Technical Standards for Admission, Retention, and Graduation

PLFSOM, as a component of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, is committed to equal educational opportunity and non-discrimination consistent with HSCEP OP 77.01 and HSCEP OP 77.14. Because graduation with an M.D. degree signifies that the recipient is a physician prepared for entry into the practice of medicine within the U.S. graduate medical education and licensure framework, students in the PLFSOM M.D. degree program are expected to acquire a broad foundation of medical knowledge and skills that generally supports and permits this progression.

As such, all students must meet certain standards with or without reasonable accommodations. More specifically, all students must possess the following intellectual, ethical, behavioral, and physical capabilities required to undertake the curriculum in its entirety:

Observation: A student must be able to demonstrate adequate sensory function (e.g., vision, hearing and touch) to observe a patient accurately at a distance and close at hand.

Communication: A student must be able to communicate with clarity and efficiency in both spoken and written form. The student must also be able to perceive communication from others whether it be written, verbal, or non-verbal including intonation, changes in mood, activity, and posture.

Psychomotor Skills: A student must be able to perform the maneuvers necessary to perform a physical exam, render routine and emergent care, and safely execute the motor movements required to provide general care and emergency treatment to patients. Examples of these include, but are not limited to cardiopulmonary resuscitation, inserting an IV, drawing blood, bag-valve-mask ventilation, palpation, auscultation, percussion, application of pressure, movement around the immobile patient as needed to perform procedures such as maintaining a sterile field and surgical and non- surgical procedures.

Intellectual and Cognitive Abilities: A student must be able to problem- solve effectively and rapidly; learn; reason; calculate; formulate and test hypotheses; memorize; process; analyze; rapidly integrate and synthesize information; and apply information in an environment of high stress and distraction.

Behavioral and Social Skills: A student must exercise professional judgment and promptly complete all responsibilities attendant to his or her academic work, teamwork, and patient care. The student must possess the ability to develop mature, sensitive and effective professional relationships with peers, faculty, staff, and members of the healthcare team. The student must be able to give and receive constructive feedback. The student must demonstrate the ability to process feedback and utilize it to conform his or her behavior to expected professional standards. The student must manage adversity and stress in order to prevent its impacting his or her abilities in these competencies.

Procedure for submitting a request for accommodation

Without compromising the standards required by the school or the fundamental integrity of its curriculum, the school recognizes that persons with disabilities, as that term is defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act, may fulfill the standards with reasonable accommodation. The Foster School of Medicine is committed to developing innovative and creative ways of opening its curriculum to competitive and qualified candidates with disabilities. Requests for accommodation under the technical standards will be considered on an individual basis and reasonable accommodation will be arranged if appropriate.

When an applicant is invited for an interview at the Foster School of Medicine, a copy of the detailed standards for curricular completion will be included in the orientation packet.

If a student is offered and accepts an offer of admissions from the Foster School of Medicine, the student must sign a form acknowledging that they have read and understand that the technical standards must be met with or without reasonable accommodation.

Further details regarding accommodation requests can be found here:

https://ttuhscep.edu/studentservices/accessibility/apply.aspx

HSCEP OP 77.14, Accessibility and Establishing Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

Technical Standards for Admission, Retention, and Graduation

Applicants will have to petition the National Board of Medical Examiners for any accommodation on the United States Medical Licensing Examinations (Step I, II, and III) and that this process is in addition to and separate from any request for accommodation by the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine.

Office of Admissions
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso
Paul L. Foster School of Medicine
5001 El Paso Drive
El Paso, Texas 79905