It is essential that all MD graduates of the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine have a predictable level of competence across the range of knowledge and skills generally expected of physicians. This allows patients, residency program directors, licensing and credentialing authorities, specialty boards, and other interested parties to rely on these competencies when interacting with our graduates. In addition, it is a primary educational objective of Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine that all students will have a broad-based educational foundation that will prepare them to pursue post-graduate training in any current discipline or specialty of medicine.
The faculty, therefore, expect that all students will demonstrate proficiency, with or without reasonable accommodation, in all degree requirements. All Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine students are expected to carry out the tasks, both intellectual and physical, of the foundational science and clinical curricula, either without accommodations or with those accommodations that are reasonable and appropriate in the range of settings and circumstances in which our educational program is based. Reasonable accommodations enable students with disabilities to meet Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine’s standards. Reasonable accommodations do not provide cognitive support or medical knowledge, substitute for essential clinical skills, or supplement clinical or ethical judgement. Reasonable accommodations will never eliminate essential curricular elements or requirements that have been established as part of the medical school curriculum.
All students must have the capacity to communicate effectively to patients, families and members of the health care team in urgent, potentially unpredictable and chaotic situations, as such events occur in clinical settings where students participate in clinical teams. Students must have the ability to respond without assistance to alarms and other warning signals in patient care areas.
The following technical standards have been formally adopted by the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. A candidate for the MD degree must have abilities and skills in the areas of observation, communication, sensory and motor coordination and function, intellectual-conceptual, integrative, and quantitative abilities; and behavioral and social attributes as described below. It is a breach of professional conduct for a provisionally accepted student or Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine student to knowingly misrepresent abilities or provide false information.
Observation
Students must be able to observe and fully participate in all aspects of the foundational science curriculum. They must also be able to accurately observe a patient and the surrounding environment, both at a distance and close at hand, noting nonverbal, as well as verbal signals.
Communication
Students must be able to communicate effectively and sensitively with patients and their families, as well as with all members of the health care team in a variety of different settings. Communication includes speaking, reading, writing, and perceiving nonverbal communication and interpretation of patient monitoring devices. Students must communicate effectively and efficiently in both oral and written English. They must be able to accurately elicit, comprehend, interpret, transmit and record information regarding all features of a patient’s physical and emotional status. They must possess reading skills at a level sufficient to accomplish, in a timely manner, all administrative requirements, as well as to meet the performance expectations of the faculty in all areas of the curriculum. As members of the health care team, students must be able to provide audible and intelligible verbal information in urgent and semi-urgent situations, and respond immediately and appropriately to verbal communication, even in unpredictable and chaotic clinical settings.
Sensory and Motor Coordination and Function
Students must possess motor and sensory capacity to perform activities necessary for the completion of the foundational science curriculum, as well as for the provision of routine and emergent patient care. Such actions require coordination of gross and fine movements, equilibrium, strength and endurance, and functional use of the senses. Students may be called upon to perform such actions rapidly and under challenging circumstances.
Intellectual-Conceptual, Integrative and Quantitative Abilities
Students must be able to measure, calculate, reason, analyze and synthesize. It is also essential that student have the ability to absorb and process new information from patients, peers, teachers, supervisors, and from scientific literature, in the support of critical thinking, clinical reasoning and problem solving.
Behavioral and Social Attributes
Students must have the capacity to develop empathic, respectful, and effective relationships with peers, patients and all members of the health care team. They must be able to use their intellectual capacity to exercise sound judgment and to complete all academic and clinical responsibilities in a timely and professional manner, even under stressful circumstances. They must be able to demonstrate resilience and adapt to changing environments and to learn in the face of the uncertainties inherent in the practice of medicine. Compassion, integrity, high ethical standards, cultural sensitivity, as well as strong interpersonal skills and motivation are vital to the successful completion of the MD program. Students must be able to identify their own needs for support and care, and proactively access available resources.
To request accommodations, contact BU Disability & Access Services.
May 2018