Medical Student and Residency Code of Conduct Policy

 

Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine (the COM) and its sponsoring institution have adopted the American Osteopathic Association’s Code of Ethics and strive to prepare students for residency and physicians for autonomous practice in Utah. Noorda-COM focuses on the development of clinical skills, professional competence, and acquisition of key knowledge through organized educational programs with guidance and supervision. Professional competence requires students and residents to manifest in their lives exemplary ethical and professional attitudes. Among the attitudes and behavior that we espouse are:

  1. Respect for the sanctity of human life and the dignity of patients,
  2. Personal humility and an awareness of medicine’s inherent limitations,
  3. Maturity and balanced personal and professional lives,
  4. An understanding and respect for collegial teamwork in the provision of healthcare, and
  5. Commitment to the development and continued maintenance of clinical competence in ourselves, our colleagues, and our students.
  6. Honesty, Integrity, Self-Awareness, Respect, and Engagement, including Teamwork

All students and residents are expected to conduct themselves in a manner that demonstrates competence, integrity, candor, compassion, discretion, and confidentiality where required by law. Residents and students are expected to abide by the Osteopathic Oath and conduct themselves with honor, integrity, and respect the rights and dignity of all individuals.

The Code of Conduct is intended to establish minimum expectations that provide a disciplinary framework for those who choose not to abide by these professional standards.

Respect for All Individuals in the Community

Residents and students recognize the right of all individuals to be treated with respect without regard to position, race, age, gender, disability, national origin, religion, or sexual orientation. Discrimination and harassment, including sexual harassment and sexual discrimination, are prohibited by law, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

Appropriate Handling of Information, Records, or Examination Materials
 Any form of cheating or providing false information is a violation of the trust placed in students and resident physicians and is a serious infraction of the Code of Professional Conduct. Timely and accurate completion of medical records at clinical clerkships and rotation sites is mandatory.

Respect for Patients’ Confidentiality and Safety
 Residents and students will be appropriately rested and fit to provide safe patient care at all times: sleep deprivation and exhaustion are considered states of impairment rendering a student/resident unfit for work. Residents and students who are sleep deprived and/or exhausted should contact the Program Director, Human Resources, DIO, or the Department of Clinical Education for instructions. Patients’ privacy, modesty, and confidentiality must always be honored. Patients must be treated with kindness, gentleness, dignity, empathy, and compassion. Unauthorized disclosure of protected patient information, in any public or private setting, without express and proper authorization, is considered a violation of HIPAA regulations.

Code violations occur when an individual acts contrary to the values and responsibilities expected of those engaged in the profession of medicine as set forth within this policy. Violations can occur when any individual intentionally or unintentionally jeopardizes the welfare of a patient, disregards the health and safety of another individual, illegally disparages another individual, or allows and/or assists another in engaging in such conduct. The COM and/or sponsoring institution reserves the right to initiate and investigate, take corrective action, and/or impose sanctions for any conduct determined to be in violation of this policy or any other standards of conduct to which the individual is subject.

The following examples are considered violations of the Code of Conduct and may result in disciplinary action.

  •   Racial, ethnic, sexual, or religious jokes, slurs, or comments
  •   Discrimination, harassment, or other abusive conduct
  •   Online cyber bullying or inappropriate touching or contact
  •   Unauthorized rejection of assignments and/or rotations, refusal to answer questions or reasonable requests for information without a reasonable/lawful basis for said refusal, unreasonable delays when responding to legitimate calls for assistance.
  • Being under the influence of intoxicating substances at clerkships, rotation sites, on the job, on-call, or on campus, or unlawfully distribute, dispensing, selling, offering for sale, possessing, or using intoxicating substances. These include and are not limited to unauthorized use and/ or possession of alcohol, illegal drugs, and other intoxicating substances, including but not limited to over-the-counter medications, prescription drugs, and/or medicinal substances.
  •   Knowingly filing a false complaint against another Noorda-COM student or employee, meaning the individual knows or should know the complaint is not factual.
  •   Misusing or destroying, property, funds, materials, equipment, or supplies from the COM or any affiliated sites
  •   Stealing or theft of any equipment, tools, materials, or other property of the COM or any of the affiliated sites
  •   Conducting oneself in any manner, which is offensive, intimidating, physically threatening, physically abusive, verbally abusive or contrary to common decency or morality
  •   Violations of the Anti-Violence Policy
  •   Acting in any manner that endangers the safety of oneself or others
  •   Academic misconduct or dishonesty, such as cheating or plagiarism, or improper use of Artificial Intelligence
  •   Research misconduct, such as not respecting and protecting human subjects in compliance with the United States Department of Health and Human Services Regulations
  •   Falsifying records
  •   Not providing adequate patient care whether physical, mental, or emotional
  •   Repeated and continuous tardiness or absence, with or without proper justification
  •   Providing medical, or non-emergent care outside the scope of privileges and responsibilities, including for family members, friends, or oneself, by writing prescriptions for patients under the direct care of another physician, unless authorized by proper authorities
  •   Failing to comply with confidentiality policies or applicable privacy laws
  •   Residents and students failing to report a police investigation involving them or being arrested to their program director within 48 hours
  •   Gambling on campus, in the workplace, or at clinical rotation sites.
  •   Unauthorized solicitation
  •   Abusing College devices and/or systems, including accessing or viewing offensive or pornographic material, misuse of computer accounts, unauthorized destruction of files, creating illegal accounts, possession of or use of an unauthorized password, disruptive or annoying behavior, and non-work-related utilization of computer software or hardware
  •   Being convicted of any crime that impacts medical licensure
  •   Failure to cooperate or to be truthful in a program-related investigation, including but not limited to: providing information you know is or should reasonably understand/should know to be false, information that you know or reasonably understand would likely mislead, and/or information that is incomplete during an investigation, and/or failing to correct an error concerning information you’ve provided if you later learn that the information you provided was in error.
  •   Posting photos of cadavers on social media platforms or otherwise distributing such unauthorized images through any electronic device
  •   Disrespectful acts to donated bodies, such as assigning pet names, making belittling jokes, posing for pictures with bodies of donors or sharing or posting photographs of bodies of donors
  •   Suggesting Noorda-COM endorsement in personal and/or political expression both in-person or online
  •   Posting content on social media that violate Noorda-COM’s discrimination or harassment policies
  •   Posting content on social media that is threatening or obscene
  •   Posting content on social media that illegally disparages Noorda-COM’s products/services, Noorda-COM’s vendors, or Noorda-COM’s competitors products/services
  •   Posting content on social media that shows non-public areas of Noorda-COM’s premises or of Noorda-COM’s processes
  •   Violation of any lawful Noorda-COM policy or procedures, including all Social Media Policies.

Domains of Professional behavior include but are not limited to:
Engagement: Failure to engage includes but is not limited to the following descriptors:
• Absent or late for assigned activities
• Not meeting deadlines
• Poor initiative
• General disorganization
• Cutting corners
• Poor teamwork
• Language difficulties

Respect: Disrespectful behaviors include but are not limited to the following descriptors:

• Poor verbal/non-verbal communication
• Inappropriate use of social media
• Inappropriate clothing
• Disruptive behavior in teaching sessions
• Privacy and confidentiality violations
• Bullying
• Discrimination
• Sexual Harassment

Honesty: Dishonest includes but is not limited to the following descriptors:

• Cheating in exams
• Lying
• Plagiarism
• Data fabrication
• Data Falsification
• Misrepresentation
• Acting without required consent
• Not obeying rules and regulations

Self-Awareness: Poor self-awareness includes but is not limited to the following descriptors:

• Avoiding feedback
• Lacking insight in own behavior
• Not sensitive to another person’s needs
• Blaming external factors rather than own inadequacies
• Not accepting feedback
• Resisting change
• Not aware of limitations

This list is not intended to be exhaustive. This policy is not intended to and will not be construed to interfere with, restrain, or prevent employee communications regarding wages, hours, or other terms and conditions of employment, to engage in a lawful strike or work stoppage, or to otherwise interfere with employees’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act.

Procedures
The procedure for addressing residents violating can be made anonymously in writing by submitting a confidential concern through www.noorda.edu/graduate-medical-education/ or by contacting the residency’s Program Director who will consult with Human Resources and report it to the sponsoring institution’s Designated Institutional Official (DIO). Allegations will be investigated by the sponsoring institution in collaboration with Human Resources, which may result in no finding or a written reprimand with corrective action including counseling up to termination.

Allegations of students violating the code must be made in writing, utilizing the Student Incident Report Form. The Department of Student Affairs will route complaints to the proper office/committee for investigation and adjudication. This process can result in a variety of outcomes, from “no finding” up to and including dismissal.

This policy was reviewed and revised March 2026. To view the full policy please see the Catalog/Student Handbook. For assistance with policies and procedures, please contact Alexa Levine (alexa.levine@noorda.edu).