As a student enrolled at LSU Health Shreveport’s School of Medicine, you’ve already faced many challenges just to get to where you are today. But you know better than anybody else that there are more challenges to come as you complete your medical school education and clinical work before you can earn your physician’s license. And the challenges you face increase substantially if you’ve been accused of violating LSU Health’s professionalism requirements for medical students.
The problem with the concept of professionalism is that determining what is and is not “professional behavior” can be subjective. One person’s clever comment is another person’s disrespectful one. When there are unclear guidelines, such as the ones used to measure “professionalism,” there can be unfair consequences. That’s when you need the help of one of the experienced attorneys from the LLF National Law Firm’s Student Defense Team. We can help you prepare your defense to allegations that you’ve acted in an unprofessional manner, a defense that can make the difference for your enrollment at LSU Health Shreveport School of Medicine and for your future as a physician. Call us at 888.535.3686 or fill out and submit our online contact form to learn more about how the LLF National Law Firm’s Student Defense Team can help you.
The Meaning of Professionalism at LSU Health Shreveport
The LSU Health Shreveport School of Medicine’s Statement on Professionalism provides some guidance as to the types of professional conduct that the school expects of its medical students. It notes that professionalism can be considered “the basis of medicine’s contract with society” and that it requires “placing the interests of patients above those of the physician” as well as meeting standards of “competence and integrity.” Specific aspects of professionalism include:
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Accountability – showing “personal responsibility and awareness”
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Compassion – being empathetic and listening – and responding – “humanely to the needs of patients”
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Conscientiousness – being careful and prompt
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Duty – this includes a number of things: completing assigned tasks, setting and achieving “realistic goals,” responding “promptly when called,” volunteering in the community, seeking “active roles in teaching and professional organizations”
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Excellence – trying to “exceed expectations by setting high standards” and working continuously to improve
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Integrity – exhibiting the “highest standards” of “integrity, ethical behavior, and exemplary moral character”
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Life-long Learning – providing health care while continuing the learning process
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Respect – treating patients, families, and colleagues with dignity and respecting “patient privacy and autonomy”
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Social Responsibility – exhibiting “an unselfish regard for others” and advocating for quality patient care
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Teamwork – collaborating with others “to achieve a common goal” and respecting authority
These are worthy goals, ones that any medical student or physician should aspire to meet. But they are also broad concepts that, in many cases, can be subject to different interpretations depending on the person doing the interpreting.
To that end, the Statement on Professionalism does provide a few brief examples of unprofessional behavior. These include “intimidating, threatening, violent, inappropriate, illegal, dishonest actions” as well as “violations of university standards or policies.” But since the university standards and policies include the professionalism qualities described above, the examples do not really narrow down the scope of the kinds of conduct that could constitute allegedly unprofessional behavior.
As a result, you may find yourself accused of unprofessional conduct for doing something that you believed was perfectly proper at the time. Or someone who has an issue with you could twist something you said or did and use that as the basis for making an allegation against you. When that happens, you need someone on your side who can protect your rights and help you defend yourself against allegations that could leave a stain on your medical school record, which can directly affect things like your residency application and future work as a physician.
Reporting Unprofessional Conduct at LSU Health Shreveport School of Medicine
Medical students are required to report violations of LSU Health Shreveport’s various policies – failure to do so is a violation of the Student Code of Conduct. The Statement on Professionalism notes that reports of unprofessional behavior “will be addressed with interventions aimed at promoting insight, accountability, and behavior change.” But when the allegations are serious, there are specific procedures that apply. These are described in the medical school’s “Non-Academic Professionalism (Due Process)” policy.
Allegations of unprofessional conduct are to be made to the medical school’s Associate Dean for Student Affairs. In cases where the Associate Dean considers the allegation serious enough, the accused student and the Associate Dean will meet to review them. Serious cases will be referred to the Student Conduct Committee, which includes faculty members from each of LSU Health Shreveport’s four schools.
In cases that are referred to the Student Conduct Committee, the Associate Dean will prepare a written summary that both the committee and the accused student will receive. This summary should include the allegations, supporting claims, witnesses, and documentation known at that point in time. LSU’s Office of Compliance and Risk Management will investigate the allegations and provide a report to the committee.
Based on the report, the committee will decide whether to take further action against the accused student. If it does, there is a pre-hearing process where the accused student will receive a Notice of Student Conduct Committee Hearing that will include information about the accusations, potential evidence, witnesses, and other information about the hearing. The student must then provide the committee with the names of witnesses and the information they may use at the hearing, including the name of the student’s advocate, who may be an attorney.
The hearing will be in-person, but no particular rules of evidence apply. Witnesses will testify in person and can be questioned by the student’s advocate. The committee will prepare a written decision after the close of the hearing that will address each charged policy violation and any sanctions that the committee will impose. The student will have the right to appeal decisions that go against them on limited grounds.
The LLF National Law Firm Can Help Resolve Professionalism Issues
If you have been accused of unprofessional conduct while enrolled as a student at LSU Health Shreveport’s School of Medicine, you need to take it seriously and do everything you can to defend yourself. Because the school’s professionalism standards are so broad, they can be interpreted differently by different people, leading to unfair results. When those results result in the accused student being sanctioned, they can have serious consequences, even if sanctions do not rise to the level of a suspension or dismissal from the medical school.
The LLF National Law Firm’s Student Defense Team understands how important it is to protect student rights and to defend students against all types of misconduct allegations – including professional misconduct allegations made against medical school students. We do this daily for students in colleges, universities, and professional programs all across the United States. Our attorneys understand the laws, rules, policies, and procedures that apply in these cases, and can work with you to build the strongest defense possible to the specific allegations you are facing.
If you’ve been accused of unprofessional conduct at the LSU Health Shreveport School of Medicine, don’t delay – contact the LLF National Law Firm’s Student Defense Team today at 888.535.3686, or fill out and submit our online contact form. We will schedule a confidential consultation where you can tell us about your case, and we can explain how we can help.