University of California San Francisco
UCSF School of Medicine UCSF Medical Center

Technical Standards

Updated On
October 08, 2024

Purpose

The technical standards are for a requirement for the accreditation of U.S. medical schools by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). They are the nonacademic admissions and enrollment criteria that are essential to participation in medical school. These requirements may be achieved with or without reasonable accommodations.

Overview

UCSF seeks to train highly skilled and compassionate physicians. Our students and graduates are committed to professionalism, respect, integrity, diversity, and excellence, possess lifelong skills for learning and growth and a dedication to health equity. Students are expected to develop a robust medical knowledge base and the requisite clinical and system skills, with the ability to apply their knowledge and skills appropriately, effectively interpret information, and contribute to patient-centered decisions across a wide spectrum of medical situations and settings. The medical doctor (MD) degree is a broad undifferentiated degree attesting to general knowledge in medicine and the basic skills required for the practice of medicine. The School of Medicine intends for its graduates to become competent and compassionate physicians who are able to enter residency training (graduate medical education) and meet all requirements for medical licensure with or without reasonable accommodations. 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 required by the faculty.

The following technical standards, in conjunction with the academic standards, are requirements for admission, promotion, and graduation. The term “candidate” refers to candidates for admission to medical school as well as current medical students who are candidates for retention, promotion, or graduation. These requirements may be achieved with or without reasonable accommodations. Candidates with disabilities are encouraged to contact Student Disability Services (SDS) early in the application process to begin a confidential conversation about what accommodations they may need to meet these standards. Fulfillment of the technical standards for graduation from medical school does not guarantee that a graduate will be able to fulfill the technical requirements of any specific residency program.

The technical standards have several broad categories including observation; communication; clinical skills; intellectual-conceptual, integrative, and cognitive skills; social and behavioral skills; and ethical and legal standards.

Related LCME Standards

10.5: Technical Standards

Principles

  1. The School of Medicine has a societal responsibility to train competent healthcare providers and scientists who demonstrate critical judgement, extensive knowledge, and well-honed technical skills.
  2. Although students learn and work under the supervision of the faculty, students interact with patients throughout their medical education. Patient safety and wellbeing are therefore major factors in the functions required of candidates for admission, promotion, and graduation with or without reasonable accommodations.
  3. Students with disabilities bring valuable perspectives that contribute to the diversity of the student population and a diverse healthcare workforce.
  4. Candidates must adhere to universal precaution measures and meet safety standards application to inpatient and outpatient settings and other professional activities. Individuals whose performance is currently impaired by use of alcohol or other substances are not suitable candidates for admission, retention, promotion, or graduation.

Policy

  1. The following abilities and characteristics are defined as technical standards and are requirements for admission, retention, promotion, and graduation. Candidates and current students who have questions regarding their ability to meet the school’s technical standards should contact the Associate Dean for Admissions (candidates) or Associate Dean for Students (enrolled students). Students who believe they may need to request reasonable accommodations in order to meet the standards are encouraged to contact Student Disability Services.
    1. OBSERVATION: Candidates must be able to acquire information as presented through curriculum, demonstrations and experiences in the foundational sciences. Candidates must be able to participate in experiments of science, including but not limited to activities such as dissection of cadavers; examination of specimens in anatomy, pathology, and neuroanatomy laboratories; and microscopic study of microorganisms and tissues in normal and pathologic states. Candidates must be able to acquire information from patients and assess findings accurately. They must be able to conduct, with or without reasonable accommodations, a complete physical examination in order to integrate findings based on this information and to develop an appropriate diagnostic and treatment plan.
    2. COMMUNICATION: Candidates must exhibit interpersonal skills to enable effective caregiving of patients, including the ability to communicate effectively and efficiently in person, virtually, and in writing, with all members of a multidisciplinary health team, including but not limited to faculty, staff, other learners, patients, families, and other healthcare professionals. Candidates must be able to obtain a medical history in a timely fashion, accurately interpret verbal and nonverbal communication, and establish therapeutic relationships with patients. Candidates must be able to clearly and accurately record information. Candidates must be able to communicate effectively, efficiently, and in a timely in fashion in person, in virtual spaces, and in writing in written English with all individuals in a variety of patient settings.
    3. CLINICAL SKILLS: Candidates must, after a reasonable period of training, perform physical examinations and diagnostic maneuvers with or without accommodations. They must be able to respond to clinical situations in a timely manner and provide general and emergency care. Candidates must meet applicable safety standards for the environment and follow universal precaution measures.
    4. INTELLECTUAL-CONCEPTUAL, INTEGRATIVE, AND COGNITIVE SKILLS: Candidates must be able to interpret, assimilate, and analyze the detailed and complex information presented in the medical school curriculum. They must be able to learn through a variety of modalities including, but not limited to, classroom instruction; small group, team and collaborative activities; individual study; preparation and presentation of reports; simulations; and use of technology. Candidates must be able to register, recall, measure, calculate, reason, analyze, synthesize, and transmit information in person and via technology. They must recognize and draw conclusions about three- dimensional spatial relationships and logical sequential relationships among events. They must be able to formulate and test hypotheses that enable effective and timely problem-solving in the diagnosis and treatment of patients in a variety of clinical settings and health care systems.
    5. BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL ATTRIBUTES: Candidates must demonstrate the maturity and emotional regulation required for full use of their intellectual abilities. They must accept responsibility for learning, exercising good judgment, and promptly complete all responsibilities attendant to their curriculum and to the diagnosis and care of patients. Candidates are expected to exhibit personal accountability, engagement, consciousnesses, reliability, compassion, integrity, honesty, altruism, empathy, and collaboration. Candidates must be able to communicate to all individuals in a respectful and effective manner. Candidates must understand and demonstrate understanding of the legal and ethical aspects of the practice of medicine and function within both the law and ethical standards of the medical profession. Candidates must be able to interact with patients and their families, health care personnel, colleagues, faculty, staff, and all other individuals with whom they come in contact in a courteous, professional, and respectful manner regardless of gender identity, age, race, sexual orientation, religion, disability or any other protected status. Candidates must be able to contribute to collaborative, constructive learning environments; accept constructive feedback from others; and take personal responsibility for making appropriate positive changes. Candidates must have the stamina and resilience to tolerate the workload of caring for patients and serving as members of a healthcare team. Candidates must be able to function in a competent and professional manner under highly stressful situations, adapt to changing environments, display flexibility, and manage the uncertainty inherent in the care of patients and the health care system.
    6. ETHICAL AND LEGAL STANDARDS: Students must be of the highest ethical and moral behavior. As such, candidates and current students must meet the legal standards to be licensed to practice medicine in the State of California as well as the standards of the UCSF School of Medicine. As a California public institution our mission is to educate the physician workforce for the State of California, understanding students may choose to practice in other locations. In addition to the AAMC AMCAS requirement, candidates for admission must acknowledge and provide written explanation to the School of Medicine of any felony offense(s), misdemeanor offense(s), and institutional action(s) taken against them prior to matriculation or while enrolled at the School of Medicine. This disclosure is required of all charges and convictions, including expunged and diverted offenses. This includes, but is not limited to, violent misdemeanors and substance use violations. Institutional actions include, but are not limited to, Title IX or Title VII violations. In addition, after matriculation, students who are enrolled in the UCSF School of Medicine’s medical education program must immediately notify the Associate Dean of Students of any arrest, charge, conviction or institutional investigation or action occurring thereafter. Felony conviction or failure to disclose prior or new offenses can lead to disciplinary action by the school that may include dismissal.
  2. Ability to Meet the School of Medicine's Technical Standards:  
    The School of Medicine intends for its students and graduates to become competent and compassionate physicians through an undifferentiated medical degree and to be eligible to enter residency training (graduate medical education). Additionally, students must meet all requirements for medical licensure with or without accommodations. Criminal background checks may be conducted as part of the process of admission, participation, promotion, and/or graduation.
  3. Equal Access to the School of Medicine's Educational Program:
    The University of California San Francisco has a proud history of training physicians with disabilities and provides reasonable accommodations for all qualified individuals with disabilities who apply for admission to the MD degree program and who are enrolled as medical students. Otherwise qualified individuals will not be excluded from admission or participation in the School of Medicine's educational programs and activities based solely on their status as a person with a disability.

    UCSF may deny admission or dismiss, separate, or discontinue a candidate from its undifferentiated UME program if, despite reasonable accommodations (whether the candidate chooses to use the accommodation or not), their disability poses a (1) safety risk to patients or peers or (2) impedes progress towards graduation, residency training, or licensure.

Procedure

  1. Candidates must attest to the technical standards prior to enrollment in the School of Medicine.
  2. Foundations 1 students attest to reviewing key medical education policies and meeting the technical standards as a requirement of Launch Week. They are directed to contact the Associate Dean for Students if they need to report an institutional action or felony charge. Compliance for this attestation is monitored by the Foundations 1 Academic Advisor. 
  3. Foundations 2 students attest to key medical education policies and meeting the technical standards before the start of the Foundations 2 component of the medical school curriculum. Compliance for these attestations is monitored by the Foundations 2 and Career Launch team. 
  4. Career Launch students attest to key medical education policies and meeting the technical standards before the start of the Career Launch phase of the medical school curriculum. Compliance for these attestations is monitored by the Foundations 2 and Career Launch team. 
  5. We invite candidates who wish to request reasonable accommodations in order to meet these technical standards to self-disclose to Student Disability Services and request accommodations.
  6. Candidates must provide documentation of the disability and the specific functional limitations during the registration process with Student Disability Services. Candidates who do not register with Student Disability Services or who do not provide necessary documentation shall not be considered to be requesting or seeking reasonable accommodations. Students are responsible for their performance, with or without reasonable accommodations. No candidates will be assumed to have a disability based on poor performance alone. Reasonable accommodations are not applied retroactively, and a disability-related explanation will not negate poor performance in such cases.
  7. While the medical education Deans work in consultation with Student Disability Services to determine and coordinate approved reasonable accommodations, disability documentation remains confidential.

Accountable Dean or Director:  Associate Dean for Admissions, Associate Dean for Students
Approval and Governing Body:  October 8, 2024 CCEP