In accordance with section 504 of the Rehabilitative Act of 1973 (PL 93-112) and following careful review of the 1979 report by a Special Advisory panel on Technical Standards of the Association of American Medical Colleges, and incorporating the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA PL 101-336) enacted by Congress in 1990,  the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine (MUJCESOM or School of Medicine) has adopted minimal technical standards for the assessment of all Medical Degree candidates (henceforth referred to as Candidates) to the School of Medicine. A Candidate at MUJCESOM must be capable of acquiring and demonstrating all program objectives across the six core competencies, which include medical knowledge, patient care, interpersonal and communication skills, practice-based learning and improvement, professionalism, and systems-based practice with or without reasonable accommodation due to disability.

Candidates to the MUJCESOM are selected based on their academic, personal, and extracurricular dimensions. In addition, Candidates must have the intellectual, physical, and emotional capacities to meet the requirements of the school’s curriculum and for a successful medical career.

Essential abilities and characteristics required for the completion of any Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree require certain minimum physical and cognitive abilities as well as sufficient mental and emotional stability to assure that Candidates for admission, retention and graduation are able to complete the program and participate fully in all aspects of medical training. 

A Candidate must have abilities and skills in observation; communication; motor; conceptual; integrative; and quantitative; and behavioral and social as outlined below.

The following abilities and characteristics are defined as Technical Standards, which are a part of the school’s requirements for admission, retention, and graduation:

A.  OBSERVATION: Candidates must be able to acquire information from demonstrations and participate in experiments of science, including but not limited to such things as dissection of cadavers; examination of specimens in anatomy, pathology, and neuroanatomy laboratories; and microscopic study of microorganisms and tissues in normal and pathologic states. Candidates must be able to accurately acquire information from patients and assess findings.  They must be able to perform a complete physical examination in order to integrate findings based on this information and to develop an appropriate diagnostic and treatment plan. These skills require the use of vision, hearing, and touch or the functional equivalent.

B.  COMMUNICATION: Candidates must be able to communicate effectively and efficiently with patients, their families, health care personnel, colleagues, faculty, staff, and all other individuals with whom they come in contact. Candidates must be able to obtain a medical history in a timely fashion, interpret non-verbal aspects of communication, and establish therapeutic relationships with patients. Candidates must be able to record information accurately and clearly; and communicate effectively and efficiently in English with other health care professionals in a variety of patient settings.

C.  MOTOR FUNCTION: Candidates must, after a reasonable period of training, possess the capacity to perform physical examinations and diagnostic maneuvers. They must be able to respond to clinical situations in a timely manner and provide general and emergency care. These activities require adequate physical mobility, coordination of both gross and fine motor neuromuscular function and balance and equilibrium.

D. INTELLECTUAL-CONCEPTUAL, INTEGRATIVE, AND QUANTITATIVE ABILITIES: Candidates must be able to assimilate the detailed and complex information presented in the medical student curriculum. They must be able to learn through a variety of modalities including, but not limited to, classroom instruction; small group, team and collaborative activities; individual study; preparation and presentation of reports; simulations and use of computer technology. Candidates must be able to memorize, measure, calculate, reason, analyze, synthesize, and transmit information. They must recognize and draw conclusions about three- dimensional spatial relationships and logical sequential relationships among events. They must be able to formulate and test hypotheses that enable effective and timely problem-solving in diagnosis and treatment of patients in a variety of clinical settings and health care systems.

E.  BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL ATTRIBUTES: Candidates must demonstrate the maturity and emotional stability required for full use of their intellectual abilities. They must accept responsibility for learning, exercising good judgment, and promptly complete all responsibilities attendant to their curriculum and to the diagnosis and care of patients. Candidates must display characteristics of integrity, honesty, attendance and conscientiousness, empathy, a sense of altruism, and a spirit of cooperation and teamwork. They must understand and demonstrate understanding of the legal and ethical aspects of the practice of medicine and function within both the law and ethical standards of the medical profession. Candidates must be able to interact with patients and their families, health care personnel, colleagues, faculty, staff, and all other individuals with whom they come in contact in a courteous, professional, and respectful manner. The candidate for the MD degree must accept responsibility for learning, and exercise good judgment. Candidates must be able to contribute to collaborative, constructive learning environments; accept constructive feedback from others; and take personal responsibility for making appropriate positive changes. Candidates must have the physical and emotional stamina and resilience to tolerate physically taxing workloads and function in a competent and professional manner under highly stressful situations, adapt to changing environments, display flexibility, and manage the uncertainty inherent in the care of patients and the health care system.

If a student is unable to maintain satisfactory progress due to inability to meet technical standards with or without reasonable accommodations, the candidate will be referred to Academic and Professional Standards Committee as they review the candidate’s performance.

It is the responsibility of a Candidate with a disability as soon an offer of acceptance is received and accepted, to request accommodations through the MUJCESOM Office of Student Affairs in order to meet these technical standards (https://jcesom.marshall.edu/media/62038/reasonable_accommodations.pdf).  Accommodations will only be applied from effective date of approval.

Procedure:

1.  MD Candidates will review and sign that they have read and understand the Technical Standards upon acceptance.

2.  MD Candidates will review and sign that they have read and understood the Technical Standards upon matriculation, M2 orientation, M3 orientation and prior to their M4 year.

3.  Re-affirm the Technical Standards upon reentry to JCESOM after any leave of absence from JCESOM.