Technical Standards
Technical Standards for Admission, Continuation and Graduation
Introduction:
The mission of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine at the UMass Chan Medical School is to graduate skilled and effective physicians. The T.H. Chan School of Medicine selects applicants who are deemed best qualified to complete the curriculum and are considered most likely to become successful physicians. Applicants are selected for admission based not only on their scholastic achievement and abilities, but also on their intellectual, physical and emotional capacities to meet the standards of the curriculum and to have a successful career in medicine. The T.H. Chan School of Medicine requires that the curriculum provide a general education in medicine enabling each graduate to pursue residency training in all disciplines of medicine. This requires the development of broad knowledge, skills, and behaviors, ongoing self-directed learning, and delivery of safe, competent medical care.
The T.H. Chan School of Medicine will consider for admission any applicant who meets its academic criteria, and can meet the T.H. Chan School of Medicine Technical Standards, with or without reasonable accommodations, consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Technical Standards are listed and described below. Applicants who have questions about whether they meet the Technical Standards are advised to review these standards with their healthcare providers prior to application to the T.H. Chan School of Medicine. The use of a human intermediary to meet these technical standards means that a student’s judgment is guided by another person’s powers of observation and interpretation. Students are, therefore, not permitted to use such intermediaries in meeting the technical standards of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine at UMass Chan Medical School.
The following technical standards specify attributes necessary for completing medical school training, enabling each graduate to subsequently enter residency training and clinical practice. These standards describe the essential functions students must meet in order to fulfill the requirements of an undergraduate medical education, and thus, are pre-requisites for entrance, continuation, advancement, retention, and graduation from medical school. Deficiencies in meeting these technical standards may jeopardize the student’s academic standing and/or compromise the provision of high quality patient care and, as such, may be grounds for dismissal from the school.
Certain chronic or recurrent illnesses can interfere with safe patient care and may not be compatible with medical practice or training. Any student who is or becomes a carrier of blood borne pathogens [including but not limited to Hepatitis B virus, Hepatitis C virus, and Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV)] must read the addendum and acknowledge the policy statement on blood-borne pathogens appended to this document. Other conditions that may lead to a high likelihood of debilitating conditions or illnesses should also be carefully considered before committing to a clinical career.
Technical Standards:
A student must possess aptitude, abilities and skills in five areas:
- Observation
- Communication
- Sensory and Motor Coordination
- Intellectual-Conceptual, Integrative and Quantitative Abilities
- Professionalism: Behavioral and Social Attributes
Updated October 2017