No./Title: COM127/Re-attestation to Meet COM Technical Standards	Resp. Office: Medical Education Approval Body: CUME	Effective Date: 3/21/22
Category: COM/UME	Last Review: 8/19/24	Next Review: 8/19/27
Contact: Michael Whitt, Ph.D. Assoc. Dean for Medical Education	 901-448-4634	 mwhitt@uthsc.edu
Related Policy: COM105 – Progress, Promotion & Graduation

POLICY

It is the policy of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center(UTHSC) College of Medicine (COM) that after acceptance to the MD program, but prior to matriculation, students must meet and maintain for enrollment and progression in the MD program certain minimum technical standards. Prior to the start of each subsequent year that students are enrolled in the MD program every student must attest that they meet the technical standards of the MD program, with or without reasonable accommodations. Students who are unable to meet the technical standards at any time after enrolling in the MD program, with or without reasonable accommodation, will not be permitted to progress within the MD program.

RATIONALE

The goal of the UTHSC COM is the broad preparation of students for the practice of medicine. The COM faculty have the responsibility to graduate the best possible physicians, and students must possess the following general qualities: critical thinking, sound judgment, emotional stability and maturity, empathy, physical and mental stamina and the ability to learn and function in a wide variety of educational settings.

When students are admitted to the COM MD program, they attest that they can meet certain minimum technical standards prior to matriculation (https://www.uthsc.edu/medicine/admissions/technical- standards.php). These standards must be maintained throughout a student’s enrollment, up through graduation. Therefore, candidates for the MD degree must have the following essential abilities: motor skills; sensory and observational skills; communication skills; conceptual, integrative and quantitative skills; and behavioral and social skills and professionalism.

In accordance with applicable law, including Section 504 of the 1973 Vocational Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities ACT (ADA) [Public Law 101-336], the COM has established a set of minimal technical standards that students must meet and maintain throughout the MD program.

While students attest that they can meet the technical standards, with or without accommodation, upon matriculation, the COM recognizes that life events may occur which could affect the ability of students to meet the technical standards. Therefore, to ensure that students continue to meet the technical standards throughout their pre-clinical and clinical training, the COM requires that students attest that they continue to meet the technical standards each year, with or without reasonable accommodation.

PROCEDURE

1. Before the start of the M2, M3 and M4 years, students will be provided a unique link that contains a list of the current technical standards. Using the link, students must attest that they meet all of the technical standards, with or without reasonable accommodations. The link will be sent to students in April each year.
2. The Office of Medical Education will not presume that a student has a disability. Students with disabilities, or who believe they might have a disability, and require accommodations to meet the technical standards of the MD program, must self-identify and contact the Associate Director of Accessibility and Accommodations (https://www.uthsc.edu/tlc/accommodations.php) who provides guidance to students on the process for requesting accommodations. Timely requests for accommodations and supporting medical documentation must be provided to the Associate Director of Accessibility and Accommodations, as accommodations are not applied retroactively.
3. Students who cannot meet the technical standards with or without reasonable accommodations may be dismissed from the COM in accordance with the procedures described in policy COM105 – Progress, Promotion and Graduation.

APPROVAL HISTORY

Effective: 3/21/22 Revised: 8/19/24