Policy on Educational Conflicts of Interest and Recusal

If a faculty member, fellow, resident, or other allied health professional is assigned to a role in which they will assess a student with whom they have previously provided health care services including psychological counseling, the faculty member, fellow, or resident must recuse themselves by advising (without breaching confidentiality) the course/clerkship (“course”) director or the appropriate course or component administrator and the student will be re-assigned.

In event that a faculty member, fellow, resident, or other allied health professional has not already recused themselves from assessment duties and a student is assigned to an educational environment in which the faculty member, fellow, or resident assigned to assess the student has previously provided health care services to the student, the student must advise (without breaching confidentiality) the course director or the appropriate course or component administrator and the student will be re-assigned.

A member of the Student Advancement Committee (SAC) must recuse themselves from the presentation, deliberation, and vote about a student with whom they have a conflict of interest by notifying the committee chair. In addition to those outlined above, the following constitutes a conflict of interest:

• Member is the director of a course, clerkship, or curricular thread that prompted a referral to the committee.

Prior to the student's presentation at the Student Advancement Committee, the student will be provided with a list of committee members. If the student identifies a conflict of interest with any member of the committee, that committee member must recuse themselves from the presentation, deliberation, and vote about the student.

All Admissions Committee members, interviewers, and screeners attest annually to having reviewed the Policy on Educational Conflict of Interest and Recusal. 

A member of the Admissions Committee must recuse themselves from the presentation, deliberation, and vote about an applicant with whom they have any conflict of interest, as defined by the list above, by notifying the committee chair. 

If a member of the Admissions Committee or its subcommittees has or has had a family relationship, such as that of a current or former significant other, partner, spouse, child, sibling, or parent with anyone in the current AMCAS application pool, that committee or subcommittee member must recuse themselves from any participation in the admissions process (including attending committee meetings, screening applications, interviewing) for the entirety of that academic year.

If an admissions screener or interviewer has or has had a family relationship, such as that of a current or former significant other, partner, spouse, child, sibling, or parent with anyone in the current AMCAS application pool, that individual must recuse themselves from any participation in the admissions process for the entirety of that academic year. 

Other conflicts of interest, described above, for admissions screeners may be resolved by reassigning the applicant to a different screener. Other conflicts of interest, described above, for admissions interviewers may be resolved by reassigning the applicant to a different interviewer, or, if it is too late to adjust the interview schedule, by excluding that interview scenario from the student's overall interview score. 

Faculty and staff members in the Office of Student Affairs who provide students with confidential advice regarding student’s personal matters, especially ones of a sensitive nature, should not assess students or make decisions about a student’s advancement, graduation, or dismissal. 

Violations will be addressed on a case-by-case basis. Those who violate this policy may be subject to disciplinary action.