Departmental Policy on Student Abuse

The Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation at the University of Iowa is dedicated to providing an effective and nurturing education for medical students assigned to our clinical or research services. You can expect to be treated with respect during your assignment with our department. If you have any concerns about any faculty, nurses, or residents in our department please notify Charles R. Clark, MD, or Jose A. Morcuende, MD PhD, Co-directors of Student Program for the Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation.

The College of Medicine policy on Student abuse or mistreatment

Abuse may be operationally defined as behavior by healthcare professionals and students, which is exploitive or punishing. Examples of inappropriate behavior are: physical punishment or physical threats; sexual harassment; discrimination based on race, religion, ethnicity, sex, age, sexual orientation, or physical disabilities; repeated episodes of psychological punishment of a student by a particular superior (e.g. public humiliation, threats, intimidation, removal of privileges); grading used to punish a student rather than to evaluate objective performance; assigning tasks for punishment rather than educational purposes; requiring the performance of personal services; taking credit for another individual’s work; intentional neglect or intentional lack of communication.

Students willing to report incidents of abuse have significant control over the investigation and resolution process. They are also protected from retaliation by University of Iowa Policy. Perpetrators of mistreatment of students may face stiff penalties including criminal prosecution, administrative probation or termination. Depending on the type of incident, there are several University of Iowa avenues of complaint that a student may pursue. These include:

• The department for which the alleged incident(s) occurred.
• The College of Medicine Office of Student Affairs.
• The College of Medicine Dean’s Office.
• UI Affirmative Action Office (Discrimination, Sexual Harassment).
• The UI Dean of Students.
• The UI Provost Office.
• The Vice President of Student Services.