Policy & Procedures

Current Program policies are published each year and can be found in the Student Handbook and Clinical Year Handbook.

For a detailed breakdown of costs associated with the Program and procedures for refunds, please see the Tuition and Aid page. Additionally, students are responsible for all financial costs associated with travel and/or relocation, including accommodations associated with clinical and public health field study site placement.

The Program strongly discourages outside employment. Students may work within the institution while participating in the Federal Work Study Program as long as such work will not interfere with their academic pursuits. Peer tutoring positions are subject to Program approval on an individual basis; students must be in good academic standing and maintain a 3.0 GPA to be approved. Joint Program Students, however, may not be employed by or be required to perform clerical or administrative work for the Program. In addition, students may not substitute for clinical or administrative staff during supervised clinical practical experiences. Students with specific prior knowledge, experiences, and skills may assist faculty in didactic and laboratory sessions to share their knowledge and skills. However, students are not to be the primary instructor or instructor of record for any component of the curriculum.

A TUC-issued nametag is required as part of the dress code for all clinical activities. Some activities or rotations may also require a facility-specific ID badge in addition to the one issued by the institution. Additionally, the institution requires that all students wear their TUC name tag readily visible while in any institutional facility (see the University Catalog, section titled ‘Student Identification and Name Badges’).

In an effort to prevent infectious or environmental exposure, students will receive an orientation regarding infection control policy and post-exposure management procedures. Additionally, students are advised to utilize appropriate barrier precautions during administration of care as needed and utilize appropriate safety devices for handling/disposing of contaminated sharp instruments or other equipment.

In the event of exposure, students should seek immediate care and must report the incident immediately to their preceptor, appropriate faculty member, the institution’s Student Health Services, and appropriate hospital personnel (if instructed by the preceptor or faculty member). All decisions regarding post-exposure management and treatment will be made by the student’s care provider. A complete guide to student responsibilities and associated forms can be found on the institution’s page titled Exposure Policy and Procedure. Please note that students are solely responsible for all healthcare costs associated with exposure to any infectious or environmental hazard.

Principal PA Program faculty, the Medical Director, and/or the Program Director may not participate in the healthcare of any PA-Student except in emergency situations.

Each student is assigned a designated PA and Public Health faculty advisor. Individual advisor meetings are scheduled at least once per term and on an as-needed basis thereafter. Students also have access to individual, couple, group, and 24/7 phone counseling through the institution by licensed mental health professionals. Contact information for these services, and additional resources are available on the Student Health Center page. Additionally, there is a Campus Assistance, Response and Evaluation (CARE) Team at Touro University California. The CARE Team’s tasks, goals, and anonymous reporting form can be found on the Campus Safety page.

Developing, arranging, and assigning student rotations is the sole responsibility of the PA Program. Students are not allowed to solicit potential preceptors through “cold call”/ random contact techniques. Students will, however, have the opportunity to request rotations and recommend potential preceptor sites prior to entering the clinical year. It should be noted that completion of the request form does not guarantee student placement in the requested site.

Students must fulfill matriculation health requirements prior to beginning the Program and must remain compliant with the continuing student health requirements for the duration of the Program.

Additionally, a background check and toxicology screen (possibly including alcohol and marijuana) will be completed on all students prior to placement on clinical rotations. A toxicology screen may also be required if faculty, staff, or preceptors observe signs of intoxication during academic or clinical activities. Please see the University Catalog section titled ‘Background Check Disclosure’ as well as Appendix J: Drug Screening Procedures for additional information.

Students participating in the Global Health concentration must travel internationally for their Public Health Field Study unless excused. All students traveling internationally are required to attend pre-departure sessions to obtain information on several topics, including but not limited to global health ethics, country-specific information from the U.S. Department of State and the CDC, the CARE Personal Safety and Security Manual, vaccination and travel medicine, logistics for travel and visa, and emergency protocols. Documentation of immunization and receipt of prophylactic medication based on current CDC recommendations is required prior to traveling.

Satisfactory academic progress must be evident and demonstrated by students in the Program in order to continue in the Program. Any failure to progress academically up to and including the failure of a course may be cause for referral to the MSPAS Student Promotions Committee (SPC). Academic Standing is an indication of current progress toward completion of the program and is established at the end of each course.

To remain in good academic standing, a student must meet the following criteria:

1. Demonstrate professional behaviors consistent with the Joint Program professionalism requirements (i.e., students must not be on professionalism probation).
2. Have no designation of Academic Probation.
3. Maintain a minimum Joint MSPAS/MPH GPA of 2.5 or higher.

To be eligible for clinical site placements and rotations, clinical-year students must be in conditional good standing. Which is defined as:

1. Student must maintain a minimum Joint MSPAS/MPH GPA of 2.5 or higher.
2. Academic/Professionalism Probation Exception: If a student is on academic/professionalism probation due to a rotation failure, they may still qualify as being in good standing if a clear remediation plan has been established by the program and/or the Student Promotion Committee (SPC). This plan must outline the student’s path to successfully continue within the clinical curriculum.

Students must complete and pass all PA and PH didactic courses in Terms 1 - 5 before they can progress to the clinical phase of the Program. If any Program and/or didactic course requirements have not been met by the end of Term 5, the student will be required to sit out for the first scheduled clinical rotation (a duration of 6 weeks) to complete the outstanding requirements. Students may not repeat more than 2 courses prior to starting the clinical year (excluding students who have decelerated). Upon successful completion of the requirement(s), the student will progress into the clinical curriculum no sooner than the second rotation block start date.

To successfully progress through the clinical year and be eligible for graduation from the Joint MSPAS/MPH Program, students must complete all required components of the curriculum, including:

• All supervised clinical practice experiences (SCPEs)
• The Public Health Field Study
• The Summative course

In accordance with ARC-PA standards, the summative evaluation and assessment of program-defined competencies must occur within four months of the student’s anticipated program completion date. All components of the Program must be completed within five years of the student’s original matriculation date.

Within an individual course, students will be given the opportunity to remediate a core assessment within a timeframe set by the program. The highest possible grade recorded for a remediation assessment will be the minimum passing score. The minimum score on a remediation assessment may impact the overall course grade and could affect the student’s ability to achieve the required minimum course grade of 75%. It is the student’s responsibility to perform well throughout the course, including assignments and quizzes, to be eligible for remediation. If the course director or the program determines that a student cannot achieve a 75% overall course grade with remediation, the student will not be offered a remediation opportunity and will fail the course.

Failed didactic courses must be repeated and successfully completed during a time specifically designated by the Program prior to the start of the clinical phase of the program. Thus, repeating a course will postpone the start of the clinical year. A student may not repeat more than two courses during this time period. The method of course delivery and the method of assessment may not be identical to how it was originally presented. This will be determined by the course director(s). The student will need to remediate the course satisfactorily and achieve a minimum score of 75% (or as stated on the syllabus) on core assessments and an overall course grade of 75%. Failed clinical rotations must be repeated and successfully completed during a time specifically designated by the Program. A repeat course (rotation failure) may not be in the same format as originally offered. The course failure may be satisfied by an intensive knowledge overview based on the course’s learning outcomes in lieu of being in a clinical setting. This will be determined by the program based on the preceptor evaluation(s), site visit(s), and end-of-rotation exam(s), among other factors. Failure to satisfactorily complete the course's remediation will lead to SPC referral for consideration of dismissal.

The Program does require completion of an End of Didactic Exam in which students must achieve a minimum passing score of 75%. Students who do not achieve a score of 75% or higher will be required to complete an extensive remediation assignment, passing any reassessment with a minimum score of 75% and completion of all required assignments/modules.

Deceleration, from an accreditation reporting standpoint, is defined as a student who is required to leave the class in which they entered for academic reasons. The student remains matriculated in the PA program but will now complete their course of study with the following cohort. Deceleration cannot be requested by the student and requires recommendation by the SPC and approval of the Program Director. In general, students who decelerate in the program are required to repeat all coursework, regardless of previous performance. Due to the timeline to complete the Program, deceleration into the following academic cycle/cohort may only be granted once per student. Any LOA or deceleration will impact the total cost of the program. Additional fees, tuition differences, and other financial aid considerations are the student's responsibility.

Withdrawal from the Program and/or the University is addressed in the current University Catalog within the section titled ‘Withdrawal Procedures.’ Please note that all students must complete the Program’s degree requirements within five years of matriculation into the Program. If it is determined at any time within a student’s course of study that they will be unable to meet this expectation, the student will be withdrawn from the program. Any leave of absence, program breaks, or deceleration will be counted towards this maximum time frame allowed for Program completion. Additionally, unapproved LOAs are administratively withdrawn and/or dismissed by the program for non-enrollment. Finally, the SPC may recommend that a student be given the opportunity to withdraw from the PA portion of the program (rather than be dismissed). If the student does not withdraw within the given time frame, the student will be dismissed from the Joint Program (PA and PH).

The Program, after consideration and process, reserves the right to require the dismissal of any student at any time before graduation if circumstances of a legal, moral, behavioral, ethical, patient safety concerns, health, or academic nature justify such an action. In general, failure to achieve minimum competency in coursework, including clinical assignments and satisfactory progress in professional development, behaviors and attitudes may result in Program probation or dismissal.

The MSPAS Student Promotion Committee (SPC) is charged with monitoring all Joint MSPAS/MPH students both academically and professionally, promoting students who have successfully completed a term, as well as reviewing the cases of students who meet the criteria for probation or dismissal. The committee can recommend actions such as, but not limited to, probation, remediation, suspension, or dismissal. Recommendations are made on an individual basis after considering all pertinent circumstances. The Committee’s recommendations are forwarded to the Program Director. The Program Director may agree, amend or disagree with SPC recommendation and will determine the final decision regarding the student’s status. If the Program Director agrees with an SPC recommendation for dismissal, the dismissal is immediately effective upon receipt of the letter. Students may appeal a Dismissal decision as noted below.

If a student is dismissed from one of the Joint Programs for violating the institution’s code of conduct, they are ineligible to continue in the other Program. If a student is dismissed from the MSPAS portion of the Joint Program for other academic or non-academic reasons (professionalism), they may apply for consideration to the stand-alone MPH Program. However, acceptance is at the discretion of the MPH Program Director. If a student is dismissed for academic reasons from the MPH Program, they may not remain in the MSPAS component of the Joint Program and will, therefore, be dismissed as a Joint student.

As noted above, the SPC may recommend that a student be given the opportunity to withdraw from the PA portion of the program (rather than be dismissed). If the student does not withdraw within the given time frame, the student will be dismissed from the Joint Program (PA and PH).

The Program follows the procedures and protocols outlined in the Academic Appeal Process section of the University Catalog. Appeals may only be filed for decisions of dismissal. Any student making an appeal during the didactic phase of their education must continue to meet all requirements of the program, including attending all classes, submitting all assignments, and taking all exams, until the appeal decision has been rendered. The Program reserves the right to remove the student from clinical rotations or their Public Health field study until the appeal decision is rendered. Removal from a clinical rotation or Public Health Field Study may delay the student’s completion of the Program should the appeal be granted. If a student is allowed to continue in the clinical rotation or Public Health field study, they must continue to meet all requirements of the program, including attending all scheduled rotation days and Callback sessions, submitting all assignments, and taking all exams, until the appeal decision has been rendered. Note that decisions regarding Academic Probation and remediation plans/decisions by the Program Director cannot be appealed. The Student Promotion Committee may recommend that a student be given the opportunity to withdraw from the PA portion of the program (rather than be dismissed). If the student does not withdraw within the given time frame, the student will be dismissed from the Joint Program (PA and PH). If a student accepts the offer to withdraw, the decision cannot be appealed.

Harassment and mistreatment of any kind should be reported immediately. Violations of the Code of Responsibilities and Rights of the Students of Touro University California should be addressed using the policies outlined in the current University Catalog (see Appendix C: Student Conduct Code and Appendix E: Code of Responsibilities and Rights of the Students of Touro University California). Additionally, please see the following policies in the University Catalog pertaining to Student Concerns and Grievances:

• APPENDIX F: RESOLUTION PROCESS FOR DISPUTES AND GRIEVANCES AND MISCONDUCT
• APPENDIX H: TUC SEXUAL MISCONDUCT POLICY
• APPENDIX I: TITLE IX GRIEVANCE POLICY

For general Program concerns or suggestions for improvement, student leaders are encouraged to discuss at the regularly scheduled Curriculum Committee meetings. Alternatively, individual students may discuss directly with the course director or Program leadership.

The Joint MSPAS/MPH Program does not allow grade appeals for individual assignments, quizzes, practicals, OSCEs, or examinations. Students who have a question or want clarification on a particular assessment question, may reference the Program’s Exam Review Policy and Procedure.

 Final Course Grade Appeal Policy and Procedure A3.14 h

The grade appeal policy was created to ensure a fair and equitable appeal process that allows a student to appeal a final course grade when they can demonstrate that the grade inaccurately reflects their performance in a course or rotation. A grade appeal is a request to change a final course or rotation grade, which involves one or more of the following conditions, the existence of which the student must submit evidence for as part of the written appeal: 

1. The faculty member violated a University/College/Program rule or policy pertaining to the grade (e.g., syllabus, student handbook, etc.). 
2. The faculty member made an error in calculating or recording the grade.  
3. The faculty member applied inconsistent grading standards across students. 

Scope and Applicability: 

• This policy and procedure apply to the processing of grade appeals concerning academic, clinical, and instructional matters that are within the PA portion of the Joint MSPAS/MPH Program. 
• The appeal process applies to final course or rotation grades. 
• The appeal process does not apply to individual questions on exams, quizzes or OSCEs or individual exam, quiz, or OSCE grades. 
• The appeal process does not apply in cases concerning academic integrity.    

A student with a grade appeal that meets one or more of the conditions above should initiate the grade appeal process within two (2) business days after the online entry of the final grade in the Learning Management System.  

Please note: For the purposes of the following steps, ‘course director’ refers to the primary course director for didactic courses or the Director of Clinical Education for rotations. Additionally, course directors may be full-time or part-time faculty, adjunct faculty, or a clinical preceptor. 

STEP 1: 
The student is responsible for contacting the course director to initiate this step within two (2) business days of the posting of the final course grades in the Learning Management System. The student must request a meeting in writing (such as an email). The written request must provide the basis for the appeal and include evidence in support of the claim for the grade appeal, based on at least one of the three conditions stated above. The course director is expected to meet with the student within two (2) business days of the receipt of the written request. The course director will provide a written clarifying response to the student’s inquiry within two (2) business days of the meeting. If needed, the Director of Didactic Education (DDE) may assist with any response for a didactic course. 

STEP 2:
If the student is not satisfied with the course director’s response, the student should then request, in writing (via email), a meeting with the PA Program Director (PD). If the PD happens to also be the course director, the request should be made to the Chair of the Student Promotion Committee (SPC). After receiving the request, the PD (or SPC Chair as needed) will review all relevant facts gathered by the parties involved. In this process, the PD/SPC Chair may contact the course director, any other faculty members or clinical preceptors involved with the case and/or any witnesses identified by the student or course directors to answer questions. The PD or SPC Chair is expected to meet with the student and the course director within two (2) business days of receiving the appeal and should provide a written response to the student and the course director within two (2) business days of the meeting. If appropriate, a grade change form should be submitted to the PA Associate Program Director within two (2) business days of this notification.    

STEP 3: 
The formal grade appeal procedure will only be used if student concerns have not been resolved with Steps 1 or 2 above. The student must file a formal grade appeal within two (2) business days of the receipt of the written documentation noted in Step 2. The appeal must be in writing, signed, and dated by the student filing the appeal and submitted using the ‘Grade Appeal Form’ that is available in the Student Handbook appendices. Grade appeals will be submitted to the Dean of the College of Health Sciences (or designee). Only the narrative and supporting documentation included in this appeal submission will be considered. The Dean (or designee) may grant an appeal only if there is valid evidence of one of the following: 

1. Bias of one or more of the following individuals: Course director, DDE, or PD/SPC Chair.
2. New material or documented information that was not available to the above individuals at the time of their initial decision.
3. Procedural error.

The Dean (or designee) may choose any of the following options when considering a grade appeal: 

• Concur with the recommendation of the PD/SPC Chair regarding the decision for no grade change. 
• Amend the recommendation of the PD/SPC Chair. 
• Convene an ad hoc committee consisting of three faculty members within the College of Health Sciences to review the recommendation of the PD/SPC Chair. The committee will be formed within two (2) business days and present their findings to the Dean (or designee) within two (2) business days of their formation.

The decision of the Dean (or designee) is final and will be communicated to the student in writing. The Dean’s (or designee’s) decision will be communicated to the affected parties within two (2) business days (or within five (5) business days if an ad hoc committee is formed). If appropriate, a grade change form should be submitted to the PA Associate Program Director within two (2) business days of this notification. 

While the appeal is pending, the status of the student will not be altered. Please note this does not apply to students who have been removed from their clinical rotation(s) as a result of two rotation failures. Students who are removed from clinical rotation(s) will not be permitted to continue in clinical activities while a grade appeal is pending. As a result, a clinical rotation grade appeal may result in a delay in Program progression and/or completion.

If a student’s appeal is not upheld, the Program will implement rotation failure consequences as outlined in the Student Handbook and Clinical Year Handbook.

If a student who has been removed from their clinical rotation successfully appeals a grade, that student will be placed in one of their remaining rotations at the earliest available opportunity. The Program retains sole discretion in assigning clinical placements, including securing alternative sites other than those originally assigned. Placement is contingent upon site availability and Program resources. Such delays may impact the student’s anticipated Program completion date and financial aid eligibility as securing a clinical site and/or placement may not be immediately available and is not guaranteed. The student agrees that their removal from clinical rotation(s), despite a potential pending grade appeal, is reasonable and appropriate to preserve patient safety and outcomes, uphold clinical and academic standards, and maintain compliance with Program policies.