University of Maryland School of Medicine

Judicial Review By-Laws

Preamble

The academic community of this medical school, consisting of students, scholars, teachers, physicians and other health professionals, has the interrelated responsibilities of producing and disseminating new scientific knowledge, learning and teaching the biomedical sciences, caring for patients and educating individuals to carry on these same functions. In carrying out these responsibilities, the various and complex external controls cannot by themselves guarantee high standards. These must be nurtured by individuals with a developed sense of honor, integrity and intellectual honesty. It is incumbent upon the community to provide an environment which fosters these attributes in students and faculty members.

In teaching, research and patient care, the community has been granted many freedoms by society. The community must protect these freedoms and insure society of adequate review of the personal qualities of community members related to their roles and responsibilities.

By voluntarily joining this community, we bind ourselves to the acceptance of agreed-upon principles of behavior that will foster an appropriate academic environment.

In Part I of this document are listed examples of principles and behaviors that this community considers appropriate and desirable. No such statement can ever be complete; it cannot be construed as a comprehensive code of conduct. Rather, it is intended to be a guide for thought, self-scrutiny and discussion; an outline of expectations for ourselves and for those with whom we interact.

Together with the responsibility of the academic community to provide for itself a statement of its principles, is the responsibility also to establish procedures for dealing with allegations of transgressions. We choose procedures of peer review and pledge ourselves to their implementation. In this spirit, we established a Judicial Review System whose working instrument is a Judicial Board (hereafter referred to as "Board"). The Board shall be composed of representatives of the community and shall function as an instrument of the Medical School Council and shall advise the Dean who will act upon its findings.

The attitudes and performance of health professionals are taken quite seriously, and breaches of ethical behavior can result in the loss of career opportunity in the field for those found unable or unwilling to act in keeping with the principles expressed here. At the same time we expect members of this academic community to be persons of integrity; we do not expect them to be perfect. They can be improved, and be positively affected by counseling and guidance. The system shall permit punishments which allow continued progress, where it is appropriate.

The Board shall have jurisdiction in all cases involving alleged breaches of ethical principles except where such cases involve (1) the rights or well-being of patients entrusted to care in our hospitals or (2) misconduct in scholarly works. In these cases, jurisdiction is defined by (1) the process of the medical board of the applicable hospital, (2) the process set forth in the "UMB Policies and Procedures Concerning Misconduct in Scholarly Work," or (3) campus procedures for termination of faculty appointments, respectively.

Statement of Ethical Principles, Practices and Behaviors