7.11 Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI)

Massachusetts State law requires that a CORI (Criminal Offender Record Information) criminal background check be conducted on any individual working in a health care facility who has access to confidential patient records or is in contact with children. Upon matriculation, each student must complete a CORI Acknowledgement Form and Candidate Information Sheet, which must be submitted to the HMS Registrar’s Office.

This consent form will be validated by the Registrar’s Office. The Registrar’s Office will input the information from the consent form into an online application sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Criminal Justice Information Services (DCJIS). The DCJIS will perform the criminal background check and the HMS Registrar or designate will retrieve the results online. HMS will provide confirmation to a third party (i.e., clinical affiliate) that the student has cleared the CORI check if no record is found by the DCJIS during the criminal background check process.

Hard copies of the report will be maintained in a secure file separate from your educational records. CORIs are retained no longer than seven years from the date a student graduates or ceases enrollment, whichever is longer.

In the event that a CORI record is returned on an HMS student, HMS will need to contact each affiliate where that student will perform a clinical rotation and advise each affiliate that it needs to conduct its own CORI check on that student.

The Registrar’s Office will process CORI requests during the student’s first year of Medical School and for all Exchange Clerks as they apply to the program. Students who do not submit a consent form will be ineligible to participate in preclerkship clinical courses, clinical clerkships or other activities involving patients or patient records in accordance with state law.

Last updated 8/4/16