Examination Delays

Policy 540.24

Policy Statement

  1. Requests for exam delays must be communicated by the student before the exam starts per the procedure outlined below. Requests will only be approved in extenuating circumstances, such as personal illness, significant illness in a family member, or death of a family member. Academic concerns alone are not considered a reasonable request for an exam delay. Requests may also be granted when the examination conflicts with a major day of religious observance communicated to the Associate/Assistant Dean for Students in advance of the day of the examination.
  2. A student who misses an examination without prior approval will be assigned a score of zero which results in an exam grade of fail.
  3. An approved exam delay results in a grade of Incomplete on a student’s transcript until the exam has been taken and passed.
  4. A student who has been approved to delay an exam must get approval to further delay that exam by requesting a new exam delay.
  5. At all levels of the curriculum, students are limited to carrying one exam delay at a time within a course or across clerkships. The delayed exam must be taken and passed before a request for an additional distinct exam delay will be approved. As outlined in Policy 540.40 - Grading: Clerkship Level, two incomplete grades will result in a referral to the Advancement Committee by the Assistant Dean for Clerkship for an informal review.
  6. A Clerkship student who has delayed an exam shall remediate that exam during designated days/times.
  7. A Clerkship student has one year from the end date of the original course to complete a delayed exam. If a student misses the one-year deadline, the Incomplete grade will convert to a grade of Fail.
  8. The student may not take a rescheduled exam during other course activities or while enrolled in a subsequent required clinical course or clinical elective. An exception to this policy is over the winter vacation period when, with permission from the Assistant Dean of Curriculum-Clerkship, a student may prepare to take an exam over the break and take the exam on the first day that the Larner College of Medicine is open after the winter holiday.

Policy Elaboration

Examination Delay Procedure:

  1. Before the exam is given, a student can request an exam delay. To initiate the exam delay process, the student must upload the LCOM Exam Delay Request and Decision Form to their OASIS “Exam Delay Requests” academic history tab, which will notify the Associate/Assistant Dean for students of the need for a delay.
  2. The Associate/Assistant Dean for Students (or designee) will then upload the completed form approving or denying the delay and advising the student about the examination and grading policies.
  3. Upon receiving the decision, the Office of Medical Education (OME) Level Coordinator will notify the Course Coordinator and the Course Director and any other necessary course personnel of the approved exam delay.
  4. Only one exam delay within a course or across clerkships is permitted.
  5. Students are expected to contact the appropriate curriculum coordinator and follow the instructions provided regarding the exam rescheduling process.

In accordance with Policy 310.00 Support for Disabilities, a Larner College of Medicine student may contact the UVM Student Accessibility Services Office at any time to initiate the process of requesting reasonable accommodations

Applicability of the Policy

All Medical Students

Related Larner College of Medicine Policies

Related University of Vermont Policies

Related Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) Standard(s)

Not Applicable

History

  • 5/20/2014 Policy Adopted/Affirmed [Medical Curriculum Committee]
  • 8/17/2015 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
  • 12/8/2015 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
  • 5/24/2016 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
  • 12/20/2016 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
  • 3/21/2017 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
  • 6/20/2017 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
  • 6/19/2018 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
  • 12/18/2018 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
  • 6/18/2019 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
  • 1/21/2020 Reformatted [Medical Curriculum Committee]
  • 10/20/2020 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
  • 8/24/2021 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
  • 4/26/2022 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
  • 1/17/2023 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
  • 7/16/2024 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
  • 2/18/2025 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]

Policy Oversight

Associate/Assistant Dean for Students

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