College of Medicine Policy Regarding the Effects of Infectious Diseases

The College of Medicine abides by the following center-wide policy on HIV and other infectious or communicable diseases (see Section 20 of SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University UHB Policies and Procedures):

The College of Medicine shall not discriminate against any person on the basis of HIV status or other communicable diseases (e.g., Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C).

No person shall be subject to adverse education actions solely because of a non-task related disability.  Reasonable accommodations will be made for employees and students with communicable diseases disease consistent with the current state of knowledge on transmission of infection.

No patient will be denied medical or health care at Downstate Health Sciences University on the basis of communicable diseases status, or willingness to undergo communicable disease testing.

All employees and students at SUNY Downstate shall provide care appropriate to the medical needs of any patient within their areas of responsibility and levels of training, without regard to the communicable diseases status of that patient.

The College of Medicine shall maintain confidentiality regarding communicable diseases (e.g., HIV testing, HIV status, or AIDS-related conditions) of its employees, students and patients in accordance with all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations and in accordance with all policies and procedures of SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University.

The College of Medicine shall not require a test for verification of HIV status or other communicable diseases for the purpose of attaining or maintaining academic admission or continued matriculation.

A student who has been exposed to blood and/or body fluids due to percutaneous injury (e.g., needle stick or cut with a sharp object), or contact with mucous membranes (e.g. eye, mouth) or non-intact skin, should report the incident promptly to his/ her supervising resident and/or attending physician. The supervising resident or attending physician will then complete an Incident Report form (for Non-Employees) and will arrange for the exposed healthcare student provider to be seen by either Student Health Services or the Emergency Department for immediate follow-up care and necessary blood tests. Student Health Service maintains a log of exposed students, to ensure timely follow-up of exposures. Student Health Services will be responsible for continued management and blood testing of the exposed healthcare student at 3 months, 6 months and one year.