Medical student with ADHD banned from UiT – now the university apologizes – news Nordland

The case summed up Ludvik Ellingsen, a medical student with ADHD, was banned from the University of Tromsø (UiT). It happened after the university changed its mind to let Ellingsen write a master’s degree in parallel with the sixth year of the course. Ellingsen complained about the decision, but was thrown out of the university. One year later, UiT apologizes for the error and lies flat. The medical association has put forward a compensation claim for Ellingsen, and claims that the reversal of the decision was illegal. In the autumn, however, Ellingsen gets to both study the 6th year of medical studies and write a master’s. He has nevertheless lost the last year of student allowance from the loan office because of the conflict. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s ​​journalists before publication. Ludvik Ellingsen (34) from Lofoten has ADHD. Therefore, he was to have his master’s thesis postponed by UiT, where he is studying medicine. He was to be able to write a master’s degree in parallel with his sixth year of study. But when autumn came, the university had changed its mind. When Ellingsen stated that he would complain about this, the university reacted by throwing him out. One year later, the university lays low and apologizes for the mistake. – They cannot destroy my motivation to become a doctor. That’s what I wanted to be all my life. That is what has driven me through this conflict, says Ellingsen. – A lot of stress. We rewind time to the autumn of 2023. Ellingsen and his roommate come to Tromsø. Ellingsen will complete his last year of medical studies here. At the same time, he will write a master’s degree. – I was actually quite motivated, says Ellingsen. – I moved back to Tromsø because I thought I could live up to what the university had promised. Ludvik Ellingsen says that it has been lonely to fight against the university. But the worst part was no longer being able to be part of the social environment in the class. Here he sits alone in the lecture hall. Photo: Sofie Retterstøl Olaisen / news He was actually supposed to deliver his master’s degree during the fifth year of study. He couldn’t do that. – Even though I sat all spring and all summer trying, it didn’t work. With the ADHD diagnosis, it was too difficult for Ellingsen to carry out a large master’s project alone without sufficient preparation. But it wasn’t that important anyway. The university had given him permission to write a master’s degree in parallel with the teaching in the 6th year. In the middle of the medical faculty stands a long, colorful staircase. – I have many good memories from here too, says Ellingsen, who says that the first four years of the study were good years. Photo: Sofie Retterstøl Olaisen / news But only a few weeks after Ellingsen had started his studies, he was called to a meeting. The health faculty at UiT had changed its mind. He was not allowed to write a master’s degree at the same time as he was in the 6th year anyway. They pointed to an amendment to the decision which made the decision from January invalid. Ellingsen announced that he was going to complain. And continued to go to class, in the hope that they would turn around again. Then he was called in to another meeting. This time, the faculty said that they would institute a moral turpitude case against Ellingsen and throw him out. – Why would they do that? – It was because I still went to lectures, and didn’t listen to what they had decided, says Ellingsen and adds: – It was very stressful. From one day to the next I lost contact with everyone. Ellingsen’s fight against UiTSaka until Ellingsen against UiT stretches over more than a year. It took about half a year from when he lost the decision from January, until the appeals board says that UiT has made a mistake. Ellingsen was granted a new deadline for the delivery of his master’s degree, from June 2023 to 18 August 2023. If he does not deliver by then, he will have write a master’s degree at the same time as he is in his sixth year of medical education. Ellingsen does not deliver his master’s thesis on time, both because personal health problems and because he has only had one month with the supervisor. Meeting between the Medical Education Unit and Ellingsen that they still cannot let him write his master’s thesis in parallel with the 6th year of study. Shortly after the meeting, Ellingsen’s supervisor resigns due to a “cooperation problem”. Ellingsen applies for a dispensation from having completed the 5th year of study before he can continue in the 6th year of study. At the same time, he complains about the decision on study progression and the right to study. Meeting between Ellingsen and the Medical Education Unit, who say they are considering opening suitability proceedings against Ellingsen. After the meeting, Ellingsen has lost all access. Ellingsen’s roommate sends a report of concern about the head of medicine after being allowed to attend a meeting with Ellingsen, the head of studies and the head of section. The Association for Medical Education organizes a meeting with the facilitation team at the Faculty of Health Sciences. The association for medical education says, after a comprehensive assessment, that they do not support Ellingsen in the complaint about coal change and changing study progression. Ellingsen receives an e-mail stating that he has access to his school’s system again after receiving temporary support from the appeals board. The appeals board gives Ellingsen the right to the complaint after a holistic assessment. He thus finally gets support. They conclude that everything is “straightened out”. Show more Meiner University pulled out the case in time After the meeting in November, Ellingsen’s name was removed from teaching lists. In addition, he lost access to the key card and to the journal system. In that way, he was forced to stop studying. – Then I just went home and started the complaint process, which turned out to be very long. Ludvik Ellingsen contact the trustee in the class, the student ombudsman and the student parliament for help. At first everyone was interested in helping, but there was little they could do until the appeals board had responded. Photo: Sofie Retterstøl Olaisen / news Because even though Ellingsen had complained to the complaint board at the university, it dragged on. It was the university that was supposed to submit the complaint. They spent a month and a half on that, according to Ellingsen. – There are very few who are supported in the appeals board. I think that was why the faculty shut me out during the appeals process, says Ellingsen. While Ellingsen was in the long complaint process with the university, nature became important to him. On the trip he was able to clear his mind and de-stress a bit, he says. Photo: Sofie Retterstøl Olaisen / news Ellingsen also says that the refusal sent by the Faculty of Health to the committee contained several claims that were not true. – It was marked by the fact that I did not follow up on agreements and answered the phone if the university called. But it simply wasn’t right, claims Ellingsen. Ellingsen therefore sent a correction to the appeal board in a separate letter. – The big question is why. Education has nothing to do with what has been done. On the contrary, says Ellingsen. He points out that medical students are the students who cost the university the most. Ellingsen was banned until 4 January. Then he was upheld in his appeal to the appeals board and thus also the access back. He was finally approved in March, half a year after everything started. I think he should have written his master’s degree while he was expelled. The appeals committee for student affairs concluded that “everything has been repaired” after UiT returned the access. The health faculty also thought that Ellingsen could then make up for the two months of compulsory teaching that he had lost while he was banned. Ellingsen disagrees. – In the last year of medicine it is difficult to just follow normal teaching, because there is so much we have to go through. Even a week would have been challenging to catch up. This is the first time Ellingsen is back at the university after the meeting where the faculty withdrew the access he had to rooms and the records system. It has been too tough to go back until now. Photo: Sofie Retterstøl Olaisen / news In addition, I believe that it has undermined trust in the complaints system that he was banned at the same time as his complaint was being processed. news has seen a document in which the Medical Association has put forward compensation claims for Ellingsen. There they claim that the reversal of the decision on 27 January was illegal. To news, Hanne Riise-Hanssen, lawyer and section manager in the Department for Law and Working Life at the Medical Association, says this: – The Medical Association can confirm that we have assisted Ellingsen. We do not comment on individual cases and therefore have no further comments. Ludvik Ellingsen says the university made arrangements in the form of deferred probation. What he needed was more guidance, believes the medical student who is in the transition between university and the hospital. Photo: Sofie Retterstøl Olaisen / news news has seen documentation that the university refused the Medical Association’s demand. UiT points out that Ellingsen was already lagging behind in his course of study and that he could have continued working on his master’s degree even if he had been banned. They also say that it is academically challenging to take the master’s degree at the same time as the sixth year. The university therefore believes that the most likely thing is that Ellingsen would have been delayed anyway. The Ministry of Education: – Has the right to accommodation According to the Appeals Board’s final decision on 8 March 2024, students with functional disabilities or special needs must have the right to accommodation at the university through the Universities and Colleges Act § 4–3 c. The Ministry of Education also says it is important that the universities add correct for the students. Ivar B. Prestbakmo, state secretary at the Ministry of Education, writes that the Directorate for Higher Education and Skills has a department that can assist the institutions with guidance. Photo: CHRISTIAN KRÅKENES / CHRISTIAN KRÅKENES – On a general basis, I can say that students with disabilities and students with special needs have the right to their own individual accommodation that ensures their opportunities for education. This is what State Secretary Ivar B. Prestbakmo (Sp) wrote in an e-mail to news. He says the ministry expects the institutions to act in line with the provisions in the Universities and Colleges Act. UiT: – Acknowledges that we have made a mistake In the decision, the appeals committee at UiT says that it is natural that the Faculty of Health Sciences asks for responsibility and the consequences for the mistake that has been made. The dean of the Faculty of Health at UiT, Gunbjørg Svineng, will not answer news about what they think lies in bearing the responsibility, and what consequences the case will have for them. The Dean of the UiT Health Faculty at UiT, Gunbjørg Svineng, admits that the faculty has made mistakes in the case of Ellingsen, but will not answer why they made the choice they did. Photo: Sofie Retterstøl Olaisen / news news has both written and verbally submitted a number of questions related to Ellingsen’s experience. Svineng says that she will not go into detailed questions in the case, as it concerns an individual student. But she does not hide the fact that the university has made mistakes. – UiT acknowledges that we have made mistakes, as has also been determined by the appeals board for student affairs, says Svineng. She says that UiT has subsequently done what they can to ensure that the student completes the course of study in the best possible way, including through extra guidance and arranged exams. – We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused for the student. Lost last year with loan fund In the autumn, UiT will therefore allow Ellingsen to both study the 6th year of medical studies and write a master’s. Since he attended classes last year until 15 November, when he was kicked out, he will write his master’s until 15 November this year. Then he will follow the rest of the 6th year. – I am generally disappointed with how UiT takes care of people like me with special needs. I have been very upset and angry that it was possible, as I did not understand the background for it, says Ellingsen. Although most things have now been resolved, the 34-year-old is still worried. Ludvik goes through the transition that leads between the university and the hospital. In the next year, he will go here often when he actually gets to follow the sixth year of his studies and write a master’s degree. Photo: Sofie Retterstøl Olaisen / news The year he spent arguing with the university was the last year he had student allowance from the loan fund. – For me, it was a bit decisive to get things done this year. – Why haven’t you used this year to work and earn money? – I simply haven’t been able to do that in the appeals process. I’ve been pretty far down a few times. It has been a long time since the medical student has been allowed to use his medical equipment. Since he was banned from the university in November, things have come together nicely. Photo: Sofie Retterstøl Olaisen / news Ellingsen would like the university to make an offer soon, so that he can plan for next year. Since they have not yet done so, he has hired his own lawyer and is taking the case to court. The dean at the Faculty of Health will not comment on how they will compensate Ellingsen financially, as the compensation claim has not been decided. – I could have finished now if they hadn’t banned me. But I look forward to completing my education. In a year, I think I’ll be done, says Ellingsen. Published 01.07.2024, at 10.22 Updated 01.07.2024, at 12.22



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