Essential Capacities for Matriculation, Promotion, and Graduation - University of Minnesota Medical School

General Issues

Overview

Medical education requires that the accumulation of scientific knowledge be accompanied by the simultaneous development of specific skills and competencies. Because our Medical School has a responsibility to society to graduate the best possible physicians, all students must meet both our academic standards and our technical standards to matriculate, to progress through the curriculum and to meet the requirements for graduation from the University of Minnesota Medical School.

Academic standards refer to acceptable demonstrations of mastery in various disciplines, before matriculation and after, as judged by faculty members, examinations, and other measurements of performance. Acceptable levels of mastery are required in six broad areas of competency once a student matriculates at the University of Minnesota Medical School. These six areas of competency are those used by graduate medical education programs to evaluate their residents.

These six areas of competency are:

Medical/scientific knowledge
Clinical Skills/patient care
Professionalism
Communication/interpersonal skills
Practice-based learning (engaging in self-assessment and utilizing appropriate resources to make improvements in one's learning and performance)
Systems-based practice (understanding complex medical systems in order to effectively carry out responsibilities to optimize patient care)

Through its curriculum, the University of Minnesota Medical School is committed to preparing our students within the continuum of medical education. Our academic and technical standards are based upon the goal of graduating capable, well-rounded future clinicians.

Academic standards are addressed in more detail during each course and clerkship. Any student, who has specific questions about performance requirements, should speak with course and clerkship directors.

Our technical standards are described in detail under item II. Technical standards refer to the essential aptitudes and abilities that allow medical students (and physicians) to complete the preclinical curriculum and to perform the list of clinical skills described in the University of Minnesota Medical School Competencies Required for Graduation.

Without the capability to meet our technical standards, students cannot fulfill the requirements of all the courses and clerkships at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Meeting the University of Minnesota Medical School technical standards (detailed below) is, therefore, required for 1) matriculation (insomuch as the abilities can reasonably be determined before matriculation), 2) subsequent promotion from term to term, and 3) graduation from the University of Minnesota Medical School.

Students with Disabilities

It is our experience that a number of individuals with disabilities (as defined by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act) are qualified to study and practice medicine with the use of reasonable accommodations. To be qualified for the study of medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School, those individuals must be able to meet both our academic and technical standards, with or without reasonable accommodation. Accommodation is viewed as a means of assisting students with disabilities to meet essential standards by providing them with an equal opportunity to participate in all aspects of each course or clerkship. (Reasonable accommodation is not intended to guarantee that students will be successful in meeting the requirements of the course or clerkship.)¹

The Use of Auxiliary Aids and Intermediaries

Qualified students with documented disabilities are provided with reasonable accommodations at the University of Minnesota Medical School, which may include involvement of an intermediary or an auxiliary aid. No disability can be reasonably accommodated at the University of Minnesota Medical School with an intermediary that provides cognitive support or substitutes for essential clinical skills, or supplements clinical and ethical judgment. Thus, accommodations cannot eliminate essential program elements or fundamentally alter the medical school curriculum.

The University of Minnesota Medical School Technical Standards

Students at the University of Minnesota Medical School must meet the technical standards, with or without reasonable accommodations, which are grouped in five broad areas:

Perception/observation
Communication
Motor/tactile function
Cognition
Professionalism

Perception/Observation

Students must be able to perceive, by the use of senses and mental abilities, the presentation of information through:

Small group discussions and presentations
Large-group lectures
One-on-one interactions
Demonstrations
Laboratory experiments
Patient encounters (at a distance and close at hand)
Diagnostic findings
Procedures
Written material
Audiovisual material

Communication

Students must be able to skillfully (in English) communicate verbally and in written form with faculty members, other members of the healthcare team, patients, families, and other students, in order to:

Elicit information
Convey information
Clarify information
Create rapport
Develop therapeutic relationships
Demonstrate competencies used by graduate medical education, as well as the University of Minnesota Medical School Competencies required for graduation

Motor/tactile function

Students must have sufficient motor function and tactile ability to meet the competencies required for graduation and to:

Attend (and participate in) classes, groups, and activities which are part of the curriculum
Communicate in a written format
Examine patients (including observation, auscultation, palpation, percussion, and other diagnostic maneuvers)
Do basic laboratory procedures and tests
Perform diagnostic procedures
Provide general and emergency patient care
Function in outpatient, inpatient, and surgical venues
Perform in a reasonably independent and competent way in sometimes chaotic clinical environments
Demonstrate the core competencies used by graduate medical education, as well as the University of Minnesota Medical School Competencies required for graduation

Cognition

Students must be able to demonstrate higher-level cognitive abilities, which include:

Rational thought
Measurement
Calculation
Visual-spatial comprehension
Conceptualization
Analysis
Synthesis
Organization
Representation (oral, written, diagrammatic, three dimensional)
Memory
Application
Clinical reasoning
Ethical reasoning
Sound judgment

Professionalism

Students must be able to:

Consistently display integrity, honesty, empathy, caring, fairness, respect for self and others, diligence, and dedication
Promptly complete all assignments and responsibilities attendant to the diagnosis and care of patients (beginning with study in the first year)
Develop mature, sensitive, and effective relationships, not only with patients but with all members of the medical school community and healthcare teams
Tolerate physically, emotionally, and mentally demanding workloads
Function effectively under stress, and proactively make use of available resources to help maintain both physical and mental health
Adapt to changing environments, display flexibility, and be able to learn in the face of uncertainty
Take responsibility for themselves and their behaviors

Any medical school applicant or medical student who has a question about whether he or she can meet these standards due to the functional limitations from a disability, should contact Disability Services for a confidential discussion.

Twin-Cities:
Disability Services
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
McNamara Alumni Center
200 Oak St SE Suite 180
Minneapolis , MN 55455
Phone: (612) 626-1333 (V/TTY)
Fax: (612) 626-9654
www.ds.umn.edu

Duluth:
Disability Services and Resources
University of Minnesota Duluth
236 Kirby Student Center
1035 University Avenue
Duluth , MN 55812
Phone: (218) 726-8217
Fax: (218) 726-6706
www.d.umn.edu/access

A disability specialist is available to talk with any medical school applicant or medical student about their concerns related to a physical, sensory, medical, learning, or psychiatric condition that may be a disability.

¹Reasonable Accommodations May Not:

Fundamentally alter the nature of the training program
Compromise the essential elements of the program
Cause an undue financial or administrative burden
Endanger the safety of patients, self or others

[Reviewed and Approved by the Education Council on 02/21/06]