The UW-Madison School of Pharmacy has a complaints/grievance procedure for all school courses and issues of general concern to students and/or faculty and staff. It can be found in the PharmD Policy Handbook. The policies and procedures outlined below supplement this general procedure and speak to the more specific situations of experiential education. These procedures have been established to deal in a consistent manner with students and clinical instructor / site coordinator grievances, and they take into account the concentrated period of six weeks or less that exists for Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience/Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE/IPPE) blocks. When a grievance has been identified, information will be obtained from all parties involved. The information will be assessed to determining a solution. Documentation of the grievance will be kept on file.
It is recommended that students consider the following pathways to resolve their complaints. Students have the right to due process and appeal through the Office of the Dean of the School of Pharmacy. Additionally, for complaints specifically related to accreditation standards, there is an additional mechanism available through the Accreditation Council on Pharmaceutical Education ACPE
Procedure
- The first attempt at resolving a controversy should be made by the student and clinical instructor/site coordinator involved. It is in the best interest of both parties that this interaction be documented in writing and include the date that this discussion occurred.
- In addition, students may also wish to discuss their concern with the School of Pharmacy ombudsperson, or the student representatives on the Quality Review Council. A brief and anonymous description of the nature of the complaint will be recorded in the Student, Faculty and Staff Relations Committee Complaint Log as a follow-up to these student contacts to ensure the opportunity for the committee to review concerns about the climate of our school.
- If no agreement can be reached, the student or clinical instructor/site coordinator should contact the faculty member who is the course coordinator for the involved course and the Director of Experiential Education (425/6, 525/6, 625/6, 740, 741, 742, 743, 760, 764, 769) with his/her concern. While the initial contact may be made by email to set up a time for discussing the issue, actual discussion of the grievance is best done in person or by telephone. Written documentation (date, type of incident, attempted intervention, and prior corrective action) of the concern should be submitted to the course coordinator and the Director of Experiential Education within 48 hours of the initial contact. (See grievance form). The course coordinator and the Director of Experiential Education will document all contacts and discussions of the grievance in writing. The following persons will be notified:
- The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
- The student’s academic advisor
- The course coordinator and the Director of Experiential Education will set up a time to meet separately with the student and with the clinical instructor/site coordinator. Every attempt will be made to schedule these meetings within 48 hours of the initial complaint. Meetings will be done in person or by telephone, as determined by the initial evaluation.
- The course coordinator and the Director of Experiential Education will assess the complaint and determine if an agreeable solution can be reached. Possible resolutions for the complaint include:
- The course coordinator mediates a solution after meeting individually with each party. The course coordinator will contact the student and the clinical instructor with the solution.
- The course coordinator decides to meet with the parties involved in attempt to reach a mutually agreeable solution. The coordinator arranges this meeting within 48 hours of this assessment. All parties will be informed concerning the format of the meeting. It is understood that all parties will interact during this meeting in a respectful manner.
- The course coordinator determines that a mutually agreeable solution is not possible, and this APPE/IPPE experience should be terminated.
- The clinical instructor or course coordinator may decide that it is necessary to terminate the student’s rotation to protect the safety and welfare of the site’s patients. In this case, the student will be removed from the site. The clinical instructor or course coordinator will provide written documentation to the school supporting the termination of the student’s rotation.
- The course coordinator or Director of Experiential Education will follow up in person or via telephone with the student and the clinical instructor to assess the outcome of the solution. The course coordinator will also report the outcome to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and the student’s academic advisor.
- All correspondence will be kept in a central file in the Experiential Education Offices and a copy will be kept in the student’s file. A written record will be maintained of all meetings held to resolve grievances. An anonymous description of the nature of the complaint will be recorded in the Student, Faculty and Staff Relations Committee Complaint Log as a follow-up to these student contacts to ensure the opportunity for the committee to review concerns about the climate of our school.
- The student or clinical instructor/site coordinator may appeal the decision of the course coordinator to the Dean of the School of Pharmacy. The appeal must be in writing and received in the Dean’s office within seven (7) calendar days of receipt of the course coordinator’s decision. The Dean’s decision will be final.
- The course coordinator, the Director of Experiential Education, and the clinical instructor will evaluate academic credit and practice hours granted for the APPE/IPPE rotation. A student may receive full, partial, or no practice hour credit depending upon the situation.
Approved by ELP 07/30/01 Revised 4/25/2019