Policy Statement
Rush Medical College (RMC) health professionals who are involved in the assessment and promotion of Rush medical students have RMC faculty appointments. Rush Medical College requires that health professionals who have provided, or are providing, psychiatric/psychological counseling or other health services to a medical student must have no involvement in the academic assessment or in decisions about promotion or graduation of the medical student receiving those services. In addition, faculty who have any conflict of interest in relation to a student, including but not limited to a prior or current healthcare provider-patient relationship, or a prior or current familial, personal or financial/business relationship, should have no role in evaluating or promoting the student.* Students should not be assigned to work with faculty (attendings or residents) who have provided or are providing these health services or with whom another conflict of interest exists.
* Examples of conflicts of interest that may exist beyond the physician-patient relationship include but are not limited to: any relation between the faculty member and student by blood or marriage, domestic partnership and/or same household residence; a joint interest in a business venture between the faculty member and student or student’s family member; and a close or long-standing personal relationship between the faculty member and student or student’s family member.
Purpose of Policy
It is essential to have a separation of health provider and faculty roles to ensure confidentiality in the provision of health and counseling services to medical students as well as to eliminate conflicts of interest in student assessment and promotion. Similarly, other conflicts of interest, including but not limited to a prior or current familial, personal or financial/business relationship, should preclude faculty from assessing or promoting a student.
Procedure
Members of the Rush Medical College faculty who are involved in the assessment or promotion of a medical student for whom they have provided, or are providing, any health care services, including psychiatric/psychological/personal counseling or other sensitive health services or with whom they have another conflict of interest, including but not limited to a prior or current familial, personal or financial/business relationship, are required promptly to report the existence of a conflict of interest to the course director so that the student or faculty member can be reassigned. Faculty and student members of the Committee on Student Evaluation and Promotion (COSEP) must report to the Committee chairperson the existence of any conflict of interest the committee member has in relation to a medical student, and must recuse themselves from any decisions or discussions regarding the student. Faculty members are annually provided with a list of all students assigned to their course and must execute an attestation annually stating either that no conflict of interest exists with respect to any medical student, or, in the alternative, stating the name or names of students for whom such a conflict does exist. If circumstances change over the course of the academic year and a conflict of interest in relation to a medical student arises, faculty promptly must inform the course director so that the student may be reassigned to another faculty member, or in the case of COSEP, the faculty member promptly must inform the Committee chairperson and recuse himself/herself from any decisions or discussions regarding the student. In addition to the above-referenced annual faculty attestation procedure, prior to completing the student performance evaluation form for a course, faculty must also attest to a conflict of interest and confidentiality statement (which appears on the student performance evaluation form) confirming that no conflicts of interest exist. Students who have been initially assigned to a pre-clerkship experience or clinical clerkship in which they would be assessed by a member of the faculty who has provided them with, or is providing them with, health care services, or with whom they have another conflict of interest, including but not limited to a prior or current familial, personal or financial/business relationship, should report the conflict of interest to the course director or course coordinator as soon as they receive the assignment. Students are annually provided with a list of all faculty assigned to their courses and must execute an attestation annually stating either that no conflict of interest exists in relation to faculty for the course, or that such a conflict does exist. If circumstances change over the course of the academic year and a conflict of interest in relation to a faculty member arises, students promptly must inform the course director. If a conflict exists, the student will be reassigned to another faculty member. In the event that the student or faculty is not promptly reassigned after reporting the conflict, the student should immediately report the matter to the Office of Medical Student Programs for resolution.
Rush Medical College
Prevention of Faculty-Student Conflicts of Interest
Policy & Procedure
Approved by Thomas Deutsch, M.D., Dean of Rush Medical College
Approved on March 23, 2014
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