VCOM College Catalog and Student Handbook

• A student may request accommodation for certain conditions (i.e. recent surgeries or injuries) and the Chair will determine the appropriate accommodation. If the student is not in agreement with the accommodation the student may request to meet with the Associate Dean for Student Affairs or HR. • Participation in the class is required for graduation. Acquiring such skills including visual inspection, the ability to touch and be touched, and use many other senses are required in the Technical Standards. • The exam performed should always be the one being taught in the lecture and laboratory documents for that lab. A student may, and should at any time, ask the peer student or instructor why they are not following the exam of the lecture or laboratory if they are not and may refuse the examination if not satisfied with the explanation. • To promote an environment of safety and respect, a student may decline permission for a specific student or instructor to perform a physical examination, procedure, or treatment or may ask for a different table assignment due to a prior relationship or interaction with that student or instructor or if something has occurred outside of the laboratory that has contributed to the student feeling uncomfortable. If a student requests this, the request must be in writing and by meeting with the Discipline Chair. • Students and faculty are notified that when a situation occurs where the student or faculty member is requested to do an examination or perform an OMM treatment outside the OMM classroom or OMM laboratory environment, that the OMM exam and treatment on the student should be done for academic (student learning) purposes only. When this occurs it should be in the academic setting and must always be a learning event that includes no less than three people in the room. By assuring three persons in the room, there will be no misunderstandings about the examination or treatment. This is the responsibility of both the student and the faculty member. o As an example, if a student is seeking an examination or treatment explanation from an instructor in their office or the laboratory outside of normal laboratory times, he or she should ask another student to accompany them. o Another example is if a student comes to a faculty member’s office to seek instruction on an examination or treatment, the faculty member should ask that the student to retrieve another student to be present for the exam. • VCOM recognizes that students often practice their examination and treatment methods on other students when off campus in settings such as their homes. While VCOM is not recommending this occurrence, VCOM does recognize the occurrence. VCOM has no supervision, authority, or liability over such sessions. VCOM does recommend to students that if he or she is practicing techniques outside of the laboratory, that this should only be done with peer students and should not involve non-students, as this may be considered treating a patient without a license or supervision. A practice session that includes only VCOM students outside of the classroom or laboratory should include no less than three students to assure no misunderstandings occur. The student should not practice techniques in which the student is not skilled. VCOM assumes no responsibility for the practice of techniques outside of the classroom. • In all PPC/OMM laboratories where students are learning examinations or treatment, there are a minimum of 6 instructors and up to 10 instructors for each laboratory. The normal OMM laboratory provides a student to instructor ratio of 1 to 8, so all examinations and conversations are witnessed. Any inappropriate behavior should be reported to the Discipline Chair. • Students are advised that all osteopathic techniques provided in medical practice necessitate informed consent. However osteopathic techniques performed in the educational laboratory setting for the purpose learning and acquiring skills and performed by a peer student or a faculty instructor in the act of teaching do not require informed consent. Informed consent is implied as the student is attending the laboratory and has observed the demonstration of the technique in the lecture and laboratory prior to having the technique performed. The student consent is therefore affirmed by the student’s voluntary participation in the laboratory to learn the technique (as well as enrollment in the course). • If a student chooses to see a faculty member as a physician for an osteopathic treatment as a patient and this is not as a part of a learning event, the student should see the faculty member in a medical practice

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