Because of the Medical School's obligation to ensure patients receive the best medical care possible, candidates for admission and the M.D. degree must meet the following technical standards. Technological compensation can be made for some handicaps in some of these areas, but candidates should be able to perform in a reasonably independent manner. The use of a trained intermediary means that candidates' judgment must be mediated by someone else's power of selection and observation. Candidates must be able to observe demonstrations and experiments in the basic sciences, including but not limited to physiologic and pharmacologic demonstrations in animals, microbiologic cultures, and microscopic studies of microorganisms and tissues in normal and pathologic states. Candidates must be able to observe a patient accurately at a distance and close at hand.
Observation necessitates the functional use of vision and somatic sensation.
It is enhanced by the functional use of smell. This skill includes speech, reading, and writing. Candidates should be able to speak, hear, and observe patients in order to elicit information, describe changes in mood, activity, and posture, and perceive nonverbal communications. Candidates must be able to communicate effectively and sensitively with patients and communicate with all members of the health care team in both oral and written form. Candidates should have sufficient motor function to elicit information from patients by palpation, auscultation, percussion, and other diagnostic maneuvers.