VCOM Institutional Policy and Procedure Manual

VCOM Policy and Procedure

Policy #S012

Technical Requirements for Admission and Successful Completion of the Osteopathic Program and Accommodations for Students with Disabilities Policy Page 9 of 16 • Service animals that provide life-saving services or monitoring to avoid serious medical complications are allowed in the classroom. Animals are restricted from the clinical environment, anatomy laboratory, microbiology laboratory, simulation labs, and standardized patient encounters. VCOM does not own or operate the Students who become pregnant must inform the Associate Dean for Pre-Clinical Education or the Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs of the pregnancy before participating in at-risk environments such as anatomy laboratories, or environments where infectious diseases pose a risk. As new technology exists, students who use service animals for healthcare issues are generally required to transition to an alternate method of monitoring using that technology. In general, now that this technology exists, service animals are not used to support medical staff as the use of such animals may place an increased risk to the patient and/or do not meet the hospital requirements. 3. ACCOMMODATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES VCOM recognizes that there are varying levels of disability and student needs to be successful. VCOM is committed to supporting those students with disabilities who, with accommodations, can meet the Technical Standards. VCOM has provided reasonable accommodations to many students with various handicaps that have enabled the student to be successful. Reasonable accommodations do occur if the student qualifies for such accommodation under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the accommodations allow the student to meet the Technical Standards designated to safely practice osteopathic medicine and to be successful in the VCOM curriculum. Section 504 is a federal law designed to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities in programs and activities that receive Federal financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Education. It prohibits discrimination against individuals who meet the definition of disability in the act, and it is applied to entities that receive federal funding. Under 504 and the ADA, a person is considered to have a disability if that person: has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of such person's major life activities, has a record of such an impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment. The student is required to function with independence, to learn and perform all the skills described in the Technical Standards that include coursework; pathology, microbiology, and anatomy laboratories; clinical physical diagnosis experiences; osteopathic manipulative medicine laboratories; and frequent and routine testing. Students must also meet the Technical Standards to provide safe and effective clinical care, with reasonable accommodations to complete third and fourth year rotations in the hospital and ambulatory settings. VCOM is committed to assuring patient safety and to assuring a safe and effective environment that does not place patients and/or VCOM students, faculty, and staff at risk. VCOM facilities are handicap accessible. Students who require the use of a service animal or emotional support animal must be aware of the following: