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GSA - Student Mistreatment Guidelines
Reaffirming Institutional Standards of Behavior in the Learning
Environment
The medical learning environment is expected to facilitate students'
acquisition of the professional and collegial attitudes necessary
for effective, caring and compassionate health care. The development
and nurturing of these attitudes is enhanced and , indeed, based
on the presence of mutual respect between teacher and learner. Characteristics
of this respect is the expectation that all participants in the
educational program assume their responsibilities in a manner that
enriches the quality of the learning process.
While these goals are primary to a school's educational mission,
it must be acknowledged that the social and behavioral diversity
of students, faculty, residents, and staff, combined with the intensity
of the interactions between them, will, from time to time, lead
to alleged, perceived or real incidents of inappropriate behavior
or mistreatment of individuals. Examples of mistreatment include
sexual harassment; discrimination or harassment based on race, religion,
ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, physical handicap or age;
humiliation, psychological or physical punishment and the use of
grading and other forms of assessment in a punitive manner. The
occurrence, either intentional or unintentional, of such incidents
results in a disruption of the spirit of learning and a breach in
the integrity and trust between teacher and learner.
The diversity represented by the many participants in the learning
process requires the medical school to reaffirm, on a periodic and
regular basis, its expectations of faculty, students, residents
and staff. The setting forth of the institution's standards of behavior
should be undertaken in a manner that encourages the exchange of
ideas among all who participate in the learning process. This process
of codifying acceptable behavior should encourage recognition of
the nuances of interpersonal behavior such that individuals are
sensitive to the interpretation of their actions. Clear examples
of appropriate and inappropriate behavior, particularly in regard
to the interaction between teacher and learner, should be delineated
and disseminated to faculty, students, residents, and staff. The
establishment of standards of behavior should reinforce the institution's
commitment to the tenets of acceptable professional behavior and
the assurance of dignity in the learning environment.
In addition to the establishment of standards of behavior, medical
schools also should establish mechanisms and institutional procedures
for dealing with behavior that is not in keeping with institutional
expectations. These procedures should include:
- a non-threatening and easily accessible mechanism for the submission
and processing of reports or allegations;
- a means of determining if further investigations is warranted;
- equitable methods of investigating and adjudicating complaints;
- guarantees of rights of due process; and
- appropriate protection of complainant and accused.
The school should have a specific written policy for the provision
of confidential counseling to students, faculty, residents and staff.
Schools should develop mechanisms that will serve to ensure the
observance of the institution's standards of acceptable behavior.
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