them against disciplinary action. We can:
- Help you understand the accusations against you and how they violate the school’s professionalism policy.
- Help you identify and collect evidence to support your case.
- Communicate with the school on your behalf and show why they should consider the misconduct an instructional rather than a disciplinary matter.
- Negotiate with the school for a constructive Professionalism Concerns Report that includes leniency in your remedial actions.
- File an appeal in the event of suspension or dismissal.
- Represent you at any hearings, present your defense and evidence, and question witnesses.
- Make sure you have the best chance for a successful outcome that lets you get back to focusing on your education.
Whether you’ve knowingly or accidentally violated the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine’s professionalism policy, the last thing you want is to face long-term consequences that hinder your future as a medical professional. The Student Defense Team at the LLF National Law Firm can help you get back on track so you can focus on what matters—learning, providing excellent patient care, and moving forward into your medical career. Call us at 888.535.3686 or complete our online contact form to schedule a consultation.