Applicants to and students of the University of Florida College of Medicine School of Physician Assistant Studies (COM SPAS) must be capable of completing core educational requirements and achieving the UF COM SPAS competencies essential for the delivery of high-quality medical care. The essential skills and abilities described below, also referred to as technical standards, are required for successful admission, promotion, and graduation.
Applicants and students must be able to fully perform all essential functions in each of the following categories: observation, communication, motor, intellectual, and behavioral/social. Admitted Students with a disability are encouraged to discuss this with University of Florida Accesibility. Students and the ADA Office may consider technological and other facilitating mechanisms necessary to train and function effectively as a physician assistant. COM SPAS is committed to enabling its students to complete the course of study leading to the physician assistant degree by any reasonable means or accommodations.
Observation
Applicants and students must be able to acquire information from demonstrations and participate in laboratory exercises. One must be able to assess and comprehend the condition of all patients assigned to the student for examination, diagnosis, and treatment. These skills require the use of vision, hearing, and touch or the functional equivalent.
Communication
Applicants and students must demonstrate proficiency in the English language such that one can communicate in both oral and written form effectively and sensitively with patients and members of the health care team. This includes the ability to speak, to hear and to observe patients by sight in order to elicit information, describe changes in mood, activity and posture, and perceive nonverbal communications. In a case where an individual’s ability to communicate is compromised, one must demonstrate alternative means and/or abilities to communicate with patients and members of the health care teams.
Motor
Applicants and students must be able to attend and participate in required classes and activities within the curriculum. An individual’s motor and sensory functions must be sufficient to diagnose and deliver patient care consistently, quickly and accurately. Individuals must be able to perform physical exams and diagnostic procedures using techniques, such as: palpation, auscultation, percussion, and other diagnostic maneuvers. Individuals must be able to respond in a timely manner and safely execute motor movements reasonably required to provide general care and emergency treatments to patients. Individuals must be able to participate in physically taxing duties over long hours.
Intellectual-Conceptual, Integrative, and Quantitative Abilities
Applicants and students must have sufficient cognitive abilities and effective learning strategies to assimilate the detailed and complex information presented in the physician assistant school curriculum. Individuals must be able to learn through a variety of modalities, such as: class instruction, small group, team, and collaborative activities, and independent study. Individuals must have the ability to learn, memorize, measure, calculate, reason, organize, analyze, and synthesize complex information in a coherent manner. Individuals must be able to comprehend three-dimensional relationships and understand the spatial relationships of structures. Individuals must be able to formulate a hypothesis, investigate the potential answers and outcomes, and formulate appropriate and accurate conclusions in a timely manner.
Behavioral and Social Attributes
Applicants and students must demonstrate the maturity and emotional stability required for full utilization of one’s intellectual abilities, the exercise of good judgment, and the timely completion of all responsibilities attendant to an individual’s academic work, teamwork, and patient care. Individuals must demonstrate the ability to develop mature, sensitive, and effective professional relationships with faculty members and peers, patients, and all members of the healthcare team. Individuals must be able to function effectively under stress and proactively make use of available resources to help maintain both physical and mental health. Individuals must be able to adapt to changing environments, display flexibility, and function in the face of uncertainties inherent in the educational and patient care setting. Professionalism, compassion, integrity, concern for others, interpersonal skills, interest, and motivation are expected throughout the education process. One must be willing to interview, physically examine, and provide care to all patients regardless of their race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or disability.
Equal Access to the UF COM School of Physician Assistant Studies Program
The UF COM SPAS is committed to providing all students with opportunities to take full advantage of the PA program. It recognizes that students with documented disabilities may require reasonable accommodations to meet the technical standards described above. Upon admission, the School of PA Studies, the Department of Educational Affairs, and the UF Disability Resource Center (DRC) are committed to removing potential barriers that may prevent a student from accurately demonstrating their abilities in the PA program. The goal of the multi-perspective approach described below is to support PA students with disabilities in order to provide reasonable and accessible opportunities to complete the medical education program.
Requesting Disability/Medical Accommodations
- The University encourages students to register with the Disability Resource Center (DRC) prior to the beginning of PA school or upon the verification of a disability or medical condition. A student must comply with the following process for requesting and receiving appropriate reasonable accommodations, in a timely manner, to enable the student to have the opportunity to meet the UF COM SPAS requirements for completion of the medical education program.
- To meet UF COM SPAS technical standards, it is the student’s responsibility to self-disclose the disability or medical condition that requires accommodations and provide requested documentation to the Disability Resource Center. A student who does not register with DRC or who does not provide necessary documentation will not be considered to claim or receive accommodations under federal or state disability laws. A student is encouraged to register with the DRC prior to the beginning of the student’s first or subsequent semester or as soon as a disability/medical condition is established in order to ensure access to appropriate accommodations. Students are accountable for their performance, with or without accommodation. No student will be assumed to have a disability/medical condition based on poor performance.
- Any request, design, and implementation of accommodations for an individual student to participate and complete the medical education program must include full collaboration with the School of PA Studies and the Disability Resource Center, as well as being in synch with the UF COM SPAS Technical Standards.
- In review of a student’s accommodation request, the DRC will make every effort to recommend the appropriate accommodation for academic success. Upon receipt of a student’s request for accommodations, the UF COM SPAS will convene the Professional Standards and Promotion Committee (PSPC). The PSPC is responsible for reviewing requests for accommodations considering the UF COM SPAS Technical Standards and appropriate course standards and learning objectives.
- Following review by the PSPC the implementation of reasonable accommodations for students will be facilitated by the UF COM SPAS.
- An accommodation may be deemed unreasonable if it poses a direct threat to the health or safety of the student, patients, or others, causes a fundamental alteration of the medical education program, does not meet UF COM SPAS academic or technical standards, or poses an undue hardship on the College of Medicine or School of Physician Assistant Studies. In review of a student’s request, the PSPC will work in concert with the DRC, requesting additional assessment or evaluation as needed, and provide a determination of the review to the DRC.
- Accommodation through the use of a trained intermediary or other aid may be appropriate or reasonable if the intermediary or aid functions as an information conduit. The intermediary or aid may not provide a selective function, cognitive support, medical knowledge, or act as a substitute in performing essential skills or supplement clinical and ethical judgement.
- Should, despite reasonable accommodation (whether the student chooses to use the accommodation or not), a student’s existing or acquired disability interfere with the safety of others, or otherwise impede the ability to complete the UF COM SPAS program and advance to graduation or licensure, the applicant/student may be denied admission or may be separated, discontinued, or dismissed from the program.
- While the COM SPAS works in consultation with the DRC to determine and coordinate approved accommodations, disability documentation remains confidential and housed at the DRC.
- Students may petition for retroactive medical withdrawal from courses from the Medical Petition Portal.
Annual Declaration: Each year, all students must acknowledge review of the “Technical Standards for Enrollment, Promotion, and Graduation,” and failure to provide documentation of the nature and extent of condition(s) and/or functional limitations for accommodations may delay or prevent promotion or graduation. The COM SPAS will notify students of the deadline for filing the acknowledgement, but it is the student’s responsibility to declare and file additional documentation for accommodations, if applicable.