Registration, Attendance, & Leaves

Didactic courses are required and are offered as a cohort. There are no opportunities to drop or add a course. Students must be enrolled prior to starting either didactic or experiential courses. Please note, this includes unexpected changes to clinical rotation assignments that could result in dropping/adding a course late.

In the first year of the program, PA students are required to attend all classes and educational sessions, master physical examination skills, complete all laboratory exercises, attend assigned patient interactions, and complete Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS). Students must complete all scheduled courses (55 credit hours) during the summer, fall, and spring semesters. Students should generally expect to be on campus Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM–5:00 PM. Educational experiences may also include extended hours of instruction, including evenings, nights, and weekends.

Examples of unexcused absences include weddings, scheduled (non-emergent) medical or dental appointments, and travel. Care should be taken to not schedule flights that will conflict with classes or programmatic activities (including remediation). Please do not schedule flights prior to 6:00 PM on Friday evenings throughout the didactic year. This also applies to the last day of classes prior to a scheduled holiday or break.

Student attendance is mandatory at the following:

• Any on-site orientation required by rotation site
• Rotation specific pre- and/or post-rotation meetings with individual faculty
• End of Rotation (EOR) meetings (approximately two days per month)
• Summative Exam and any practice sessions pertaining to this
• Clinical year courses

Students are expected to be present at their assigned rotation/experience each scheduled day. Any student who must miss a clinical day is required to submit an absence request form in Exxat within 72 hours of the absence. All absence requests must be reviewed and approved by the PA Experiential Team.

Students are also responsible for notifying their preceptor of the absence as soon as possible and coordinating any necessary make-up time, if applicable. Supporting documentation (e.g., doctor’s note, obituary) may be required to justify the absence(s) at the discretion of the Director of Experiential Education. The preceptor must also approve these requests. Students are allowed two excused absences over the entire clinical year. Any days missed beyond the two days will need to be made up before graduation.

Travel to attend an end of rotation meeting

If an End of Rotation meeting begins the day following a student’s last rotation day and the student is completing a rotation at a distant rotation (more than two hours), please follow these guidelines regarding absence:

• If a rotation site is a two-five hour drive from campus, one half day from rotation will be excused for travel.
• If a rotation site is more than a five-hour drive from campus, one full day from rotation will be excused for travel.
• It is expected that weekend days are utilized as travel days to optimize start and end days of rotations.

Attendance at a state or national conference is encouraged and is the financial responsibility of the student. Faculty will attempt to honor a student’s request to attend a conference given adequate notice of attending; however, excuse from class, lab, or rotations will be approved by individual faculty.

If a student is requesting to miss part of his/her rotation experience due to a conference, it must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Experiential Education by January 1 prior to the start of rotations for review and approval. Those submitted after January 1 may be denied.

The Butler University MPAS Program does not impose a fixed deadline for program completion beyond the requirements established through existing program, college, and University policies. Students are expected to progress through the curriculum in a timely manner consistent with the program’s standards for satisfactory academic progress. Circumstances that may affect the timeline for completion (e.g. deceleration, leaves of absence, or re-matriculation) are governed by the applicable policies outline in the PA and CHP handbooks. Students should be aware that federal financial aid regulations may impose independent limitations on enrollment duration based on credit hour thresholds. Any student whose progression falls outside standard parameters will be evaluated and advised on an individual basis in accordance with program policy.

Voluntary withdrawals are initiated at the request of the student. Working with the Program Director, a mutual decision is reached with regard to the effective date of the withdrawal and any academic penalty to be assessed. Per letter, the Program Director will notify the offices of the College, Registrar, and Financial Aid. The Office of the Registrar will process the withdrawal and remove the student from any current and/or future enrollments when the appropriate paperwork is submitted. The Office of Financial Aid may revoke any financial aid that has been disbursed. The student should also contact these offices to ensure that he/she has fulfilled any responsibilities with regard to this process.

If a student withdraws, including involuntary withdrawal for academic or professional reasons, tuition may or may not be refunded. Questions regarding tuition refunds should be directed to the Office of Student Accounts.

A PA student, after presenting a written request to the Dean of the College (with a copy to the PA Program Director), may be granted an official leave of absence for personal, medical, or academic reasons for a period not to exceed one calendar year.

If the leave of absence is approved, the Dean provides written notification including applicable beginning and ending dates to the student, the University Registrar, and the director of the Office of Financial Aid. The student must notify the Program Director in writing of his or her wish to return to the PA Program or to extend the personal leave at least sixty calendar days prior to the anticipated date of reentry.

The student desiring an extension beyond one calendar year may be required to apply for readmission to the PA Program. When a leave of absence is taken, the Program Director may require the student to repeat some or all of the courses completed prior to the leave of absence. In all cases of leave of absence, the student is required to complete the full curriculum to be eligible to earn the MPAS degree. Any identification provided to the student, must be returned to the Program during leave.

Any student who is absent from clinical rotations for three months or more must perform and pass an observed history and physical examination (on a real or simulated patient) before being allowed to return to clinical rotations. The student will have two opportunities, evenly spaced over a two-month period, to pass this assessment. If unsuccessful, the student will be dismissed from CHP.

For purposes of deferring repayment of student loans during a school-approved leave of absence, federal regulations limit the leave to six months. All questions regarding financial aid or student loans should be directed to the Office of Financial Aid.