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UNIVERSITY of ARKANSAS |
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PAT WALKER HEALTH CENTER |
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PWHC Video
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Class Excuse Policy:
The
Pat Walker Health Center will not give class excuses.
The
Medical Chief of Staff’s Perspective on Excuses for Missed Classes: The
Pat Walker Health Center has recently changed its policy about providing
medical documentation of illnesses.
Prior
to this policy change, the Health Center was overwhelmed with requests
from students to provide documentation of medical visits.
Students generally asked for documentation even before they had
discussed their absences with their professors.
Many students made appointments with medical providers only to
obtain a written note. They
would not otherwise have needed a doctor’s evaluation, e.g., for
simple colds, a typical migraine headache, or a 24 hour intestinal
upset. These visits cause a
major burden on our staff since each of these encounters require time
from receptionists, practitioners and nursing personnel.
This time could be better utilized treating patients who are
truly in need of medical care. Practitioners
often have difficulty making an assessment on the appropriateness of an
excuse. For example, some
students with simple colds request a medical excuse while others with
similar illnesses appear to be able to attend class.
Since medical providers are, by definition, the patient’s
advocate; we are not in a position to judge motives of patients in an
attempt to determine whether any given request for an excuse is valid.
In addition, many requests are made by students who may have been
legitimately impaired, but who were unable to visit a clinician at that
time of the illness. It is
difficult and often impossible to assess the seriousness of a condition
retroactively in the absence of signs or symptoms. One
of the goals of the Pat Walker Health Center is to teach appropriate
health care consumerism. The
practice of providing medical excuses sends mixed message to students
about the appropriate use of health care resources. If
you are interested in finding a class excuse form, you can download
the Absence
from Class Form
here .
(To read this documents you must have Adobe Acrobat
Reader software. Free Adobe
Acrobat Reader software is available.)This
form does not need to be signed or reviewed by a medical provider at the
Pat Walker Health Center. In
addition, you may wish to read the Director's
Class Excuse Policy and Explanation by Mary Alice Serafini,
Pat Walker Health Center Director and Assistant Vice-Chancellor of
Student Affairs. This is
the information we provide to faculty members who ask about our class
excuse policy. Please
contact Ms. Serafini or myself for further assistance. Sincerely, Elizabeth
Woods, M.D. Medical
Chief of Staff
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HPER Link
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