General Information
Excuse Note Policy
Our medical providers are frequently asked questions by our students/patients to write medical excuse notes for classes and/or work. We are very happy to provide this important service for our patients. Students frequently have medical conditions, psychological conditions, illnesses or injuries that require them to be away from the classroom or workplace, or affect their ability to perform optimally on classwork or exams. The Student Health Care providers use the following guidelines when writing excuse notes:
- "The Student Health Care Center will only write excuse notes for illnesses or injuries that have resulted, or will result, in absence of three or more days of class. Any shorter term absences will not receive notes. If an instructor requires a note for an absence of fewer than three days, one can be written upon the written request of the instructor." This request must be on official UF letterhead.
- Unless specifically requested to do so by the patient, we do not place a diagnosis on an excuse note. A patient's medical condition is a private and confidential information. Instructors and employers have no right to obtain diagnosis unless the patient chooses to share it with them. Furthermore, we do not release information about a patient's medical and/or psychological condition to University administrators, instructors, parents (unless you are a minor) or employers without specific patient request and release.
- Our medical providers make their best estimate of the time at which a patient will be able to resume classwork or employment duties. However, these dates are only estimates. If the patient significantly improves prior to our estimated return date, or the illness continues longer than estimated, an additional excuse note may be written. If additional time for recovery is needed, the patient must visit a provider before that time is needed and not after. It is possible that the medical provider will refuse to write an excuse note in retrospect ("I was sick for a week longer than you thought, and I need a note now for my class/work").
- Our medical providers cannot be expected to write excuse notes for illnesses or problems for which they have not provided care. To request a note, stating "I was sick last week.. last month.last year and I need a note for class or work, but never saw the doctor" will virtually guarantee that we will refuse the request.
- If the care for an illness or injury was provided by a private physician (at home, in Gainesville, etc.), the excuse note should be requested from that provider rather than from the Student Health Care Center.
- We allow excuse notes to be written by physicians, physician's assistants, nurse practitioners and registered nurses, all of whom are qualified licensed providers. It should not be necessary to request an excuse note specifically from a physician, nor should an employer or instructor require you to do so.
- A student may request a Verification of Visit form (ACL-012) which will display the date and time the student was seen at the SHCC. However, if an official Excuse Note is required, it must be requested as stated above.
We hope this information has been informative and helpful. If you have further questions please ask your healthcare provider.
