Admissions: Technical Standards

The M.D. degree signifies that its holder is a physician prepared for entry into the practice of medicine within postgraduate training programs of diverse types. The M.D. degree is, and must remain, a broad undifferentiated degree attesting to the mastery of general knowledge in all fields requisite for the practice of medicine.

Thus, medical school graduates must possess the knowledge and skills necessary to function in a broad variety of clinical situations, and to render a wide spectrum of patient care. The University of Michigan Medical School acknowledges section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Public Law 93-112), Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (Public Law 101-336), and the Michigan Handicappers Civil Rights Act, and ascertains that candidates for the MD degree must possess certain minimum technical capabilities.

The Medical School's obligations are to seek candidates who will be best able to serve the needs of society and to graduate effective and competent physicians. The following principles and technical standards will be implemented to achieve this goal.

Principles
Technical Standards refer to criteria that go beyond academic requirements for admission (e.g. MCAT, GPA, faculty letters) and are essential to meeting the academic requirements of the program.

Students with or without disabilities applying to Medical School will be expected to have met the same requirements.

Matriculation in Medical School assumes a certain level of cognitive and technical skill. Medical students with disabilities will be held to the same fundamental standards as their non-disabled peers. Although not all students should be expected to gain the same level of all technical skills, mastery of some skills is so essential that it must be achieved, with the assistance of reasonable accommodation where necessary.

Reasonable accommodations will be provided to assist in learning, performing and satisfying the fundamental standards.

Every reasonable attempt will be made to facilitate the progress of students where it does not compromise the Medical School standards or interfere with the rights of other students and patients.

Technological accommodations can be made for some handicaps in certain areas of the curriculum, but a candidate must meet the essential technical standards so that he or she will be able to perform in a reasonably independent manner. The need for personal aids, assistance, care givers, readers, and interpreters, therefore, may not be acceptable in certain phases of the curriculum, particularly during the clerkship years.

When not the responsibility of the student or otherwise funded, costs of necessary accommodations should be reasonable and will be properly borne by the University.

Applicants and matriculants who believe that they have not received adequate consideration because of a disability may appeal to the Medical School which will review appeals on a case-by-case basis.

Technical Standards
Candidates for the MD degree must possess abilities and skills including those that are observational, communicational, motor, intellectual-conceptual (integrative and quantitative), and behavioral and social. The use of a trained intermediary is not acceptable in many clinical situations in that it implies that a candidate's judgment must be mediated by someone else's power of selection and observation.

I. Observation
The candidate must be able to acquire a defined level of required information as presented through demonstrations and experiences in the basic sciences, including but not limited to information conveyed through physiologic and pharmacological demonstrations in animals, microbiological cultures and microscopic images of microorganisms and tissues in normal and pathologic states. Furthermore, a candidate must be able to:

observe a patient accurately, at a distance, and close at hand, to acquire information from written documents, and to visualize information as presented in images from paper, films, slides or video.

interpret x-ray and other graphic images, and digital or analog representations of physiologic phenomenon (such as EKGs) with or without the use of assistive devices.

Such observation and information acquisition necessitates the functional use of visual, auditory and somatic sensation while being enhanced by the functional use of other sensory modalities. In any case where a candidate's ability to observe or acquire information through these sensory modalities is compromised, the candidate must demonstrate alternative means and/or abilities to acquire and demonstrate the essential information conveyed in this fashion. If the alternatives are acceptable, it is expected that obtaining and using such alternate means and/or abilities shall be the responsibility of the student.

II. Communication
A candidate must be able to speak, to hear and to observe patients by sight in order to elicit information, describe changes in mood, activity and posture, and perceive nonverbal communications. A candidate must be able to communicate effectively and sensitively with patients. Communication includes speech, reading and writing. The candidate must be able to communicate effectively and efficiently in oral and written form with all members of the health care team.

III. Motor
It is required that a candidate possess the motor skills necessary to directly perform palpation, percussion, auscultation and other diagnostic maneuvers, basic laboratory tests and diagnostic procedures. The candidate must be able to execute motor movements reasonably required to provide general and emergency medical care such as airway management, placement of intravenous catheters, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, application of pressure to control bleeding, suturing of wounds and the performance of simple obstetrical maneuvers. Such actions require coordination of both gross and fine muscular movements, equilibrium and functional use of the senses of touch and vision.

IV. Intellectual-Conceptual (Integrative and Quantitative) Abilities
The candidate must be able to measure, calculate, reason, analyze, integrate and synthesize. In addition, the candidate must be able to comprehend three-dimensional relationships and to understand the spatial relationships of structures. Problem solving, the critical skill demanded of physicians, requires all of these intellectual abilities. The candidate must be able to perform these problem-solving skills in a timely fashion.

V. Behavioral and Social Attributes
The candidate must possess the emotional health required for full utilization of his/her intellectual abilities, the exercise of good judgment, the prompt completion of all responsibilities attendant to the diagnosis and care of patients, and the development of mature, sensitive, and effective relationships with patients. The candidate must be able to tolerate physically taxing workloads and to function effectively under stress. He/she must be able to adapt to changing environments, to display flexibility, and to learn to function in the face of uncertainties inherent in the clinical problems of patients. Compassion, integrity, concern for others, interpersonal skills, interest and motivation are all personal qualities that will be assessed during the admissions and educational processes.

Any applicant will be considered for admission to Medical School who demonstrates the ability to acquire the knowledge necessary for the practice of medicine, as well as the ability to perform or to learn to perform the skills as described in this document.

Students will be judged not only on their scholastic accomplishments but also on their physical and emotional capacities to meet the full requirements of the school's curriculum and to graduate as skilled and effective practitioners of medicine. Each applicant will be asked to certify that he or she is able to meet the technical standards of the school.