The Mission of the Office of the Learning Environment is to ensure a safe, respectful, and equitable education experience for all students in the School of Medicine. Our goals are to:

1. Celebrate individuals and environments that exemplify our mission

2. Identify incidents of harassment, mistreatment, or suboptimal learning environment

3. Support and advocate for students who experience such incidents

4. Respond to these incidents with inquiry, intervention, and/or referral

5. Promote positive learning experiences and prevent future incidents by facilitating professional development of educators and students

6. Implement innovative solutions to historic, systemic, and cultural factors in medicine that impede optimal educational experiences

What is PAIR?

The PAIR (Professionalism Accolade and Incident Report) System is an online system that allows SOM med students and grad students to submit Accolades (recognizing individuals who demonstrate outstanding professionalism or service on behalf of others) or report Incidents (of lapses in professionalism or mistreatment/harassment).

Are PAIR reports anonymous?

Students may report either confidentially or anonymously. Given the advantages of confidential reporting described below, we recommend that students use this option. Of course, the choice is yours.

Confidential reporting provides you with 3 main benefits:

1. You can control how and when your report is addressed.

2. Dean Reis or Dean Mars can contact you to obtain additional information, if needed, about the incident or your preferences for next steps.

3. You can learn the outcome of your report.

How are PAIR Incident reports handled?

Confidential Reporting:

Dean Reis or Dean Mars will review the report and contact you, if needed, to gather additional information about the incident and your preference for next steps. The dean will not share your identity without your permission, unless the incident involves sexual harassment or gender discrimination (federally mandated Title IX reports) or a safety concern. The dean will communicate the outcome of the report directly to you.

Anonymous Reporting:

As student identity cannot be determined through the PAIR submission, they cannot influence how the report is handled. One of the Learning Environment deans will review the report and determine next steps based on their best judgment and current policies and procedures.

What types of actions can be taken?

Students can choose from a range of actions:

1. Immediate protective action (e.g., immediate reassignment of a student’s clinical site)

2. Delayed action (e.g., remediation of an educator after the student has completed the course or clerkship)

3. Monitoring only (tracking the named individual in the secure Learning Environment database)

What types of Incident reports have been received?

Since PAIR was launched in 2017, over 102 PAIR Incident reports have been received. Of these, the most common types are suboptimal learning environment concerns (e.g., not feeling included on a clinical team) and mistreatment concerns (most common type: offensive comments).

How do I submit a PAIR report?

Recognize individuals who create a positive learning and work environment by submitting an accolade.

Let us know if you experienced or witnessed an incident of mistreatment or unprofessional behavior by submitting an incident report.

Thank you to all of the students who have submitted an Accolade or Incident through the PAIR system! Your input is essential to building a more supportive and equitable culture at Pitt Med.

UPSOM graduate student program representatives for the Biomedical Graduate Student Association (BGSA) also serve on the Graduate Student GLEAP Committee. Members represent all UPSOM graduate programs. Please contact the BGSA if you are interested in joining the association and getting involved in the learning environment.