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 each week, arriving on time, having cameras on, 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. Interns are held to the same professionalism expectations whether trainings are hosted virtually or 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.
Interns are expected to attend all virtual didactics from work unless other arrangements are approved by the site in advance. Member sites are required to allow their interns to attend all didactic trainings and ensure interns have access to technology and tele platform required for virtual didactics. The Administrative Office will provide instructions regarding remote access to didactic training each week.
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 each 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. A didactic training is defined as one half-day training, and a full day of didactics is counted as two half-days trainings. Please review the following communication procedures for missing didactics:
Planned absence
- Definition: PTO, professional development leave, doctor’s appointment, external training/conference, 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 with 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
For any missed didactic trainings, interns may be required to complete missed didactic work and review training materials regardless of the length of absence. Substitution training may consist of the following:
- Watch the recorded training in its entirety.
- Create questions from the recording and handouts (6 questions per hour missed).
More details about this process will be provided to the intern at the time of their request. As applicable, 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 the 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 before the end of their two-month deadline to successfully complete the requirements.
Interns must coordinate a time with their site 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 in-person 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 be 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.
If the scheduled in-person didactic training is switched to being held remotely, interns should follow the existing virtual didactic attendance guidance coordinated with their site.
It should be noted that this policy only determines the course of action for didactic training. Interns should refer to their site’s inclement weather policies concerning showing up to their office locations during inclement weather.
Time Tracking
During Orientation and in-person Didactics, the entirety of the day, including lunch, should be classified as “Training/Didactics/Seminar/Workshop/Orientation” and should equal eight (8) hour days. In the case of virtual didactics, lunch would not be tracked as a part of the training and should be classified by whatever activity the intern partakes in during that time. Didactics on virtual days should be for a total of four (4) hours for half-days and seven (7) hours for full-days.