Standards for Curricular Completion (Full Policy Review)

Medical Education Program Policy

1. Policy Statement: This policy defines the non-academic requirements essential for participation in the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine (PLFSOM) M.D. degree program.
2. Reason for Policy: As per the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) publication Functions and Structure of a Medical School (March 2024): “A medical school develops and publishes technical standards for the admission, retention, and graduation of applicants or medical students in accordance with legal requirements”.
3. This policy should be read by:
   • All PLFSOM academic officers with responsibilities relating to undergraduate medical education 
   • All candidates offered admission, and all medical students who experience a change in their general abilities or skills 
4. Resources:
   • This policy is administratively maintained by the PLFSOM Office of Medical Education, in consultation with the Office of Student Affairs, and the Office of Admissions. 
   • Related institutional policies:
     • HSCEP OP 77.01, Admission
     • HSCEP OP 77.14, Accessibility and Establishing Accommodation for Students with Disabilities 
5. Definitions:
   • Technical Standards (previously referred to as the “Standards for Curricular Completion”): The term ‘technical standards’ refers to all non-academic admissions criteria that are essential to participation in the program in question.
   • Student: For the purposes of this policy, the term “student” refers to all admitted candidates for admission, promotion, or graduation under the PLFSOM M.D. degree program.
6. The Policy:
   1. 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.
   2. 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. In addition, as students interact with patients throughout their medical education, the school has an ethical responsibility for the safety of the patients with whom students and graduates will come in contact. Patient safety and well-being are therefore major factors in establishing requirements involving the physical, cognitive, and emotional abilities of candidates for admission, promotion, and graduation. 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 (i.e., to fulfill all of the educational program’s goals, objectives, and requirements at or exceeding the competencies required by the faculty, and as consistent with LCME accreditation standard 6: “Competencies, Curricular Objectives and Curricular Design”): 
      1. 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.
      2. 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. 
      3. 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.
      4. 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.
      5. 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.

Within this framework, the need for a trained intermediary to observe or interpret information, or to perform procedures, is deemed to preclude essential elements of participation in, and comprehensive fulfillment of the curriculum. In addition, a student must have the physical and emotional stamina and capacity to function in a competent manner in the hospital, classroom, and laboratory settings, including settings that may involve heavy workloads, long hours, and stressful situations in order to provide patient care that is timely, safe and effective. Also, Individuals whose performance is impaired by abuse of alcohol or other substances are not suitable candidates for admission, promotion, or graduation.

7. If a candidate is offered and accepts an offer of admission, the candidate must then sign a form acknowledging that they have read this policy and understand that the program’s technical standards must be met without accommodation or with reasonable accommodations. Requests for accommodation(s) must be submitted to the TTUHSC El Paso Academic Success and Accessibility Office (ASAO) in accordance with HSCEP OP 77.14. The deadline for admitted candidates to submit requests and supporting documentation is 30 days prior to the beginning of the first semester of enrollment. Copies of the request and documentation will then be forwarded to the PLFSOM Office of Student Affairs, and the ASAO will work with the school to assess the request in the context of the educational program’s technical standards. The School may seek independent review by a specialist of its choice. The decision on whether or not an accommodation request will be granted is made by a committee composed of the TTUHSC El Paso assistant vice-president for student services and student engagement or their designee, the PLFSOM associate dean for medical education, the associate dean for admissions, the associate dean for student affairs, and at least three relevantly knowledgeable faculty members or consultants selected by the dean or their designee. Accommodations granted at the time of admission for permanent disabilities should be consistent with the applicant’s ability to complete the entire degree plan, including the clerkship phase of the curriculum. This committee’s decisions are subject to review and approval by the dean.
8. Requests for accommodations, including requests by students related to disabilities identified and/ or acquired following matriculation, are otherwise evaluated and managed according to HSCEP OP 77.14.
9. PLSFOM students will be required to review the Technical Standards annually and attest that they have read this policy and understand that the program’s technical standards must be met without accommodation or with reasonable accommodation.
10. Requests for accommodation by external organizations (such as, but not limited to, the National Board of Medical Examiners) for any exams or assessments administered under their auspices are independent and additional processes for which the school is not responsible. Such requests, and any related expenses, are the responsibility of the student.
11. Monitoring: 

• ​At the time of admission:
  • Student attestations signifying receipt of the policy and understanding that the program’s technical standards must be met with or without accommodation will be centrally monitored by the Office of Admissions.
• At the beginning of each academic year:
  • Student attestations signifying receipt of the policy and understanding that the program’s technical standards must be met with or without accommodation will be centrally monitored by the Office of Student Affairs.
• Return from a leave of absence with interruption: 
  • f a student takes a leave of absence with interruption of enrollment, they will also be required to review the Technical Standards and attest that they have read the policy and understand that the program’s technical standards must be met without accommodation or with reasonable accommodation. The deadline for returning students to submit requests for accommodations and supporting documentation is 30 days prior to the anticipated return date. 

  12. Failure to meet the technical standards of the degree plan with reasonable accommodation could result in non-promotion, administrative withdrawal, or dismissal from the school with financial implications for the student.

Policies are subject to revision. Refer to the Office of Medical Education website or contact the Office of Medical Education to ensure that you are working with the current version.