The College of Medicine strongly recommends COVID vaccination for all eligible individuals, however, it is not a requirement of the University of Florida. Please keep in mind that many of our clinical education partners are required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to have policies regarding COVID vaccination of persons working in their facilities. Direct patient care is a required component of our education. At UF we have a robust program with practice partners all over the state providing high quality clinical experiences from the first through the last year of medical school. Each institution determines requirements for student trainees rotating through their establishments. These potentially include background checks, on boarding paperwork, vaccinations, etc. Failure to satisfy all such requirements could result in a student being unable to engage in clinical activities in those establishments. Our practice partners have long required flu vaccination for students, as well as TB, and many, if not all of our clinical site partners currently require or may require COVID vaccination in the future for medical trainees. This currently includes UF Health and the Veterans Administration Health Systems. Requests for exemptions, either medical or religious, are handled by the practice site, not the College of Medicine, according to each institutions’ policies and procedures.
Please see the Office of Student Affairs page, as well as, the following document for further information.
