What follows is essential
reading for all students, doctoral program DCTs, and internship
program Training Directors about drug testing and other pre-employment
requirements. If you think you already know the issues, you could be
mistaken, as things have changed significantly just in the past few years
(e.g., over-the-counter availability of certain products which, if
consumed, could lead to failure of a drug test and termination from
an internship). We ask that all DCTs discuss these issues with
their students who are seeking internship this year.
DRUG TESTING
Some
internship programs perform drug testing prior to and/or during the internship
year. One of the most misunderstood issues in this area is with regard to
the recreational and medical use of marijuana (cannabis) as well as products
containing THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) or CBD (Cannabidiol). Some students
assume that having a prescription for marijuana/cannabis, being matched to an
internship program that is located in a jurisdiction that allows the
recreational use of marijuana/cannabis, or obtaining a medicine
over-the-counter (e.g., CBD oils) means that their use of these substances will
be acceptable to internship programs. However, this is a very risky and
potentially incorrect assumption, as some internship programs prohibit
the use of marijuana/cannabis, THC, and/or CBD in SOME or ALL circumstances,
and will not hire a student who tests positive regardless of medical need, the
presence of a prescription, the fact that it was obtained over-the-counter, or
its legal status.
STUDENTS:
If you use any
of these substances, regardless of its purpose or legal status, you should
carefully review sites' materials to ensure that you apply to sites that will
allow you to use such substances. If a site's materials are unclear, you
should consult with sites' HR departments to get clarification of their
policies. We strongly encourage you to get such clarification in writing.
While we appreciate that asking for clarification can feel difficult or
risky to do, the consequences of not being clear result in the loss of your
matched internship placement and a serious delay in your career progression.
INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS: We
recommend that you consult regularly with your Human Resources department in
order to stay aware of any changes that have occurred to relevant
policies. Please ensure that your public materials are as clear and
accurate as possible in terms of any drug testing that is performed and the
expectations for employees and interns as far as drug use is concerned.
In particular, please be aware that the medical use of marijuana/cannabis
has become increasingly common among the general population, and thus clearly
articulating your policies regarding the medical and recreational use of
marijuana/cannabis, THC, and CBD would be helpful to applicants.
PRE-EMPLOYMENT SCREENINGS
APPIC Match
Policy # 8b states, "Appointments of applicants to internship
positions may be contingent upon the applicants satisfying certain
eligibility requirements. Such eligibility requirements must be clearly
specified in the internship programs' written materials and provided to
applicants in advance of the deadline for submitting rankings for the
APPIC Match."
STUDENTS:
It is important
to understand that most sites consider interns to be employees, which means
that they have the same expectations of interns as they do of any other
employee. Many sites now conduct background checks, drug testing, or
other pre-employment screenings that a student must pass in order to be
employed as an intern. Remember that the APPIC Match Policies allow you
to be denied appointment or dismissed if you fail any pre-employment
screenings. Thus, careful attention to sites' pre-employment
requirements is essential as you decide where to apply and which programs to
rank. If in doubt, don’t make assumptions — ask the site for
clarification (you can ask to speak to the Training Director or to an HR
representative).
Disclosure
of Background Information. As
part of the onboarding process, some sites will require you to fill out a
questionnaire that asks about various aspects of your background. Failure
to fully and accurately disclose background information may result in denied
employment. We have seen situations where students have not disclosed
certain convictions, and their failure to disclose (rather than the specific
convictions themselves) resulted in denied employment.
Sealed
or Expunged Records. You
should keep in mind that, in some cases, criminal records that have been sealed
or expunged may still be uncovered by a background check.
Some sites, especially those with high security requirements, may require
you to disclose criminal records that have been sealed or expunged.
In
order to be employed as an intern, you will be required to provide
documentation of your identity as well as your authorization to work in the
U.S. (for U.S. internships) or Canada (for Canadian internships).
INTERNSHIP
PROGRAMS: Match
Policy #8b requires the advance disclosure of your site's eligibility
requirements so that students can understand these requirements and make
informed decisions about whether or not to apply to or rank your site.
Most importantly, it minimizes the possibility of your program being
matched to an applicant who is ineligible for hire. Thus, if your site
has such pre-employment requirements, please ensure that your public materials
(web site, brochure, APPIC Directory listing, etc.) are as clear and detailed
as possible. Specifically:
a.
Please be clear about your eligibility requirements and, as much as
possible, what constitutes a "pass" and a "fail." For
example, it is generally not enough to simply say that you conduct a
"background check," since that doesn't tell the applicant what past
behavior is and is not acceptable (e.g., will a misdemeanor constitute a pass
or a fail?). Similarly, saying that you conduct "drug testing"
doesn't clearly specify what your expectations are of the applicant in terms of
their drug use (e.g., is marijuana/cannabis/THC/CBD use acceptable? If
so, under what circumstances?). The goal here is to be as disclosive as
possible in order to minimize the possibility that an ineligible student will
apply (or, worse, get matched) to your site.
b.
We recognize that, in some circumstances, HR policies are vague and it
can be challenging to meet what is outlined in the previous paragraph.
Thus, it is essential that you work closely with your Human Resources
department in order to craft wording that is clear and covers all of your
institution's policies and eligibility requirements for employees. We
have seen a number of situations where HR determines that the student has
failed a requirement that wasn't disclosed in advance, often because the Training
Director wasn't aware of the requirement or how it would be administered,
interpreted, or enforced.
U.S. SELECTIVE SERVICE
Most
(if not all) Federal internship positions in the U.S., including those
sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), require males (based on
sex assigned at birth) to register with the Selective Service System by
the age of 26. Applicants can confirm registration at https://www.sss.gov; FAQs are at https://www.sss.gov/faq/. Applicants
should check directly with each site for details about their Selective
Service registration requirements prior to submitting their internship
applications.
With regard to the VA requirement for Selective Service registration, past
experience with this issue suggests that exceptions to this policy are
extremely rare. Requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis
and it can take many months to obtain a decision.
VACCINATIONS
Many
sites have vaccination requirements of employees, including interns.
These requirements may include both COVID and non-COVID (e.g., measles,
rubella, tuberculosis) vaccinations. Training Directors are reminded to
please keep their public materials updated to reflect policy developments in
this area. Applicants who are unable or unwilling to be vaccinated may
need to make some difficult choices with regard to their participation in the
upcoming Match process, and we would like to provide the following guidelines
for these students:
1. Most
importantly, don't make assumptions about any site. If a site's published
materials are silent on its vaccination policies, you should not assume that
you will be allowed to work at the site without being vaccinated. Nor
should you assume that a policy won't be established in the coming weeks and
months.
2. For sites that require vaccination of its employees, you should not
assume that you will be granted an exemption, nor should you assume that
certain accommodations will be provided. This includes individuals who
are unable to be vaccinated for medical reasons.
3. It is imperative that you talk directly with the site to understand
their current policies as well as the possibility of policies changing in the
future.
4. Students seeking internship should only rank sites for which they have
confirmed that their vaccination status will be acceptable to those
sites. Individuals seeking postdoctoral positions should only accept a
position if they have confirmed the acceptability of their vaccination status
with that site.
5. If a site's
vaccination polices change after you have been placed at that site, you will
likely be required to conform to the site's new policy. Failure to do so
may result in being terminated from the training program. While APPIC can
assist in attempting to negotiate solutions in such situations, vaccination
policies are often established at the Federal, State, or Provincial level and
thus there may be little to no flexibility.
PEACEFUL PROTESTS AND CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS
At
this unique period in history, some individuals have exercised their
constitutional right to engage in peaceful protests, an activity that
occasionally results in arrest and conviction. Given that criminal convictions
must be disclosed on the AAPI, we have heard from a number of students who have
expressed concern about how recent convictions for peaceful protests might
affect their ability to secure an internship.
APPIC
strongly encourages training programs to be thoughtful in reviewing any
conviction information within an application and to consider the circumstances
as well as the relevancy to the position. The U.S. Equal Opportunity
Employment Commission (EEOC) notes that the arrest and incarceration records
are much higher for certain groups of people and that “national data supports a
finding that criminal record exclusions have a disparate impact based on race
and national origin” (EEOC
Enforcement Guidance, 2012). Thus, automatically eliminating an
applicant from consideration based solely on the existence of
a criminal conviction, without considering relevancy to the position, is
potentially discriminatory and should be avoided.
For
further background and perspective, The American Association of Medical
Colleges (AAMC) released a document, “AAMC
Guidance on Peaceful Protests by Medical Students and Residents” which
provides that organization’s viewpoint and an interesting summary of the
issues.