Procedure for Students with Disabilities

You are currently viewing the 2016–17 PLFSOM school catalog.

TTUHSC El Paso complies with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and state and local requirements regarding students with disabilities. Under these laws, no otherwise qualified and competitive individual with a disability shall be denied access to or participation in services, programs and activities of TTUHSC El Pao solely on the basis of the disability.

Students with grievances related to discrimination on the basis of a disability may contact the ADA Compliance Officer for Students in the Office of Student Affairs. Any student seeking remedy on the basis of disability must register as a disabled student with the ADA Compliance Office for Students and must provide all required documentation of disability.

Evaluation and Accommodation

In determining the minimum standards for completion of the medical school curriculum, the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine recognizes that certain disabilities, as that term is defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act, can be accommodated without compromising the standards required by the school or the fundamental integrity of the curriculum. The school is committed to the development of innovative and creative ways of opening the curriculum to competitive and qualified disabled candidates. At the same time, the school recognizes the essential need to preserve the standards and integrity of curriculum requisite for the competent and effective physician. Since the treatment of patients is an essential part of the educational program, the health and safety of those patients must be protected at all costs. Therefore, it is not only reasonable but essential for good patient care to require minimum standards for the education of physicians. The use of a trained intermediary to observe or interpret information is considered to compromise the essential function of the physician.

If a student is offered and accepts an admissions offer from the school of medicine, the student must then sign a form acknowledging that he/she has read and understands that the Standards for Curricular Completion must be met with or without accommodation.

To Apply for Accommodations

In order to request accommodations, a student must submit an application along with supporting documentation about the disability.

Documentation in the form of an evaluation performed by a qualified professional (such as a licensed physician or audiologist) should be provided to the ADA Compliance Officer for Students. Documentation of physical, sensory, or health-related disabilities (including, but not limited to, orthopedic, hearing, visual, systematic, or chronic illnesses) should include:

• A diagnosis of the specific disability (including prognosis if appropriate)
• An indication of the severity and manner in which the disability limits the student's activity, particularly as it relates to university life
• Recommendations for reasonable academic accommodations to equalize the student's opportunities at a post-secondary level

Application and documentation must be submitted in writing to the TTUHSC El Paso ADA Compliance Officer in the Office of Student Affairs. Information and the application can be found on the Student Services website http://www.ttuhsc.edu/studentservices/ada/. The documentation about the disability must be current (from the last 2 years). The deadline for requests with supporting documentation is normally 30 days prior to the beginning of the first semester of enrollment. All applications for accommodations must be renewed every year.

The decision on whether or not an accommodation request will be granted will be made by the ADA Compliance Officer and faculty members who are knowledgeable regarding the area of disability. The school may also seek independent review from a specialist of its choice. Once a decision to grant accommodations is made, an official memo of the decision along with copies of the request will then be forwarded to the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine Student Affairs Committee which will meet and determine how the accommodations will be implemented in the curriculum. The student will receive an official memo of the committee’s decision. Such decisions are subject to review and approval by the dean.

If reasonable accommodation is feasible, effort will be made to provide the accommodation as classes begin. If the request for accommodations occurs during the school year, every effort will be made to expedite the process before the next testing event. If the request for accommodation is denied, the student will be notified in writing.

The faculty through promotions policy has determined that students will be expected to complete the curriculum within four years from the time of initial matriculation and take all designated courses as appropriate for that stage of the curriculum. Exceptions to the requirement that students take all designated courses as appropriate for that stage of the curriculum may be sought and processed as other requests for accommodation, as noted above. Such a request will be based on a specific disability certified by a qualified professional and accompanied by a specific recommendation for accommodation, i.e., a decompressed curriculum based on such a disability, and a written request from the matriculant for such an accommodation based on that disability. As noted above, while students will be expected to complete the curriculum in four years, such an accommodation will not invalidate the requirement that a student must complete all curricular requirements in no more than six years from the time of initial matriculation.

In the area of learning disabilities, the student should note that he/she will have to petition the National Board of Medical Examiners for any accommodation on the United States Medical Licensing Examinations (Steps 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.

Criteria for Diagnosis of Learning Disability

Definition:
A learning disability (as defined by the Rehabilitation Services Administration, RSA PPD-85-1, 1985, p.2) is, "A disorder in one or more of the central nervous system processes involved in perceiving, understanding, and/or using concepts through verbal (spoken) or written language or nonverbal means." The term learning disabilities is used to refer to a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by significant difficulties in spelling, reading, expressing ideas in writing, or solving mathematical problems. They are presumed to be due to a dysfunction in the central nervous system and can occur across the life span. While difficulties with social and behavioral problems may coexist with learning disabilities, they do not constitute a learning disability in themselves.

Guidelines:
The Ad Hoc Committee on Learning Disabilities of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has promulgated guidelines for the assessment of learning disabilities and these are used as a basis for the guidelines at the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine.

Comprehensive Assessment:
A comprehensive assessment must have been done within the last two years. A qualified professional, e.g., a licensed psychologist, a learning disabilities diagnostician, an educational psychologist, with experience in assessing adults must conduct the assessment.

The assessment must address the areas of aptitude, achievement, and information processing.

The assessment must provide clear and specific evidence and identification of a learning disability. "Learning styles" and "learning differences" do not constitute a learning disability.

Information regarding vocational interests and aptitudes may be included.

Students are responsible for the costs of any and all testing done with regard to learning disabilities.

The following tests are considered acceptable:

• A complete intellectual assessment with all subtests and standard scores reported. The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) with subtest scores or the WAIS-III is the highly preferred instrument. Also acceptable are the Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery-Revised: Tests of Cognitive Ability, the Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence test and the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition.
• A comprehensive academic achievement battery is essential with all subtests and standard scores reported for those subtests administered. Levels of functioning in reading, mathematics, and written language are required.

Acceptable instruments include:

• Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery-Revised: Tests of Achievement
• Weschler Individual Achievement Test (WAIT)
• Stanford Test of Academic Skills (TASK)
• Scholastic Abilities Test of Adults (SATA)

Or specific achievement tests such as:

• Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised
• Test of Written Language-3 (TOWL-3)
• Stanford Diagnostic Mathematics Test.

The Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised is not acceptable.

• Information Processing. Specific areas of information processing (i.e., short- and long-term memory, sequential memory, auditory and visual perception and processing, processing speed, executive functioning and motor ability) should be addressed. Preferred instruments include the Detroit Tests of Learning Aptitude (DTLA-3), the Detroit tests of Learning Aptitude – Adult (DTLA-A), information from subtests on WAIS-R or the Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery – Revised: Tests of Cognitive Ability.

All reports must contain the following information:

• The name, degree, title, address, and telephone number of the assessor;
• Information on the professional credential of the evaluator and the areas in which the individual specializes;
• The date of the assessment;
• The names and results of the tests (i.e., scores); standard scores and/or percentiles should be provided and interpreted for all normed measures.
• The nature and effect of the learning disability;
• An appraisal of the student's academic strengths and weaknesses;
• Recommendations for strategies and accommodations.

Students who claim learning disability must review the guidelines with the professional who does the assessment.

The diagnosis for learning disability must confirm less than expected academic functioning as demonstrated by a converted score of 15 or more points less than a full scale IQ on individually administered standardized achievement tests.

A history of substantial long-term functional impairment must be present.