The College of Osteopathic Medicine has adopted these technical standards which apply to all candidates for admission. For your information and guidance they are extracted from the current catalog and provided here.

A candidate for the D.O. degree must have the abilities and skills of eight varieties, including: observation; communication; motor; conceptual; integrative and quantitative; and behavioral and social. Technological compensation can be made for handicaps in some of these areas, but a candidate must be able to perform in a reasonably independent manner.

1. Observation: Candidates and students must have sufficient vision to be able to observe demonstrations, experiments and laboratory exercises in the basic sciences. They must be able to observe a patient accurately at a distance and close at hand.

2. Communication: Candidates and students should be able to speak, hear and observe in order to elicit information, examine patients, describe changes in mood, activity and posture, and perceive nonverbal communications. They must be able to communicate effectively and sensitively with patients. Communication includes not only speech but also reading and writing. They must also be able to communicate effectively and efficiently in oral and written form with all members of the health care team.

3. Motor: Candidates and students should have sufficient motor function to execute movements reasonably required to provide general care and emergency treatment to patients. Examples of emergency treatment reasonably required of physicians are cardiopulmonary resuscitation, administration of intravenous medication, the application of pressure to stop bleeding, the opening of obstructed airways, the suturing of simple wounds, and the performance of simple obstetrical maneuvers. Such actions require coordination of both gross and fine muscular movements, equilibrium and functional use of the senses of touch and vision.

4. Sensory: Since osteopathic candidates and students need enhanced ability in their sensory skills, it would be necessary to thoroughly evaluate for candidacy individuals who are otherwise qualified but who have significant tactile sensory or proprioceptive disabilities. This would include individuals with significant previous burns, sensory motor deficits, cicatrix formation and many malformations to the upper extremities.

5. Strength and Mobility: Osteopathic treatment often requires upright posture with sufficient lower extremity and body strength; therefore, individuals with significant limitations in these areas would be unlikely to succeed. Mobility to attend to emergency codes and to perform such maneuvers as CPR is also required.

6. Visual Integration: Consistent with the ability to assess asymmetry, range of motion and tissue texture changes, it is necessary to have adequate visual capabilities for proper evaluation and treatment integration.

7. Intellectual, Conceptual, Integrative and Quantitative Abilities: These abilities include measurement, calculation, reasoning, analysis and synthesis. Problem solving, the critical skill demanded of physicians, requires all of these intellectual abilities. In addition, candidates and students should be able to comprehend three-dimensional relationships and understand the spatial relationships of structures.

8. Behavioral and Social Attributes: Candidates and students must possess the emotional health required for full utilization of their intellectual abilities, the exercise of good judgment, the prompt completion of all responsibilities attendant to the diagnosis and care of patients, and the development of mature, sensitive and effective relationships with patients. Candidates and students must be able to tolerate physically taxing workloads, adapt to changing environments, display flexibility, and learn to function in the face of uncertainties inherent in the clinical problems of many patients. Compassion, integrity, concern for others, interpersonal skills, interest and motivation are all personal qualities that will be assessed during the admissions and educational processes.

The College of Osteopathic Medicine will attempt to develop creative ways of opening the medical school curriculum to competitive, qualified disabled individuals. In doing so, however, the College must maintain the integrity of its curriculum and preserve those elements deemed essential to the education of an osteopathic physician.