2026-2027 M3/M4 Course Syllabi

Session Attendance for M4 Students

• Students may miss no more than two days of planned excused absences on a four week rotation without being required to make-up the work, at the discretion of the clerkship/elective/course director or his/her designee.
• Non-AI Rotations - Per the Student Duty Hours Policy, an average of one day (24 hours) in every seven must be free of clinical responsibilities (including seminars, clinic, rounds, lectures) averaged over a four week period. These days off are assigned by the clerkship director to best align with the site schedule. Students may request to schedule 1 or more of these 4 days for planned absences that fall under 1 of the categories listed below for excused absences during non-AI rotations, in consultation with the course/elective director, who may or may not approve such planned absences.
• AI Rotations - Per the Student Duty Hours Policy, an average of one day (24 hours) in every seven must be free of clinical responsibilities (including seminars, clinic, rounds, lectures) averaged over a four week period. These days off are assigned by the course director to best align with the site schedule. Students may request to schedule 1 or 2 of these days for planned absences that fall under 1 of the categories listed below for excused absences during AI rotations, in consultation with the course director, who may or may not approve such planned absences. Students must avoid scheduling Step 2 examinations during an Acting Internship.
• Excused Absences - The following will be considered excused absences:
  • Diagnostic, preventative, and therapeutic health services (e.g. doctor appointments, physical therapy, counselling, etc).
  • Personal illness, accident or a major catastrophic event
  • Death or serious illness of immediate family members. Immediate family members, as defined by UC, are Grandparents, Brother, Sister, Brother-in law, Sister-in-law, Daughter-in-law, Son-in-law, Father, Mother, Mother-in-law, Father-in-law, Step-sister, Step-brother, Step-mother, Step-father, Spouse or domestic partner, Child, Grandchild, legal Guardian or other person who stands in place of parent (in Loco Parentis)
• Whenever possible, planned absences should be requested a minimum of six weeks in advance of the start of the clerkship/elective/course in which the absence will occur; this enables the clerkship/course/elective to help plan for educational event scheduling (e.g. a known appointment could be scheduled around with enough notice and the student might not have any required coursework to make up). Absences requested less than 1 week prior to the planned absence may not be considered for a possible excused absence unless extenuating circumstances prevented the student from providing timely notification per the policy. Students should first submit their request for a planned absence to the clerkship/elective/course director using the online MSSF. All planned/excused absences for any reason should be documented on the MSSF.
• The COM abides by the UC Religious Observance Policy that respects the religious diversity of its students by providing opportunities, where possible, for accommodation in cases where conflicts exist between students’ religious beliefs/practices and educational activities. In clinical settings, such accommodations must honor the primacy of a commitment to patient care and avoid unduly burdening faculty, staff and the general student population involved in the affected educational and/or patient care activity.
• The following items are explained in detail in the Medical Student Handbook:
  • Excused/unexcused/unplanned absence, religious holidays, jury duty, and make-up work

See Attendance and Absences Policy, Religious Observance Policy, Medical Student Handbook.