Expectations and Attendance #
The internship serves as training in professional development. Overall standards of behavior and engagement are heavily drawn from expectations in similar professional outlets such as professional conferences, presentations, and CE trainings. This includes attending all scheduled didactic training activities, arriving on time, displaying professional behavior, and submitting the required Didactic Satisfaction Surveys by the deadline, as well as an expectation that all presenters be treated with respect even at times of disagreement. In the event didactics are held remotely, interns will be expected to keep their cameras on and held to the same professionalism expectations as in-person. The Regional Training Director will review intern professionalism each month and provide feedback to supervisors and sites as needed. Continuing concerns will be evaluated by the site supervisor on the Intern Quarterly Evaluation.Member sites are required to allow their interns to attend all didactic trainings and ensure interns have access to technology and tele platform required in the event didactics are conducted remotely. Interns will also follow guidance from the Regional Training Director regarding the location of remote didactics (i.e., office or home). The Administrative Office will provide instructions regarding remote access to didactic training as applicable.Interns complete a Didactic Satisfaction Survey on each presentation topic during didactics. The intern completes each of these forms, and they are due by 1:00 pm local time on the Tuesday following Didactics. All satisfaction surveys will be sent via email to the email address designated as their “preferred” email during NPTC orientation. Interns are responsible for setting up and checking this email following each didactic training. Failure to meet the assigned deadlines for this requirement will be noted and concerns may be passed along to the Regional Training Director as needed.
Missing Didactics #
We understand that unforeseen circumstances, such as an illness or family emergency, may conflict with didactics. If an intern misses a didactic training for any reason other than illness or family emergency, a formal request must be submitted to the NPTC Administrative Office. Please note, missing didactics excessively for planned or unplanned reasons can result in a meeting with the Regional Training Director. Please review the following communication procedures for missing didactics:
Planned absence
- Definition: PTO, professional development leave, doctor’s appointment, etc.
- Process: Intern must submit a formal request for approval via online form. This form will be sent to the Regional Training Director and Training Support for review and approval.
- Timeline: No later than two weeks prior to the missed didactic day(s). Please note that all requests are subject to approval.
Unplanned absence
- Definition: Illness or emergencies
- Process: Intern must notify the Regional Training Director and Training Support via email.
- Timeline: No later than 8:00 am on the day of didactics.
No unexcused absences are allowed, and any absence not following the steps provided above may be considered unexcused. Interns who miss didactic training seminars due to unexcused absences will be required to meet with the Regional Training Director to discuss professionalism. Interns who have continued issues with Didactic attendance will be required to meet with the Professional Review Committee. The Professional Review Committee is formed by the President/CEO annually and consists of three members of the NPTC Training Committee who are nominated by the Regional Training Director with prior nominee approval.
Didactic Substitution #
All absences from didactic training, no matter the length of the absence, will require the intern to complete missed didactic work and review training materials. Substitution training may consist of watching videos, writing papers, vignettes, and/or questions about materials from the missed didactic day(s). When available, training materials including videos will be uploaded to a virtual platform for interns to access. The intern will have two months from the date they received the substitution materials to complete the task. If the missed didactic is within the last two months of internship, then the intern will be required to complete the substitution prior to their last day on site. Interns will submit their make-up work via the online platform and email Training Support prior to the end of their two-month deadline in order to successfully complete requirements.Interns will need to coordinate a time with their site to be able to complete the substitution within the designated makeup timeframe. This will occur either during work hours with approval from the site Training Director or on their own time. Sites may require the use of leave time or provide allowances for interns to complete the substitution training during work hours without the use of leave time. Although some sites may choose one of these options depending on the circumstances, they are under no obligation to do so. Any site-initiated changes to the above-stated policy would need to be discussed with Training Support in advance.
Inclement Weather Policy #
In the event of inclement weather during didactic training, the Regional Training Director will notify interns with as much prior notice as possible whether didactic training will continue as scheduled, be rescheduled, or held remotely. If didactic training is not rescheduled or held remotely, interns are expected to attend in-person. If travel concerns arise, the intern is responsible for following the steps laid out in the didactic Expectations and Attendance policy to discuss their concerns, and any absences would still have to follow the Didactic Substitution policy. If didactic training is rescheduled, the Administrative Office will notify interns of the new date of didactics as soon as they are determined.In the event didactic training is switched to being held remotely, interns should follow the guidance from their site Training Director regarding the location of remote didactics (i.e., office or home). Each site will ensure interns are provided with the appropriate video conference technology and access to the remote platform used prior to the inclement weather policy being implemented. The Administrative Office will provide additional instructions regarding remote access to didactic training if this policy is put into effect.It should be noted that this policy only determines the course of action for didactic training. Interns should refer to their site inclement weather policies with regard to showing up to their office locations during inclement weather.
Time Tracking #
During Orientation and in-person Didactics, interns are encouraged to socialize with one another during the available lunch period. Thus, the entirety of the day, including lunch, should be classified as “Training/Didactics/Seminar/Workshop/Orientation” and should equal nine (9) hour days. In the case of virtual didactics, lunch would not be tracked, and interns would have a total of eight (8) training hours for the day.