Medical Student Handbook

Medical Student Education

Students with Known Blood-borne Infections

Policy 670.35

Policy Statement

The Larner College of Medicine follows the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) and CDC guidelines for management of medical students who are infected with Hepatitis B Virus, Hepatitis C Virus, and/or Human Immunodeficiency Virus. SHEA emphasizes the importance of patient safety as well as student privacy and medical confidentiality. Medical students are ethically bound to report their infections to the institution and to engage in the process depicted on the flow diagram below. Students who know that they carry blood-borne pathogens must inform the Medical Director of UVM Student Health Services in the Center for Health & Wellbeing.

Students should not avoid seeking clinical care for, and career advice regarding, these conditions due to financial or other concerns. Students with prior known infection are financially responsible for any associated healthcare or monitoring expenses. Costs for medical student healthcare and monitoring that result from infectious exposure in the clinical education are covered in accordance with Policy 670.70 Reporting of Exposures.

Procedures and Policy Elaboration

Applicability of the Policy

All Medical Students

Related Resources

• Center for Health & Wellbeing Contact Information
• CDC guidelines
• Expert Panel Oversight (according to the MMWR /Vol.61/No.3 July 6,2012)
• SHEA Guideline
  

Related Larner College of Medicine Policies

• 670.00 Preventing Transmission of Infection in Clinical Settings and Instructions for Management of Exposure to Blood-borne Pathogens
• 670.10 Immunizations and Other Health Information
• 670.15 Infection Control Training
• 670.20 Tuberculosis Screening
• 670.30 Hand-washing
• 670.45 Universal Precautions
• 670.50 Protective Barrier Precautions
• 670.55 Care and Disposal of Sharps
• 670.60 Clean-up of Spills
• 670.65 Definitions of Exposures to Blood-borne Pathogens
• 670.70 Reporting of Student Exposures and Injury-related Incidents
• 690.10 Fitness Committee Procedure and Review of Professional Performance
• 830.00 Health Insurance

Related University of Vermont Policies

• 5.2.4 Bloodborne Pathogens Exposure Control
• UOP28 Communicable Disease
• 5.17.3 Laboratory Health and Safety
• 5.19.2 Minors in Laboratories

Related Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) Standard(s)

12.8 Student Exposure Policies/Procedures

History

• 5/20/2014 Policy Adopted/Affirmed [Medical Curriculum Committee]
• 6/20/2017 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
• 6/18/2019 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
• 1/21/2020 Reformatted [Medical Curriculum Committee]
• 4/26/2022 Policy Edit [Medical Curriculum Committee]
• 2/21/2023 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
• 12/19/2023 Policy Edit [Medical Curriculum Committee]

Policy Oversight

Associate/Assistant Dean for Students

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