PCOM requires all applicants who are offered admission and all enrolled students to meet specific technical standards. These standards describe the functional abilities and professional capacities considered necessary to participate in the curriculum and to provide safe, effective patient care.
The technical standards are separate from academic requirements. They focus on essential abilities required for participation in classroom learning, laboratory instruction, clinical skills training, and supervised patient care. The standards are intended to ensure that students are able to meet the demands of medical education and clinical practice.
These standards may be met with or without reasonable accommodations. They are not intended to exclude individuals with disabilities who can fulfill program requirements with appropriate accommodations consistent with applicable law.
This information is presented for reference only. The technical standards form will be provided to admitted applicants. Official matriculation and continued enrollment in a degree program cannot be confirmed unless the technical standards form is completed and returned.
Students who have an ADA-recognized disability and who require accommodations related to one or more technical standards should contact PCOM Disability Services for guidance on the accommodation process. Requests for accommodations generally require documentation supporting both the disability and the specific accommodations being requested.
Each request is evaluated individually to determine whether the accommodation is reasonable and whether it allows the student to meet the essential requirements of the program without compromising patient safety, educational standards, or professional expectations.
Disability Services may be contacted at disabilityservices@pcom.edu.
Requests related to cultural practices or religious beliefs are not addressed through the disability accommodation process, as they are not considered ADA-recognized disabilities. Students who believe that cultural traditions or religious requirements may affect their ability to meet one or more technical standards are encouraged to contact the Equal Opportunity and Access Team.
Such requests may be reviewed and discussed; however, approval is not guaranteed and depends on the essential requirements of the academic program.
The Equal Opportunity and Access Team may be contacted at titleixcoordinator@pcom.edu.
The holder of the degree must have the knowledge and skills to function in a broad variety of clinical situations and to render a wide spectrum of patient care. In order to carry out the activities described below, candidates for the degree must be able to consistently, quickly and accurately integrate all information received, and they must have the ability to learn, integrate, analyze, and synthesize data.
A candidate for the degree must have the abilities and skills of four varieties, including: observation; communication; conceptual, integrative and quantitative; behavioral and social. Technological compensation can be made in some areas but a candidate must be able to perform in a reasonably independent manner.
Candidates and students must have sufficient vision to be able to observe demonstrations, experiments, and laboratory exercises in a broad range of settings.
They must be able to observe a client accurately at a distance and close at hand for proper evaluation and treatment integration.
Candidates and students should be able to speak, hear and observe clients in order to elicit information, describe changes in mood, activity and posture, and perceive non-verbal communications.
They must be able to communicate effectively and sensitively with peers, instructors and clients.
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 and or school team.
These skills include measurement, calculation, reasoning, analysis and synthesis.
Problem solving, the critical skill demanded of psychologists, requires all of these intellectual abilities.
In addition, candidates and students should be able to comprehend three dimensional relationships and to understand the spatial relationships of structures.
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 clients, and the development of mature, sensitive and effective relationships with clients.
Candidates and students must be able to tolerate physically taxing workloads and to adapt to changing environments, to display flexibility and to learn to function in the face of uncertainties inherent in the clinical problems of many clients.
Compassion, integrity, concern for others, interpersonal skills, interest and motivation are all personal qualities that will be assessed during the admissions and educational processes.
Students are expected to adhere to a standard of behavior and conduct consistent with the high standards of the healing and scientific profession. All students are expected to:
Students also understand that they are required to meet all of the standards and expectations for classroom testing and assessment. The College realizes that emergencies may occur after matriculation, and will address these concerns as the need arises.
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