Students are responsible for all material presented in lectures and laboratories. Attending lectures is strongly encouraged as a component of professional development and academic preparedness.
Attendance is mandatory for the following:
- Lectures designated as *mandatory* on the course calendar
- Basic Science Laboratories
- Clinical Skills Laboratories
- Team-Based and Case-Based Learning Exercises
- Written and Practical Examinations
Students who are on Academic Warning as defined in the LMU-DCOM Student Handbook must attend lectures in person for all courses. Attendance for those students will be monitored through the Office of Student Affairs. Students will be removed from mandatory attendance once they have been removed from Academic Warning as defined in the LMU-DCOM Student Handbook. Students must also follow all attendance procedures as specified by all individual course Syllabi.
A student may request an excused absence from a mandatory event, other than written examinations (see Examination section below). All student requests for an excused absence must be made in writing to the Assistant/Associate Dean of Students at their respective location. If granted written approval for the absence by the Dean of Students at the student’s respective campus location or their designee, it is the student's responsibility to communicate and coordinate a make-up session for all activities other than examinations. Examinations will be rescheduled as outlined in the LMU-DCOM Student Handbook. Some activities and points, for example in-class quizzes/assessments, may not be able to be made up even with an excused absence.
Excused Absences may be approved for the following reasons:
- Medical necessity: illness of the student or member of the immediate family (spouse, parent, grandparent, child, or sibling)
- Death of an immediate family member
- Other qualifying absences (e.g., religious reasons, non-medical emergencies) as approved by the Office of Student Affairs or the Assistant/Associate Dean of Students at each campus.
- Students must provide acceptable documentation to the Office of Student Affairs for any excused absence. Acceptability of documentation will be determined by the Dean of Students on each campus or their designee.
LMU-DCOM reserves the right to require students to attend a meeting or activity on campus, in-person, as needed.
Examinations
Students must follow the examination instructions outlined in the LMU-DCOM Examination Instructions and Policies sas appended to the DCOM Student Handbook.
All students are permitted one absence each semester without approval from any written exam, with the exception of the final basic medical sciences exam and the final clinical sciences exam of all courses. The first written exam absence of any semester for any reason will be counted as a permitted absence. This absence will be considered as excused. The permitted absence only applies to absence from the written examination. The permitted absence may not be used for any practical/lab examinations. Any written exam missed must still be completed within seven (7) calendar days of the original exam date on a date to be determined by LMU-DCOM.
Due to the amount of material presented within each examination block, students cannot make-up more than one block exam per semester, unless approved by the Office of Student Affairs based on extenuating circumstances. If a student misses two block exams per semester for any reason, the student will be referred to the appropriate SPC for review of their academic progress.
Students will not receive credit for any unexcused absences from examinations. Any unexcused absences will result in a student meeting with their respective Assistant/Associate Dean of Students who will review each situation individually to determine if the absence will be considered excused or unexcused. If the absence is unexcused the student will have a zero assigned for that exam. If the absence is determined to be excused, then the student may take the exam without penalty on the LMU-DCOM assigned make-up date.
Failure to follow examination policies and procedures may result in referral to the Community Standards Committee or Student Progress Committee for professionalism deficiencies.
If the final course grades must be submitted to the registrar prior to the date of the make- up exam, the student will receive a grade of "Incomplete" (I). Once the student takes the make-up exam, the final course grade will be calculated and submitted to the registrar. At that point, the "Incomplete" grade will be changed to the grade the student achieved in the course.
Attendance - OMS-III and OMS-IV
Refer to the Clinical Rotations Manual for all policies and procedures regarding attendance for third- and fourth-year rotations and exams.