MEETING AND TRAVEL POLICY I Requests For Travel Must Be: -sent, in writing, to the Residency Coordinator to check for conflicts & enter on vacation schedule -sent, in writing, to Chief of Service & Administrative Chiefs -copied to Program Director Approval For All Travel is Required From: -from the Chief ofService all meetings -from the Program. Director all meetings -from the Administrative Chief(s) all meetings DO NOT FINALIZE travel plans or purchase airline tickets until you RECEIVE, IN WRITING, approval from your Chief of Service. If the resident is on restriction, no travel funds will be provided by the department or the Kelly Society. Resident Academic Funding A total of $2500.00 per year per resident for levels PGY -2 - 5; funds may rollover from year to year. Funding from the department to be used: For educational meetings when you do not present a paper or For the purchase of Loupes, textbooks, computers, cameras, PDAs, etc Time Off: If you attend a meeting and present a paper, this time will not be charged against your 3 weeks of vacation. For reimbursement, submit expense reports with original receipts to Lee. University policy does not provide advance payment of travel expenses except in the case of registration fees. Air Travel World Travel, located on campus, is the official University travel agency. All arrangements should be made through them and booked as many days in advance as possible. Tickets are prepaid and billed to the traveler's appropriate university account. Air or travel arrangements made outside World Travel agency will not be reimbursed until travel is completed and an expense report filed. Taxi, Bus, & Automobile Rental Service will be reimbursed between: The common carrier's arrival point to traveler's lodging or meeting place. Traveler's lodging or meeting place to the carrier's departure point. The lodging & meeting places if at different locations. Automobile rentals should be limited to situations where the means of transportation are not practical, economical, or available. The most economical car should be utilized. Prior approval is required. Personal Automobile Travel Travel by personal automobile may be desirable to save time, transport equipment, or reduce cost when several people are traveling to the same destination. The reimbursement rate covers all transportation & operating costs including fuel and oil. Tolls and reasonable parking charges will be reimbursed. Lodging Actual and reasonable costs of lodging incurred while on University business are reimbursable. Residents are expected to use standard accommodations at hotels; 'standard' meaning a single room w/private bath in a business class hotel. If more than one resident is lodged at the location the use of a double room, when possible, is required. All lodging expenses must be documented by original bill. University travelers should utilize commercial rates and educational discounts whenever possible. Deluxe accommodations (e.g. suites) are not allowed. Room charges for personal items (such as movies & phone calls) are not reimbursable. If someone accompanies the traveler not on business for the University, reimbursement will be at one-half the double occupancy rate. Conference/Seminar Registration Fees - Fees for conferences, seminars, workshops, etc. may be paid in either of the following ways: (1). Prepaid directly by the University. - contact Tom, or (2) Paid by the traveler and reimbursed after completion of trip when submitted on the University Travel Expense Report Form. Meal Allowance - Up to $50 per diem allowance is given for meals Receipts - Original receipts must be submitted for all major travel expenses, including hotel bills, automobile rental bills, airline ticket stub (not itinerary), and meals. If your airline ticket is prepaid through Department, you still need to submit original airline ticket stub. The cardholder copy of the charge slip is not acceptable as a receipt. An itemized bill, receipt or stub must accompany reported expenses. In certain cases, such as when travel expenses are divided between two or more travelers, photocopies will be accepted in place of the original receipts. The reason for the submission of photocopies must be explained on the travel expense report. Usually, the traveler responsible for the largest percentage of that expense should submit the original receipt. Original receipts are required University documentation and cannot be returned to the traveler. Non-Reimbursable Expenses - Personal entertainment, laundry, valet, or costs incurred by failure to cancel transportation, hotel reservations, or conference registrations. Travel Expense Report - The University Travel Expense form must be completed and sent to the office of Tom Murphy within ten (10) working days of completing travel. The Travel Expense Report accounts for all travel expenses, including signature of the traveler. The Travel Expense Report must be accompanied by all original, pertinent receipts and ticket stubs. The report must include the traveler's complete home mailing address and University address. Any questions concerning reimbursement of travel expenses should be directed to Tom 778-1573 Vacation Guidelines Vacations to occur between July and December, should be submitted by May 12; all vacations between January and June should be submitted by September 15. I. Except for special circumstances, please do not request vacations during the following periods of time without prior approval from the program director. # Residents should attemnt not to take vacation during the last two weeks of June or the entire month of July. At times special occasions do arise, and it is necessary to request time off during this period. In this case, the written request will be reviewed by the Program Director and the appropriate chief of service to determine if the vacation request can be granted. # No vacation the week of Christmas or the week between Christmas & the New Year. # Residents should attempt not to take vacation during the AAOS meeting (dates determined yearly) because call coverage could be difficult to arrange since some residents do attend to present research projects. Even if initial approval is given for a vacation during that time period. That vacation may need to be changed at a later time If another resident needs to leave to present a project and this creates a call conflict. Presentation requests take priority over vacation reguests. # No vacations the week of the OITE [dates determined yearly-usually the second Saturday in November]. # No vacations the week of Kelly Day [dates determined yearly - usually in April]. # The residents rotating through Grady from Atlanta Medical Center [formerly Georgia Baptist] may take a total of three vacations per year [one week per resident]. All vacations rules written above apply to the Atlanta Medical Center resident. # Exceptions to these guidelines must be approved by the program director and the chief of service of the affected rotation. II. Vacation Regulations # Each resident is allowed 3 weeks of vacation per the Resident Policies and Procedures Rules of the Graduate Medical Education Office. # At least one week of vacation must be taken during the time period of August through December of each academic year. # Vacations must be taken in weeklong sections which begin on a Saturday and end the following Sunday [9 days oft] except at Grady [7 days oft]. # No more than one resident can be absent for vacation from Grady unless special permission is obtained from the chief of service and the program director. No more than one resident can be absent for vacation from a given service during the same week unless special permission is obtained from the chief of service and the program director. # Every effort will be made to allot the Residents' vacation and meeting times evenly throughout the year so one service or institution is not unduly affected to a greater degree than others. However. equal amounts of vacation at each individual hospital and service may not occur. If any individual service or hospital believes that there is too much allotted vacation and/or meetinig time on their service or at their hospital relative to others, that service or hospital's chief of service can ask the program director to arbitrate/mediate changes. Services where there are more than one resident are to have only one [1] resident away at a time. First come, first served. [exceptions may be made when attendings are away - AAOS e.g. One week of vacation per rotation. On spine, fellows are counted as residents. On spine total resident vacations to be 6 weeks [combined PGY-2 and 4. PGY-4s have first choice. # Away Time at Grady Due to the RRC's rules regarding no every other night call, vacations will be 7 days [therefore scheduled vacations will include one weekend only]. Residents are required, by the Chief of Service, to complete a 'Resident Vacation/Academic Leave Request Form' which may be obtained from the administrative office. Complete the form and submit it to the administrative office staff 45 days before your leave. ~ # In case of conflicting vacation dates, seniority and date of receipt apply. Every effort will be made to accommodate as many people as possible. III. Notification of Approved Vacation Dates ~# The approved vacation schedule will be completed and a copy sent to each chief of service. # The chief of service of the individual sections of the department will be responsible for notifying the faculty within that section of the vacation schedule. # Any changes or additions to the vacation schedule after this period must be submitted to the program director and the chief of service in writing and must be approved by both of these individuals. The only exception to this rule applies to the resident who is applying for a fellowship who cannot make definitive plans for a vacation until fellowship interview dates are mailed to the applicant. These days will follow the guidelines outlined below in the section dealing with fellowship interviews. IV. Review Courses/Conferences # Each academic year, residents may attend one educational meeting in addition to the normal three weeks of vacation time. Board review courses, required educational programs [AO/ ASIF] and paper/poster presentations will not count against vacation time. # If a resident attends a second educational conference in that same academic year and does not present a research project, the resident must use a week of vacation. # The course dates and conference material must be approved by the program director as well as the chief of service of the rotation you will be on during your absence. # Notification of the proposed absence and approval must be obtained prior to payment of registration and/or travel fees otherwise the resident runs the risk of the request being denied and forfeiture of any money already spent. # All residents will be excused from all clinical duties during the time period of the conference [even if the conference is located in Atlanta]. # Because some conferences are available on a limited basis, several residents from the samePGY level may be absent at the same time to attend a particular conference. Faculty and other residents will need to make the necessary adjustments to cover the floor and call duties of thoseresidents who will be excused for the educational meeting. V. Fellowship Interviews # If a resident is invited for an interview that requires his/her absence from clinical duties during the work week [Monday through Friday], the resident will be allowed to take four [4] working days [these days will not be counted against vacation time]. Any days exceeding the 4 days allowed will be counted as vacation # The program director and the chief of service must be notified in writing as soon as possible after the interview is scheduled. # Any additional time needed for interviews will be subject to the approval of the program director and the chief of the affected service. VI. Corporate Sponsored Travel Corporate sponsored travel will be allowed. If such travel requires that the resident be absent from his clinical duties during the work week (Monday through Friday) that resident who desires to attend will be required to use a week of vacation time to include the weekend of the trip. If such travel IS to occur only on a weekend and WIll not interfere with clinical duties then the resident may attend without using vacation time. Approval from Attending and Chief of Service must be obtained prior to the trip. VII. Vacation Dispute Resolution Should there be any concerns regarding vacation time allotted, specific vacation date conflicts, or other such concerns that cannot be resolved via a discussion between the two parties involved, the dispute should be brought to the attention of the program director by either concerned party. The program director will then arbitrate/mediate the conflict and his/her decision will be final. VII. Signing Out/Coverage of your patients Before leaving town, residents must sign out each of their patients and their service to a specific resident. In your absence, the resident covering for you should be responsible for rounding on a regular basis on your patients and should be able to provide answers to questions the attending physician may have. In addition, if the specific resident is free and available from his own service, he is also expected to assist the attending surgeon in the operating room. If this is a conflict, then other arrangements may need to be made for coverage to assist in the operating room and clinic. Every effort should be made to have this done by one resident for continuity of care issues. VIII MATERNITY LEAVE As the number of women entering the medical field increases, it has become apparent to many professional organizations such as the AMA that each residency program should provide a written policy for its residents. At this time there is no one encompassing maternity leave policy for residents. This is due to the fact that the various specialties have their own requirements for length of residency training before one can take the Boards, and the individual institutions hosting residency programs also have their own policies. Emory University's policy for maternity leave is: I) Six weeks leave of absence without the utilization of accrued vacation, floating holidays, and sick leave for maternity leave (emergency leave cannot be used for maternity leave) in which case one would be paid for the time accrued. If the accrued time falls short of six weeks, the remaining time off is unpaid. The American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery requires a resident to complete 46 weeks per year to be eligible for taking the Boards. With the two directives above, the policy for the residents of Orthopaedics will be as follows: Maternity leave can be granted for a period of up to six weeks. If the resident has accumulated unused vacation and sick leave, that time will be paid time. If not, the leave must be without pay. All benefits are to continue whether the time off is paid or unpaid time. If the resident is lacking paid time, she may apply for disability leave. This would be paid by disability insurance. The resident will need to check to see if she has that coverage. The University and Department have no control over the required 46 weeks attendance for eligibility for Boards. Therefore, if the absence is more than six weeks the possibility of extending that resident's training for an extra year is a real probability.