VCOM Institutional Policy and Procedure Manual

VCOM Policy and Procedure

Policy #S003

Prior to placing a student with a mental disability on MMLOA for reasons relating to that disability: a. Except in emergency circumstances, VCOM, through its Individual Assessment Team (IAT), will conduct an individualized assessment of the student and will give careful consideration to the opinions and recommendations of the following persons: i. The student’s treating physician or mental health professional, including opinions as to the student’s ability to participate in the program and to any threat that may be posed to other individuals by that participation; ii. An independent mental health professional, if warranted, who may be consulted to conduct an independent forensic evaluation; iii. An independent academic evaluation, if warranted, to determine if the student is able to successfully participate in the program; iv. The opinions and recommendations of other relevant healthcare professionals who may warrant consultation by VCOM. b. VCOM will encourage and welcome any additional information the student believes to be relevant to making the determination. c. VCOM will respect the student’s confidentiality, and only require the student to provide a medical release for access to the student’s medical and mental health records as reasonably necessary to complete its individualized assessment. In the case the student is not comfortable in providing mental health records to VCOM, the records may be provided to an independent mental health professional, who will be consulted to determine if a threat exists to the student, to the college community or to patient care by the student’s continued participation in the program. d. Based on the results of the individualized assessment, VCOM will determine whether, and what, reasonable modifications can be made that would be effective to allow such a student to safely continue to attend classes and otherwise participate in its educational programs and/or to participate in patient care while undergoing treatment for, or recovering from related medical or mental health conditions. However, in the event that VCOM also considers whether the student poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others, including the students, faculty, staff, and the patients the student will care for, VCOM’s individualized assessment must be based on reasonable judgment and rely on current medical knowledge and the best available objective evidence, to ascertain: the nature, duration, and severity of the risk; the probability of or potential for the threat of injury to actually occur (to the student, to fellow students, faculty, and staff; and/or to the patient under the care of the student). The assessment will also include whether reasonable modifications of policies, practices, or procedures or the provision of auxiliary aids or services would mitigate the risk. e. VCOM will require a student to take a MMLOA only if: i. After the individualized assessment, and careful review and consideration documented by VCOM, VCOM concludes that the student’s continued participation in its educational programs would require modifications that would be unreasonable or would fundamentally alter the nature of those programs; ii. The student rejects all reasonable modifications and monitoring requirements offered by VCOM and the student cannot meet VCOM’s essential eligibility requirements and technical standards to continue to participate in its educational and clinical care programs; or iii. After the individualized assessment, even with the provision of all of the reasonable modifications that could be offered by VCOM, the student cannot meet VCOM’s essential eligibility requirements and technical standards to safely and effectively participate in the VCOM educational or clinical care programs.

VCOM Mandatory Medical Leave of Absence Policy and Procedures

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