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Resident and Fellow Policy Manual

Appendix 1 - APPEALS:

When a resident receives notice of termination, non-renewal or non-promotion by the Program director, he/she shall have the right to appeal such action. Performance evaluations or the placement on probation cannot be appealed.

To initiate the appeal process, the resident shall notify the Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education. This notice shall be in writing, and must be delivered to the Associate Dean for Graduate Medial Education within ten (10) working days of the resident’s notification by the Program Director. Such notification must include the reasons for the requested formal appeal. Failure to notify the Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education within the prescribed time frame will terminate the appeal process at this point. The expected duration of this appeal process is approximately 3-4 months from the time the resident receives written notice of the adverse action from his/her department. If the resident is an Exchange Visitor on a J1 visa and he/she has received a notice of dismissal from the program, every effort will be made to expedite the process so that the resident may appear in person before the ad hoc committee.

Within ten working days of receipt of the request for appeal, the Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education will appoint an ad hoc committee, and will notify the resident and the members of the ad hoc committee in writing of the committee’s appointment with a copy to the program director and chair.

The chair of said ad hoc committee will be a member of the Graduate Medical Education Committee, and one additional faculty member and one resident will comprise the committee. Eligible faculty for the ad hoc committee are defined as full-time physician faculty members of clinical departments in the School of Medicine with the rank of Assistant Professor or higher, and may not be members of the department which sponsors the resident’s program. The resident member of this committee must be from a department other than that which sponsors the aggrieved resident’s program.

The Office for Graduate Medical Education will provide administrative support to the ad hoc committee and will notify the aggrieved resident, the members of the ad hoc committee, the program director, department chair and the Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education of the time and place of the meeting. The meeting shall occur within 30 days of the committee’s appointment.

Prior to the meeting, the department should submit the resident’s departmental file and any other materials on which it bases its decision to the Office for Graduate Medical Education, for distribution to the committee. To preserve the confidentiality of anonymous evaluations, the appeal mechanism does not entitle the aggrieved resident to review his/her complete departmental file. Upon written request, the resident will be provided with a photocopy of summary evaluations, and photocopies of any correspondence to the resident from the program, before the committee meeting is held.

The process of the meeting will not rigidly prescribed, except that, the resident shall be given the opportunity to appear before the committee and will be allowed to be accompanied by an advocate who is not an attorney. The resident should be prepared to present evidence for rescinding the action.

The program director should appear and be prepared to present evidence for upholding the action. The meeting shall be confidential and open only to the committee members and a note taker.

If either the program director or resident would desire individuals with factual information regarding the decision of the department, above and beyond information in the file, to appear before the committee, the interested party may make the appropriate arrangements. The meeting may only be rescheduled under extraordinary circumstances at the discretion of the chair of the ad hoc committee. At the discretion of the chair, the program director and resident may question their own witnesses If the committee decides that additional information is required, the chair may request written materials and additional meetings, which may occur beyond the 30-day time period referenced above.

The ad hoc committee’s scope of review shall be to determine:

  • whether there was adequate documentation on which to base the disciplinary decision, and
  • whether the appropriate procedures (e.g. notice of deficiencies, plan of remediation) were followed.

In cases where ad hoc committee determines that the department either failed to follow procedures or lacks adequate documentation for its decision, committee will recommend to GME the appropriate resolution considering all the circumstances.

The ad hoc committee’s decision shall be communicated to the Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education within thirty (30) days of the hearing. The preparation of the committee’s final report shall be the responsibility of the Chair of the ad hoc committee. If in the interest of a thorough review of the resident’s appeal, additional information is required which cannot be obtained in sufficient time to meet this thirty (30) day time period, that time period may be extended by the Chair and the resident will be so notified by the Chair.

The ADGME will then present the ad hoc committee’s report to the GMEC at its next regularly scheduled meeting. The GMEC will consider the ad hoc committee’s report and recommendations. Voting members of the GMEC will make a decision as to whether to confirm, modify or reverse the Ad Hoc Committee’s decision.  GMEC will make its decision based on a closed ballot vote, with the resident’s program director excused. The majority of the voting members must be present to call a vote.

The Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education shall make notification to the resident of the GMEC’s decision in writing with a copy to the Program director and Chair. If the resident or program director wishes to appeal the decision of the GMEC, he/she may do so in writing to the Dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry within ten working days of the date of the written notice of the GMEC’s decision from the Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education. Failure to request an appeal within the prescribed time frame will operate as a waiver of appeal. The Office for Graduate Medical Education will provide a copy of the resident’s file and all documentation from the ad hoc Committee’s review of the resident’s initial appeal to the Dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry.

The process of this final appeal is at the discretion of the Dean; the Dean’s decision is final. He/she has the authority to confirm, reverse or modify the GMEC’s decision. He/she will make the decision within 10 working days of receiving the file and will notify the resident of his/her decision with a copy to the ADGME.

Policy Inconsistency and Modification

In the event that any of the terms of this policy are inconsistent with the terms of any other policy including but not limited to the impairment and professional misconduct policy, the Dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry shall have the authority to resolve the inconsistency.  This policy may be modified or amended at any time.  Updated versions of this policy will be posted periodically on the University of Rochester website.

Approved by GMEC 9/14/98

Updated by GMEC 3/1/99, 2/12/01, 10/18/04, 9/12/05