The SEIP is intended to identify students who are demonstrating difficulty meeting the behavior, knowledge, and skills defined for courses in their curricular year and/or the administrative responsibilities and professional behaviors expected of a medical student in the curriculum. (See examples below).

The Student Early Intervention Committee (SEIC) will determine if a student is at risk for not progressing successfully through the curriculum and provide recommendations for required tutoring; modifications of student schedules; meetings with Academic Enhancement Office specialists; meeting with an associate dean, advisor, or coach; and/or other actions, such as referral to the Student Evaluation and Promotions Committee (SEPC). All recommendations are intended to provide additional support to ensure successful progression through the curriculum and are subject to review and approval by the SEPC for final disposition. Information on the student’s progress may be shared with course and clerkship directors to provide support for the student.

In the preclerkship phase, the SEIC is comprised of the course directors and course managers for that academic year, the Associate Dean of Medical Education (ADME), the Associate Dean of Student Affairs (ADSA) or designee, and the Academic Enhancement Office (AEO) representative. In the clerkship phase, the SEIC is comprised of the clerkship directors for that academic year, the ADME, and the ADSA or designee. In each phase of the curriculum, the SEIC meets quarterly and reviews all students. Examples of reasons the SEIC will refer directly to the SEPC include

• Repeated lapses in meeting course expectations (i.e., attendance, course assignments) despite notification by course director.
• Pattern of concern in performance, including marginal performance on end-of-year assessments.
• Repeated lapses in attendance to mandatory sessions.
• Repeated lapses in responding to communication, which may include but is not limited to correspondences from administrators, course directors, and/or deans.
• Two clerkship exam failures or one clinical failure in the clerkship or postclerkship phase.

The process of referral from the SEIC to the SEPC is as follows:

1. After students of concern are identified by the SEIC, the ADME or designee emails the Student Affairs Office (SAO) Senior Policy Officer with the list of names for the SEPC meeting, including name of student, year, and reason for SEPC referral.
2. The ADSA and ADME discuss optimal timing for student appearance at the SEPC (which meeting, taking into account their academic schedule, scheduled exams, personal concerns, and other).
3. The Senior Policy Officer in the SAO notifies the students via email that they have been placed on the SEPC agenda by the SEIC at least seven business days prior to the SEPC meeting, including the reason for the referral to the SEPC.

Professionalism is a core competency and critical component of a student’s overall performance in medical school and lapses in such may be reported by faculty, at their discretion. Initial episodes of unprofessional behavior should be addressed as a learning opportunity and with a sole focus on remediation. Additional details describing the student code of conduct and the mechanism for reporting as well as potential consequences of unprofessional behavior are available at the Chobanian & Avedisian SOM Medical Student Disciplinary Code of Academic and Professional Conduct.

Egregious and/or repeated lapses in professional conduct related to either clinical or course/clerkship responsibilities may require further action, including discussion by appropriate SEIC, referral to Physician Health Services, the Disciplinary Committee, or the SEPC, with formal monitoring and documentation of progress. Clear communication between students and supervising faculty is of paramount importance, and prompt and specific feedback must be shared directly with the student. The end goal of all interventions regarding professional conduct is to foster and support the student’s development as a physician. Students must be directly informed of the behavior of concern, as close to the event as possible, by the individual who observed the unprofessional behavior. Students must have the opportunity to respond to concerns and participate in the development of remediation plans. Students are made aware of the expectations for professional conduct via:

• BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine Medical Student Disciplinary Code of Academic and Professional Conduct, with particular emphasis on Section 1.2 and Appendix 1
• The clerkship syllabi
  • Section on Assessment and Grading (Clerkship Grading Policy-Professionalism)
  • Section on Student-Professional Comportment
• Teacher-Learner Expectations, Association of American Medical Colleges

Recurrent concerns, even if deemed minor, identified via the SEIC will be shared with the SAO and the student’s core advisor for formative purposes. A referral to the Professionalism Resource Service should be strongly considered at this time. Professionalism concerns that did not result in referral to the SEPC but are determined to be significant by the clerkship director may be included in the student’s final clerkship narrative but will not be reflected in the Medical School Performance Evaluation (MSPE) Professionalism Summary Section.

If an SEIC identifies persistent lapses in professional behavior, as defined in the Chobanian & Avedisian SOM Code of Conduct, the SEIC will draft a Letter of Professionalism Concern (LOPC) and submit to the Medical Education Office (MEO). The student will also receive a copy of the LOPC.

Format of the LOPC: 

• Description of the concerning behavior with sufficient detail, including specific dates and locations, and the direct, specific, and timely feedback provided to the student.
• LOPC sent to the SAO and AME for formative coaching and to the MEO for tracking.
• The SEIC will recommend a remediation plan with expected timeline for resolution or improvement, and follow up, if indicated.

Two or more LOPC in an academic year results in referral to the SEPC for review and appropriate action, if any, or any single LOPC after the student has been previously referred to the SEPC for professionalism concerns will result in a return to the SEPC. A single LOPC, if triggered by a serious occurrence, can result in immediate reference to the SEPC.

Professionalism concerns referred for review by the SEPC or the Disciplinary Committee are considered for inclusion in the MSPE Professionalism section, as decided by the relevant committee, and may be reportable to relevant licensing boards.

The role of the Student Evaluation and Promotions Committee is to: 1) consider student petitions for exception to school policy, 2) holistically review students who are not progressing successfully through the curriculum as expected and determine appropriate actions, and 3) determine students’ readiness for promotion from one phase of the curriculum to the next or graduation.

Students will be referred to the SEPC directly or via the SEIC (described above) when there is lack of academic progress as defined by:

• Two or more module failures in the preclerkship phase of the curriculum.
• Failure of a remediation exam in the preclerkship phase.
• Fail in the End of Second Year Assessment or End of Third Year Assessment.
• Students who were previously referred to the SEPC for academic or professionalism concerns and continue to demonstrate academic or professionalism difficulties.

SEPC actions may include: recommendation for coaching, coursework remediation, referral to Physician Health Services, referral to the Professionalism Referral Service, or disciplinary measures in accordance with applicable Chobanian & Avedisian SOM policies, including probation, suspension, or dismissal. The SEPC meets monthly, or as necessary, to assess student readiness for evaluation and promotion for all four years of the MD curriculum.

In accordance with Chobanian & Avedisian SOM policies and standards, the SEPC evaluates a student’s academic and professional body of work and makes recommendations in the best interest of academic progression and patient care. The SEPC acts upon written petitions from students who request an exception from school policies, reviews any student’s deficient performance and takes appropriate action, reviews students who may not meet the maximum time for Chobanian & Avedisian SOM degree completion, and acts on requests for more than one reexamination, including end-of-clerkship exams.

Committee Bylaws

The Student Evaluation and Promotions Committee shall:

1. Comprise 10 faculty members and chair, all appointed by the Dean. Eight members (representing all four curricular years) and the chair shall be appointed after consultation with the Associate Deans of Medical Education, Student Affairs, and Diversity & Inclusion. The remaining two, a Course Director and a Clerkship Director, shall be appointed after consultation with the Pre-Clerkship Curriculum Subcommittee (PCS) and Clerkship Curriculum Subcommittee (CCS) chairs, respectively. No other member can be a course, course module, or clerkship director. The Associate Deans of Student Affairs, Medical Education, Admissions, and Diversity & Inclusion, and the Director of Academic Enhancement, shall serve ex officio, without vote. The Registrar shall act as secretary without vote.
2. Meet monthly, if required, during the academic term, and otherwise as needed at the call of the chair.
3. Act in accordance with the Policies and Procedures for Evaluation, Grading, and Promotion of BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine MD Students.

For the rules governing promotion, view the “Policies and Procedures for Evaluation, Grading, and Promotion of BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine MD Students.”