University of Louisville School of Medicine (ULSOM)

Criminal Background Checks (CBC)

Policies & Procedures

Rationale

• To bolster the public’s trust in the medical profession
• To enhance the safety and well being of patients
• To ascertain the ability of accepted applicants and enrolled medical students to eventually become licensed as physicians
• To minimize the liability of medical schools and affiliated clinical facilities

Administrative Guidelines

• CBC will be administered through AAMC on all applicants at the time of acceptance, and on alternate applicants at the request of the Admissions Office. Applicants must consent, submit to, and satisfactorily complete a criminal background check investigation as a condition of matriculation into ULSOM.

• Upon initial, conditional acceptance to ULSOM the AAMC selected company (Certiphi) will send an email notification to the applicant to obtain consent for the criminal record report to be conducted. In addition, the Admissions Office/AAMC may request that Certiphi send alternate list applicants an email notification to obtain consent for the criminal record report to be procured. If a report is conducted prior to conditional acceptance to ULSOM, the report will not be made available to ULSOM until the AAMC receives notice of the applicant’s conditional acceptance.
• Once consent has been provided, the AAMC selected vendor (Certiphi) will conduct a background check and produce a report. When the report is complete, the AAMC select vendor will send an email to the conditionally accepted applicant requesting that he/she review the report prior to its distribution. Upon receiving this email, the accepted applicant will have ten calendar days from the date the email is sent to review their report prior to it being made available to ULSOM. If they do not review this report or if there is no objection to the report, the report will be distributed after this period elapses.

• Omission of required information, including the failure to provide the consent, or submitting false or misleading information by the individual in any communication with ULSOM may result in withdrawal of conditional acceptance. False or misleading information discovered after matriculation could result in dismissal.
• Costs of the CBC will be incorporated into the AMCAS fee for College of Medicine applicants. All expenses associated with the CBC are to be the responsibility of the applicant/student. The conditional admission offer will not be considered final, and enrollment will be withheld until completion of the background check, with results deemed acceptable by ULSOM. If the results of the background check(s) are not deemed acceptable by ULSOM, or if information received indicates that false or misleading statements were submitted, required information omitted, or the if applicant would not be permitted to participate in any portion of the curriculum, the conditional admission may be denied or rescinded.
• Confidentiality of CBC files will be will be maintained consistent with FERPA guidelines and stored separately from students’ permanent files.

Information available/sought through background investigation process

• The Criminal Background Check will include all convictions and conviction-equivalent adjudications plus all arrests regardless of adjudication (including not guilty, dismissals, etc.) plus all arrests without final adjudication/felonies and misdemeanors. The following databases are examples of those that may be examined as part of the criminal background check:

Social Security Number Search A search of credit report header data to help confirm the applicant's identifying information such as name, aliases, address(es), Social Security Number and to determine areas of prior residence..

County Criminal Records Searches

A direct search of county courthouse records for any felony or misdemeanor criminal history. All records are researched to help ensure positive identification and complete, easy-to-read details.

Statewide Criminal Records Search

A search conducted through statewide criminal records repositories or court systems for any felony or misdemeanor criminal history.

Federal Criminal Records Search

A direct search of federal courthouse records for any felony or misdemeanor criminal history. All records are researched to help ensure positive identification and complete, easy-to-read details.

National Criminal Database Search

A multi-jurisdiction private database search covering more than 194 million criminal records collected from across the country. While the database does not contain information from all states, it supplements county, statewide and federal criminal searches. To ensure compliance with Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), all database "hits" are verified directly through the source of information to ensure that records reported are current and up-to-date.

National Sexual Offender Database Search

A search of a national private database which contains sex offender data collected from across the country. All records are researched to help ensure positive identification.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General List of Excluded Individuals/Entities Search

A search of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE), a database which provides information to the public, health care providers, patients, and others relating to parties excluded from participation in the Medicare, Medicaid, and all Federal health care programs.

Search for Dishonorable Discharge from the Armed Forces

Military records are verified through either telephone interviews with the subject's former commander or by obtaining the applicant's DD-214 form. Verification generally includes subject's name, Service Number, rank, dates of service, awards and decorations, and place of entrance and separation.

International Screening

International criminal records searches are generally performed by facilitating the applicant in obtaining an official Police Clearance or Police Certificate from the desired country. In those countries that have established third-party criminal records search facilities—including Canada and Great Britain—searches will be obtained directly through those channels.

Criminal History Review Committee

• Criminal History Review Committee shall have six members: Associate Dean for Student Affairs, Associate Dean for Admissions, Associate Vice President for Health Affairs/Diversity Initiatives, Public Safety representative, School of Medicine legal counsel, and a mental health professional.