Technical and Health Standers 

The University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (UCCOM) is committed to attracting and training students for its MD program from a variety of backgrounds and experiences to care for our diverse communities nationally. As a member of our medical school community, we endeavor to ensure that every student can learn and thrive in an environment that is supportive of their academic, social, and physical needs. We are committed to excellence in providing appropriate services and opportunities for student success. 

UCCOM maintains a strong commitment to equal educational opportunities for qualified students with disabilities who apply for admission or are already enrolled. UCCOM’s Technical and Health Standards (collectively, “Technical Standards”) are not intended to deter any candidate for whom reasonable accommodation will allow the fulfillment of the complete curriculum.  

Students earning the MD degree from UCCOM are expected to have a strong sense of commitment to serving their community, to adhere to high ethical standards, and to be sensitive to individual, cultural, and ethnic differences that exist in society. We intend for our graduates to become competent and compassionate physicians who can enter residency training and meet all requirements for medical licensure. All graduates are required to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to provide safe and effective medical care in a wide variety of clinical settings. The avowed intention of an individual student to practice only a narrow part of clinical medicine or to pursue a non-clinical career does not alter the requirement that all medical students take and achieve competence in the full curriculum. The curriculum requires certain minimum abilities to ensure that candidates are appropriate for admission, promotion, and graduation within the MD program. 

In addition to the acquisition of the appropriate knowledge in the sciences and the humanities, UCCOM faculty agree that the successful medical student must demonstrate the capacity to acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to complete the MD program educational requirements, including the Technical Standards in this document. These Technical Standards are requirements for admission to, promotion in, and graduation from UCCOM’s MD program. 

The College of Medicine Council of UCCOM requires that candidates meet the following standards, with or without reasonable accommodation, as a condition of participation in the MD program. Applicants and students seeking reasonable accommodations should follow the procedures set forth in the UCCOM Student Handbook.  The application process is confidential and collaborative with the Office of Accessibility Resources. If at any point in time after matriculation a candidate finds they are no longer able to satisfy the Technical Standards, they must promptly notify the Assistant Dean. 

Technical Standards 

Intellectual, Conceptual, Integrative, and Quantitative Skills

1. Demonstrate the ability to assimilate large amounts of detailed information from varied learning formats, integrate that information and be capable of utilizing it for problem solving. 
2. Process information and demonstrate the ability to reason, comprehend, measure, calculate, analyze, memorize, organize, and synthesize complex information. 
3. Recognize and draw conclusions about three-dimensional spatial relationships and logical sequential relationships to appreciate experiences in the laboratory and clinical settings. 
4. Be able to use sound judgment, ethical and clinical reasoning, and possess the ability to make timely, prudent, informed, and defensible decisions appropriate to the care of patients. 

Communication Skills

1. Demonstrate and use the knowledge acquired during the medical education process to elicit, convey, clarify, and communicate information effectively, accurately, efficiently, and sensitively to patients, their families, and other members of the health care team in a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings. 
2. Be able to discern and interpret non-verbal aspects of communication such as mood, activity, and posture. 
3. Be able to obtain and record legible, accurate, and comprehensive information and communicate to educators, and other members of the health care team. 

Behavioral and Social Skills

1. Demonstrate professionalism and maturity necessary to participate in the various learning formats of the curriculum, interact with others in a responsible and collaborative manner, function in a stressful and demanding environment, adapt to new and changing situations, and cope with ambiguity. 
2. Be prompt in completion of all responsibilities including but not limited to their own learning and the diagnosis and care of patients. 
3. Demonstrate integrity, compassion, empathy, tolerance for differences, and a general concern and respect for others. 
4. Be able to contribute to collaborative, constructive learning environments, accept constructive feedback from others, and take personal responsibility for making appropriate positive changes. 

Motor Coordination and Sensory Skills

1. Participate effectively in all aspects of medical training. 
2. Perform all medical, diagnostic, and surgical procedures considered essential for the learning outcomes of the course, including physical examinations and diagnostic maneuvers. 
3. Recognize emergency situations and respond in a timely manner. Either personally perform or direct and evaluate the performance by others of life-saving procedures (e.g., BLS, ACLS). 

Patient Health and Safety Standards

As part of the admission, participation, promotion and/or graduation processes, candidates are required to comply with procedural safety measures affecting the well-being of patients (defined as patient health and safety standards). 

Criminal Background Check

Not only is the review of applicant character and conduct as a citizen an important consideration for the student entering medical school, but it also impacts possible future licensure as a practicing physician, concerns the safety and well-being of patients, and has implications for liability issues affecting the medical school and affiliated clinical facilities. A criminal background check prior to matriculation into medical school is a standard requirement of UCCOM and of several clinical training sites. Candidates for matriculation to UCCOM must complete and pass two criminal background checks prior to commencing their studies. The existence of a conviction does not automatically disqualify an applicant for the medical school (relevant considerations may include but are not limited to the date, nature, and number of convictions, the relationship of the conviction to the profession, and any rehabilitation efforts). UCCOM retains the sole discretion to decide whether an applicant with a conviction(s) may enter the MD program. 

Failure to complete all criminal background check requirements by the deadlines provided by UCCOM can result in the withdrawal of an offer of admission. Clerkships, electives, educational activities as well as affiliated hospitals and programs might require additional background checks. Compliance with these background checks is a condition of continued enrollment. 

Immunizations

Health care providers in contact with patients, especially those with compromised immune systems, are at-risk for contracting and transmitting infectious diseases. Subject to any reasonable accommodation, all candidates must maintain established UCCOM immunization requirements for their own protection and the protection of their patients and the populations that they serve against preventable communicable illness. To this end, candidates must present proof of immunizations (an immunization history signed by your personal physician who is not a relative) prior to matriculation in accordance with immunization with immunization requirements of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine or their offer of admission can be withdrawn. All immunizations are required unless an exception is approved by University Health Services. Additional testing, evaluation, and documentation may be required in individual cases. Clerkships, electives, educational activities as well as affiliated hospitals and programs generally require certain immunizations as well. Students are expected to complete all clinical requirements of the MD program to graduate and, as such, must satisfy the requirements, including those relating to immunization, of any such hospital or program site.  Failure to do so may result in suspension or dismissal from the MD program. See Health Requirements for Medical Students Upon Entry to UCCOM and Tuberculosis (TB) and Influenza (Flu) Immunization Requirements policies.   

Drug and Alcohol Testing

Individuals who are dependent on or impaired by alcohol or illegal substances are not suitable candidates for providing care to patients and, therefore, for admission to, promotion in, or graduation from UCCOM’s MD program. Health care providers within our primary health system (UC Health) are expected to maintain a safe, productive, and drug- and alcohol-free environment and to perform their assigned duties safely and efficiently. Participation in clinical rotations at UC Health is an essential requirement of UCCOM’s curriculum. UC Health requires all participants to submit a negative drug screen prior to participation in clinical rotations. Therefore, all UCCOM candidates must pass a comprehensive, pre-matriculation drug screen according to the standards and requirements set forth and maintained by UC Health. Failure to pass this drug screen may result in the rescinding of an applicant’s acceptance. 

Following matriculation, “for cause” drug and alcohol testing may be initiated when concerns are raised regarding the performance, behavior, or actions of a medical student that indicate a reasonable suspicion of substance impairment. Compliance with “for cause” drug and alcohol testing of medical students is a condition of continued enrollment. See Toxicology Testing “For Cause” policy.