The physician has been entrusted by society with vital responsibilities -- maintenance of health and prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease. In accepting this trust, it is expected that members of the medical profession will act honorably in all of their endeavors. The need to adhere to the highest standards of personal and professional integrity applies equally to practicing physicians, faculty members in academic medical centers, house officers and medical students.

This code has been designed to deal with one of the many aspects of personal and professional integrity. It requires that all medical students enrolled at the University of Arizona College of Medicine act honorably in all phases of their academic work. It further requires that any medical student or faculty member who has evidence of dishonest or dishonorable scholastic work report this to the Honor Code Committee. It is not intended to supersede the Code of Conduct of The University of Arizona.

1. Honor Code Committee

a. There shall be an Honor Code Committee which shall be responsible for investigating and making recommendations regarding alleged violations of the Code of Scholastic Conduct. The Honor Code Committee shall also be responsible for conducting a periodic review of the Code of Scholastic Conduct and, when necessary, recommending changes in it to the faculty and the student body of the College of Medicine.

b. The Honor Code Committee shall be composed of two medical student representatives from each class and two members of the College of Medicine faculty, one from a basic science department and one from a clinical science department. The Associate Dean for Student Affairs may attend the meetings of the Committee as an advisor to the Committee if requested but shall not vote. Student representatives shall be elected by each class and faculty representatives shall be elected by the College of Medicine faculty.

c. Each class shall also elect one of its members as an alternate member of the Honor Code Committee and the College of Medicine faculty shall elect one member of a basic science department and one member of a clinical department to serve as alternate members of the Committee. An alternate may participate in Committee deliberations but shall sit as a voting member of the Committee only when a regular Committee member from his/her class or faculty category is unable to be present or is disqualified from participation. A quorum shall be 2/3 of the voting membership of the Committee, including at least one faculty member.

d. Terms of both student members and faculty members shall be one calendar year. Each entering class shall elect its members and alternate within thirty days after it begins its academic year.

e. The Honor Code Committee shall select a chairperson and a secretary from among its members. Each will serve for a term of one year. The chairperson shall preside at all meetings and hearings of the Committee. The secretary shall take the minutes of Committee proceedings and be responsible for maintenance of Committee records.

f. No student who has been found guilty of a Scholastic Conduct violation shall serve on the Honor Code Committee.

g. If a member of the Honor Code Committee is involved in a case which is brought before the Committee, he/she shall be disqualified from participating in deliberations on that case and shall be replaced by an appropriate alternate member.

2. Preliminary Hearings

a. If a student or faculty member has reason to believe that a student's behavior constitutes a violation of the Code of Scholastic conduct, he/she shall contact a member of the Honor Code Committee in writing as speedily as possible. Upon receipt of such a complaint, the Committee member so notified will contact the chairperson who in turn will convene a meeting of the Honor Code Committee. The chairperson shall notify in writing both the accused student and the person making the complaint within two working days of the time he/she receives the complaint of the time and place of a preliminary meeting of the Honor Code Committee. This meeting shall be held to make a preliminary determination of the propriety of the charges made against the student and shall be held within five working days of the time the chairperson received the complaint.

b. The preliminary meeting shall be closed except to the accused student and the person making the complaint. No records shall be kept. The Honor Code Committee shall examine the written charges and may hear such evidence concerning the propriety of the charges as it may desire. If half or more of the voting membership of the Committee vote by secret ballot to conduct a full hearing of the charges, the Committee shall notify the accused student and the person lodging the complaint of a time, not less than ten nor more than fifteen working days from the day of the preliminary hearing, for a full formal hearing of the case.

c. If the Honor Code Committee votes to hold a full formal hearing, the charges shall not be dropped and the proceedings will be held, even if the accused should decide to withdraw voluntarily from the College of Medicine.

d. If the Honor Code Committee votes not to investigate the charge further, all documents relating to the matter shall be destroyed.

e. The hearing will be confidential to protect both the accused and the accuser.

3. Formal Hearing

a. The purpose of a formal hearing is to receive evidence, make a determination as to the guilt or innocence of the accused, and formulate a recommendation for transmittal to the Dean.

b. In cases where the Honor Code Committee determines that a violation has occurred, minutes of the hearings and other evidence introduced during the hearings shall be stored indefinitely by the Honor Code Committee. These minutes and records shall be kept confidential except to members of the Honor Code Committee, the accused student, the Dean of the College of Medicine, the Student Progress Committee, and the Student Appeals Committee. In cases where the Honor Code Committee determines that no violation has occurred, all records of the formal hearing shall be destroyed. All testimony and evidence shall be held confidential to protect both the accused and accuser.

c. An entire formal hearing shall be conducted by the same members of the Honor Code Committee or alternates who have been present at all sessions.

d. The Honor Code Committee, the person making the complaint, and the accused may be advised by counsel of choice at a formal hearing. Such counsel shall act in an advisory capacity, however, and shall not have the privilege of examining witnesses or participating in the hearings except as an advisor.

e. The accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty by clear and convincing evidence.

f. Formal hearings shall be closed to all except the Honor Code Committee, including alternates, the person making the complaint, the accused, witnesses to the alleged offense, and counsel for the aforementioned parties.

g. If, after receiving all the evidence and hearing arguments on both sides, 2/3 of the members of the Honor Code Committee present find the accused guilty by their votes in secret ballot, the findings of the Committee shall be reported to the Dean of the College of Medicine, together with a recommendation for appropriate action. The recommendation for action must be supported by at least 2/3 of the full Committee membership. The Dean will refer this recommendation to the Student Progress Committee for review and action. Decisions of the Student Progress Committee may be appealed to the Student Appeals Committee. The decisions of the College Appeals Committee may be appealed by the student to the University of Arizona Committee on Academic Integrity.

h. If an accused student is not found guilty by the vote required above, no further action will be taken. At the request of the accused the finding of innocent shall be reported to such persons and places as the accused may designate.

i. If the accused is found guilty by the Honor Code Committee, the recommended penalty may vary with the circumstances. Recommended penalties may include: a warning; a grade of "fail" on a particular examination or report; a grade of "fail" in a course or clerkship; suspension from the College of Medicine for a specified period; or, dismissal from the College of Medicine. The recommended penalty shall be based upon the nature of the offense and the previous record of the student with regard to the Code of Scholastic Conduct and rules of the University. The Honor Code Committee may recommend whether the violation should become a part of the student's permanent University record.

4. Dissemination of the Code of Scholastic Conduct

a. The Code of Scholastic Conduct and the procedure for handling violations of it shall be published in the College of Medicine catalog and shall be sent to the accepted applicants to the College of Medicine. Each accepted applicant shall, prior to matriculation, be required to state in writing that he/she has read the Code of Scholastic Conduct and agrees to abide by it. Each year a member of the Honor Code Committee shall, within the first two weeks of the start of classes, read and explain the Code of Scholastic Conduct to entering students. Copies of the Code and procedure for handling violations of it shall be provided to new faculty members.

5. Amendments

a. All amendments to, or revisions of, the Code of Scholastic Conduct and its procedures must be approved by a majority of students casting ballots and a majority of the voting faculty of the College of Medicine present at a duly constituted faculty meeting.

b. Abolition of the Code of Scholastic Conduct may be done unilaterally by a majority vote of either students or faculty of the College of Medicine. All cases before the Committee at that time must be completed by the Honor Code Committee.