At the University of Puerto Rico School of Dental Medicine, students are encouraged to understand and implement systems to comeback inequality in oral healthcare. They are committed to fostering critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, and a desire to continue pushing the bounds of scientific research. With so much riding on their shoulders, it's no wonder some students have a hard time meeting these expectations.
You have worked very hard to get into dental school. If you find yourself facing a remediation meeting, disciplinary action, or dismissal hearing, an attorney-advisor can help. Call Lento Law Firm today.
University of Puerto Rice School of Dental Medicine Code of Conduct
All graduate schools have codes of conduct they want their students to uphold. At UPR School of Dental Medicine, this code is listed in the Medical Sciences Campus catalog and explains what professional and academic behavior is expected of them. These rules include:
- Refraining from any scientific misconduct
- Using the internet and social media appropriately
- Refraining from sexual harassment and discrimination
- Providing proof for excused absences
- Maintaining satisfactory grades
- Upholding patient confidentiality
- Not performing any service that is outside of their current realm of knowledge
- Treating others with respect and dignity
Dental students are also expected to uphold academic honesty, meaning they cannot commit any act of academic misconduct. At UPR, academic misconduct includes:
- Cheating: using or attempting to use unauthorized materials on an exam, clinical, or other project
- Plagiarizing: presenting someone else's work or ideas as if they were your own
- Purposefully defrauding the university
- Maliciously altering grades
- Submitting a paper or assignment for more than one class without permission
When a student is accused of violating this code of conduct, they must present a strong defense at their disciplinary hearing. An attorney-advisor can help navigate you through the process and mitigate any unnecessary punishments you might experience.
Remediation at the University of Puerto Rico School of Dental Medicine
UPR School of Dental Medicine will allow students to retake a course, exam, or clinical if they fail it the first time. Generally, remediation (retake) plans are offered during the summer between academic years, though there are times that students will be required to retake the entire course or clinical the next time they are offered. If this happens, the student's graduation could be pushed back severely.
For students who are given remediation plans in the summer, the hope is that with some extra guided, or independent, revision, the student will be able to successfully grasp the material and rejoin their classmates in the fall. Remediation plans must be successfully completed before a student will be offered the chance to graduate.
It should also be noted that if a student does not successfully remediate in the allotted time, they could be referred for dismissal. Further, some students won't even be offered a remediation plan; instead, they will be pushed to the dismissal committee. If this happens, you must appeal it. Your school owes you a duty of due process, which means if they offer remediation review for one student, they must offer it for all. When they deny you this right to remediation, they are denying you your due process rights, which must be addressed. An attorney-advisor can help bring this to their attention and encourage them to create a remediation plan on your behalf.
Dismissal Proceedings at the University of Puerto Rico School of Dental Medicine
Being dismissed from the University of Puerto Rico School of Dental Medicine can happen for several reasons, including remediation issues, disciplinary actions, and other code of conduct violations, like sexual harassment and academic misconduct. The moment you learn of the dismissal hearing, you should reach out to an attorney-advisor for help. There are so many students who do not heed this advice and end up trying to “wing” their defense, which usually results in an untimely and unnecessary expulsion from the program.
The best way to defend yourself is to consciously craft a strategic defense, gathering evidence and witnesses who can testify on your behalf. The committee in charge of the dismissal hearing will review the information you present and determine whether you should be let go. Most of the time, this decision is mailed to, along with instructions for how to appeal it.
Appeals usually must be made within a short amount of time, somewhere between 3 and ten days. They must also be made to a particular person and for a specific reason. The reasons that appeals are usually allowed are:
- There is new evidence available now that was not available during the original hearing
- There was some sort of bias towards the student
- There was a procedural error that changed the outcome of the hearing
An appeals committee will review your appeal and make sure you followed all the instructions exactly. They will then decide if, based on the reason you listed, the original decision should be upheld, revoked, or amended in some way. It is important to remember that appeals tend to be final, so you must not only make sure to follow the instructions correctly but also present the best appeal you can make.
Many students get overwhelmed with the idea of appealing a decision after going through all these other proceedings. If you are among such individuals, an attorney-advisor can help shoulder some of that stress.
Why an Attorney-Advisor Can Help With Dental Student Issues
Graduate school is very competitive and extremely stressful. Students are so focused on how they can be the best that they end up getting overwhelmed and burned out. When this happens, even the most studious of students will look for other ways to excel. Unfortunately, this leads several students into dismissal hearings, disciplinary actions, or remediation meetings. And for students found responsible of violating the code of conduct in any way, they will be punished with suspensions or dismissal, both of which make it harder to gain entry to a new program later. This is why it is important to work with an attorney-advisor from the moment you learn of these proceedings.
Attorney Joseph D. Lento and Lento Law Firm have spent years working with dental students who are facing complex proceedings like these. Their goal is to help you create a strategic defense, gathering evidence and witnesses to testify on your behalf. Some students try to improvise in these proceedings and fail to prepare sufficiently. When this happens, they are subject to unnecessary sanctions that have long-lasting consequences. Call 888-535-3686 today to schedule a consultation or visit us online.
