All individuals, including persons with disabilities, who apply for admission to UT Southwestern Medical School must be able to perform specific essential functions. Essential functions are the basic activities that a student must be able to perform to complete the generalist medical school curriculum. Candidates also must possess functional use of the sense of vision and somatic sensation.
Observation is enhanced by the functional use of the sense of smell.
Candidates must be able to communicate orally and in writing with patients and members of the health-care team. Candidates also must be able to read and comprehend written material. Candidates must be able to execute motor movements to provide general care and emergency treatment that are reasonably required of physicians. Problem solving, a clinical skill required of physicians, requires all these intellectual abilities. In addition, candidates must be able to comprehend 3-D relationships and to understand the spatial relationships of structures.