The Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine strives to create an environment that produces future physicians who possess not only the knowledge of the most advanced scientific and clinical fundamentals but are physicians who do so while behaving in ways that honor the profession of medicine. Helping our students achieve this level of professionalism is as important to our medical school as is its success in educating students in the foundational, social, and clinical sciences.
To support students as they further develop competency in the domain of professionalism, the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine has developed a central system to track and communicate issues related to the development of key professional attributes. This central tracking process ensures that all relevant information is available to students and available to the program to help students who exhibit patterns that may require skills development, remediation and/or other types of support. This tracking process is described below.
Incident Cards
Incident Cards relate to issues or concerns about professionalism. They capture moment-in-time information or observations about a potential skills gap such as late or missed deadlines, unexcused absences from required sessions, and issues associated with punctuality. Incident Cards will be tracked centrally to help students identify trends in their own learning and help the program support the identification of students who exhibit patterns in professionalism that may require support.
The Following Actions May Result in an Incident Card
This is not intended as a comprehensive list.
- Late or missed required course assignments/deliverables
- Late or missed required sessions (large group learning sessions, small group sessions, workshops, etc)
- Missed required assessments
- Missed pre-arranged meetings with faculty and staff, target skills development and remediation sessions
- Disrespectful or unprofessional behavior
Who May Submit an Incident Card:
Faculty, staff, or students of WSU may submit an Incident Card. Incident card can be submitted through the online.
Incident Cards are routed to medicine.assessment@wsu.edu for collation and follow up.
Recording and Follow-up on Incident Cards
All Incident Cards will be collated by the Assessment Unit and all Incident Card information will be available on Student Dashboards (Professional Attributes Tracker) to ensure students are aware of any trends or patterns that may require attention. If a trend is noted (2 or more incident cards), students will be referred to the Student Learning Center for support.
If an incident card relay concerns about disrespectful behavior or personal conduct, the incident card will be reviewed and assessed by the Associate Dean of Assessment and Evaluation. The case may be referred to the Professionalism Group for further review and investigation. The Professionalism Group will review the information available to ensure a fair and equitable process for the student. If patterns of behavior are identified, the Associate Dean of Assessment and Evaluation will refer the case to the Professionalism Group for review and investigation. The Professionalism Group can recommend to the Associate Dean of Assessment and Evaluation that the case be elevated to the Student Evaluation Performance and Awards Committee (SEPAC). Students receiving an Incident Card will be notified by the Assessment Unit.
Please refer to your Assessment Framework and Course-specific Assessment Packages familiarize yourself with the program’s Professional Expectations.