Process Owner

Deanship of Student Affairs

Prepared by

Deanship of Student Affairs

Reviewed by

QAIE

BOT Approval

Approved

First Issue Date

23/09/2023

Last Review Date

13/11/2024

Modification History

Relevant to

DMU Students

Purpose and Scope

Purpose:

To support students via a wide range of preventive, remedial and developmental mental health welfare/ counselling services that support them with their emotional, social challenges and academic concerns. All counselling services aim to help students achieve their goals in life and improve their wellbeing.

Scope:

This applies to all the students of DMU.

Abbreviations and Definitions

Wellbeing: Student Wellbeing at Dubai Medical University refers to the holistic support and care provided to students, focusing on their physical, mental, emotional, and academic health. It aims to create a positive, supportive environment that promotes student success and overall development.

Student Counselor – Qualified and certified Professional student counselor available for all students in DMU.

Individual Counseling—when the student needs focused one to one support services.

Group Counseling—Group counseling allows students who face similar challenges to benefit from counseling services together as a group, this happens through new learning opportunities from the counselor and from each other during group counseling sessions. 

Group Guidance/Workshops – Designed workshops that are preventive and developmental in nature that aim to respond to the comprehensive students’ needs.

Policy

Policy Statement

DMU is committed to providing student counselling services mentoring services to students for their wellbeing and academic success.

Procedure for Policy

1. Student Wellbeing Services

DMU gives equal attention to students’ mental health and wellbeing as it does with their academics, it provides its students with diverse counselling services through full-time trained student counsellors. The counselling services concern students' social and emotional challenges. Counselling services are provided by prior appointment with the Counselor during the University working hours.

Type of services Provided by the counselling unit:

• Mental health workshops (e.g: mindfulness, guided imagery, conflict resolution, resilience)

• Individual counselling sessions as per the unique needs of each student

• Group counselling for students who are experiencing a similar challenge and share similar goals

• Consultations

• Referrals to external services

• Coordination of accommodations of students with diagnosed mental health conditions (e.g: ADHD, Anxiety)

Confidentiality of counselling services:

The counsellor abides by the profession’s code of ethics, including the protection of students’ privacy, personal information, and access to the service. The counsellor does not share information related to the student with faculty/staff/guardians unless it is with the knowledge and consent of the student. This information includes counselling notes, reports, files, communication correspondences. Only in cases where the safety of the student or others is at risk or if required by court order, will the counselor share information as required. In such cases, the student is informed before disclosure of information.

Referrals by DMU employees:

DMU faculty/staff/ members of the disciplinary committee/advisors may refer a student to counselling services shall they observe that a student may need support in cases where a student is failing, not attending classes regularly, disrupts the educational process, conducts acts of violence with members of the community or any other behavioral/emotional or academic signs that may indicate that an intervention is needed. The counsellor communicates with the student to provide needed services.

Academic and non-academic Accommodations:

DMU students who are diagnosed with mental health conditions and may require academic / non-academic accommodations communicate with the counsellor and share their medical report and needs. Upon consent of the student, the Counsellor shares this request with ADAA and Dean of Student Affairs to design individual services accordingly.

Possible topics for discussion between students and counsellor include but are not limited to Personal, academic or health related challenges (stress, depression, low self-esteem, fear of public speaking, anger management difficulties, procrastination, test anxiety, low motivation, illness (physical or psychological), Examples also include but are not limited to:

• Harassment and Bullying

• Self-Awareness

• Stress Management techniques

• Mindfulness training

• Coping skills training

• Emotional Intelligence skills

• Problem solving skills.

• Communication skills

• Goal setting

• Social Intelligence skills

• Resilience

• Hope

• Optimism

• Selfcare

• Attendance - absences and excuses.

• Performance in exams and class assessments.

• Grievances of students.

Student mental health counselling services procedures for DMU undergraduate and graduate students:

Procedures for requesting one to one counselling sessions:

• The student requests a meeting with the counsellor through the university counselling email. The student can access the service as a walk-in depending on the scheduling/ availability of counsellors.

• The counsellor responds from 1-3 working days to schedule an appointment with the student

• The student consents to the counselling service provided

• The duration of the counselling session can go up to one hour

• The number of counselling sessions provided will depend on the nature and the intensity of the challenge the student is facing placing importance on the unique needs of each student

• If the counsellor observes that the student needs further assessment or intervention, the counsellor will refer the student to external psychological/psychiatric services

• The content of the counselling sessions remains confidential and is only with the counsellor

• In cases where the student is considered to hold a risk to herself or others, the counselling confidentiality is breached, the student is made aware that the counsellor will contact the family to ensure the safety of the student on and off campus

Procedures for follow- up for students / staff on campus once an issue is presented:

• The student accesses the counselling services (individual/group services). The student can also be referred through faculty/staff members

• The counsellor thoroughly assesses the students’ needs and designs intervention plans accordingly

• The counsellor follows-up on the student wellbeing and progress via phone consultations/ face to face meetings / or MS teams meetings

• The counsellor follows up on the student attendance percentage/ academic performance and ensures they are progressing in their academic studies and designs interventional plans accordingly

• The counsellor continues to collect data, gathers feedback from students seeking counselling service, re-conducts and compares psychometric test results and follows up on students’ progress and mental health status

• In cases where an incident has occurred (e.g: panic) in the presence of faculty/staff members, they are required to call the counsellor, report the incident details and ensure the student is accessing the right services. The faculty/staff member shall not leave the student unattended, they are expected to communicate empathetically, compassionately, and in a caring supportive manner with the student

• Faculty/staff members are not permitted to conduct any mental health related assessments, diagnoses or label about any mental health related condition. Shall they have any concerns, they are required to refer the student to the counselling services available on campus

• Faculty/staff members are not permitted to share confidential student cases information / incident details except with the student counsellor directly. Student personal information should not be shared on campus

• The student and counsellor meet for follow-up counselling sessions/ buffer sessions after the termination of the service If needed

Procedures for mental health related emergencies on campus:

• Anyone can report a mental health related emergency on campus, through directly calling the university counsellor number and providing information about the incident

• The counselor directly connects with the student at the fastest available method (e.g: face to face)

• The counsellor provides adequate crises intervention services until the student is stabilized and ready to continue with her day as normal

• The counsellor assesses the risk level of the student and determines if the student needs to be referred to the nearest emergency department or shall internal services be sufficient

• The counsellor completes an incident report of the emergency incident

• The counsellor refers the student for external psychological/ psychiatric interventions if further interventions are needed

Procedures for requesting mediation/ conflict resolution:

• Anyone can request mediation/ conflict resolution services among a group of students including faculty / staff / who find it needed at any point in time

• Faculty/staff/students contact the counselling unit via email requesting the service

• The counsellor communicates with related members in the university to resolve the dispute upon agreement of all parties

• The counsellor documents the incident

• If the dispute doesn’t resolve, it’s referred to the disciplinary committee for further investigation and intervention

Procedures for reporting of students of concern on campus:

• Anyone on campus can report a student whom they find are of concern and need the attention of the counsellor through filling the online DMU Student Counselling Referral Form

• The counsellor connects with the source of referral and gathers further information about the referred student

• The counsellor communicates with the student and intervenes as needed

Procedures for requesting mental health related accommodations on campus/ students of determination

• The student fills out the health declaration form and indicates their disability and provides a medical report of their diagnosis in addition to the highlighted needs on campus.

• The counsellor arranges a meeting with the student for review of the information provided and coordinates with related academic departments for application of the accommodation request.

• The counselor confidentially communicates this medical information with the consent of the student in providing the services on campus with concerned members (faculty members, operations, etc.)

Responsibilities for Application

• Vice Chancellor Academic Affairs 

• College Deans

• Student Counsellors

• Dean of Student Affairs

• Academic Advisors