Medical Excuses and Withdrawals

Medical Excuses for Missing Class

Students will receive an automatic notification that they were seen in M.S. Shook Student Health Service. Privacy regulations prohibit us from releasing any information without the patient's permission. The student, however, may share the information that they were seen, along with the automatic notification.

Medical Classload Reduction Requests

Students requesting to do a "medical classload reduction", (i.e. dropping one or some, but not all classes), need to submit documentation from a medical provider of their reported medical issues. Classload reduction requests are made to Student Health and must be made by the last day of classes (the day before Reading Day)

Once classes are complete and Reading Day/Exams have begun, late requests will no longer be honored. Requests made from reading day on will be handled as retroactive classload reductions requests. Those requests must be completed as detailed below. Retroactive requests are less likely to be honored unless there is a compelling reason for why the request was not made prior to exams.

Students requesting do drop ALL classes (i.e. to withdraw completely) must make this request through the Registrar's Office as detailed below.

Medical Withdrawal

Current students who find it necessary to withdraw from the current semester/term (i.e., unenroll from all classes once the semester/term has started) should complete the Withdraw from the University (opens in a new tab) form. For details regarding withdrawal from the University, including late/retroactive withdrawals, please review the Withdrawal Policy (opens in a new tab).

All withdrawal requests are handled by the Office of the Registrar (opens in a new tab). Students seeking a withdrawal for medical reasons do not need to be seen by M.S. Shook Student Health Service prior to their requesting a withdrawal from the University.

Retroactive Reduction of Class Schedule

Requests for retroactive courseload reductions (dropping some but not all courses from a past semester OR for current semester after classes have ended but during Reading Day or Exams) are handled as follows:

Submit a personal statement detailing your request. This statement should include the term(s) that you are requesting a retroactive course load reduction for and how many classes/credit hours that you are requesting reduction of. Your personal statement should also include details about the medical issue(s) that led to your request and how it impacted your class attendance and academics. Your statement should also detail why you did not seek to drop the class or classes during the regular drop/add period for the term(s) in question.
Submit a statement from a medical provider that substantiates your medical claims. The statement should be on the practice's letterhead and the clinician's qualifications should be included. The statement should include details on the medical issue(s) leading to your request and should not be from a family member or friend. If you cannot obtain a statement from a medical provider, other medical records (such as from a clinic or ER visit) may be considered. If you received care from M.S. Shook Student Health Service you may provide written permission for the committee to review your Student Health medical records/documentation.

All documents should be submitted to M.S. Shook Student Health Service for our committee to review. Once your request has been reviewed (the committee meets a few times per semester) and a decision has been reached you will be notified via email of the results.