Office of Student Admissions

Technical Standards Policy

Applicants for admission to The University of New Mexico School of Medicine and current students must possess the capability to complete the entire medical curriculum, achieve the degree Doctor of Medicine, and practice medicine with or without accommodation. The University recognizes that otherwise qualified candidates for the MD degree may be able to meet the Technical Standards described in this document if provided reasonable accommodation. It should be noted however that the use of a trained intermediary is not acceptable in situations where the candidate’s judgment is impacted by the intermediary’s powers of selection and observation. Thus, the use of personal aids, assistants, care-givers, readers, and interpreters may not be appropriate, particularly in clinical education settings. Students must also be aware that approval for and the provision of reasonable accommodations at UNM –SOM does not mean that similar accommodations would be granted elsewhere or by national licensing review boards.

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), The University of New Mexico School of Medicine will implement policy and procedures to ensure equal access to educational opportunities for persons with disabilities. Because graduates of medical school must be prepared to assume care for patients in a wide variety of clinical disciplines the education for the MD degree is, of necessity, broad in nature. An avowed intention to practice only a narrow part of the curriculum does not alter the requirement that all students take the full curriculum.

TECHNICAL STANDARDS REQUIRED TO PERFORM THE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS OF THE MEDICAL SCHOOL CURRICULUM

The medical curriculum requires demonstrated proficiency in a variety of cognitive, problem-solving, manipulative, communicative, and interpersonal skills. To achieve these proficiencies, the School of Medicine requires that each student be able to meet the following Technical Standards.

1. Observation: Through independent observation the student must be able to acquire information in the basic medical sciences, including that obtained from demonstrations and experiential activities. The student must also be able to observe and accurately acquire information directly from the patient as well as from other sources including written documents, images, slides, videos, and films. This level of observation and information acquisition requires the functional use of vision, hearing, and somatic sensation.
2. Communication: Students must be able to effectively speak, hear, read and write in a tutorial, classroom, and assessment setting. Student must be able to speak, hear and observe patients in a clinical setting. A student must be able to record information accurately and clearly, fluently speak and write English, and communicate effectively and in a sensitive manner with patients. A student must also be able to communicate effectively with members of the healthcare team in oral and written form and in patient care settings where clinical decisions may depend on rapid communication.
3. Motor Coordination: Students must be able to elicit information independently from patients by palpation, auscultation, percussion, and other diagnostic maneuvers. Students should be able to respond to emergency situations in a timely manner and provide or direct general emergency care such as airway management, CPR, placement of intravenous catheters, simple wound repair, and basic obstetrical procedures. Such activities require sufficient physical mobility coordination of both gross and fine motor neuromuscular function, functional use of the sense of touch, vision, hearing, and balance and equilibrium.
4. Intellect: Students must be able to identify, define, and solve problems in a timely and effective manner. This critical skill demanded of physicians requires the ability to work effectively with measurements and calculations, to learn and reason in a variety of settings including formal lectures, small group discussions, individual teaching sessions, clinical teaching sessions and independent learning activities, to self-evaluate, and to integrate, analyze, and synthesize data concurrently in a multi-task setting. In addition, the students must be able to comprehend three-dimensional relationships and to understand the spatial relationships of structures.
5. Behavioral and Social Attributes: Students must possess the emotional health and the self-discipline required for full use of their intellectual abilities, the exercise of good judgment, and the timely and safe completion of all tasks and responsibilities. They must be able to adapt to rapid change, to display flexibility and learn to function in the face of stressful situations and uncertainties. Students must consistently demonstrate honesty, integrity, altruism, empathy, and concern for patients, their families, colleagues, members of the healthcare team and the community at large.

The determination of whether an applicant or current student meets the above standards will be done on an individual, case by case basis utilizing the existing committee structure of the School of Medicine. (i.e. Committee on Admissions, Advisory Committee on Students with Disabilities, Committee on Student Promotions and Evaluations I and II [CSPE I, CSPE II], Educational Council).

NOTE: “Technical standards” shall mean those minimum standards for physicians that must be examined and enforced in the admissions process and in the determination whether an M.D. degree may be awarded.

Approved by UNM Education Council August 2004

Approved by UNM Counsel September 2004

Approved at UNM Faculty Meeting October 2004