SOM Admissions

Technical Standards for UMMS

Sensory and Motor Function

Students must be able to perform with acuity, accuracy, and facility, a complete physical examination on patients of all genders, utilizing palpation, auscultation, percussion, and other diagnostic maneuvers. In general, this requires sufficient ability to observe with acuity and process accurately visual, auditory, exteroceptive (smell, touch, pain and temperature) and proprioceptive (position, pressure, movement, stereognosis, and vibratory) phenomena, as well as the ability to manipulate with precision, at a fine level of movement, patients, and medical instruments and equipment. Methods of surgical instruction include practice on living or preserved animal tissues. A student should be able to provide general care and emergency treatment to patients in a timely manner. Furthermore, a student must be able to respond promptly to medical emergencies within the hospital, and must not hinder the ability of co-workers to provide prompt care. Examples of such emergency treatment reasonably required of physicians include arriving quickly when called and initiating cardiopulmonary resuscitation, administering intravenous medication, applying pressure to stop bleeding, opening obstructed airways, suturing wounds, and performing basic obstetrical maneuvers. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation may require moving an adult patient, repeatedly applying considerable chest pressure, delivering an adequate volume of artificial respiration, and calling for help. A student should be able to learn to perform basic laboratory tests, e.g., urinalysis, completed blood count, and diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, e.g., phlebotomy, arterial blood gas drawings, lumbar puncture, arthrocentesis. Students must be able to measure angles and diameters of various body structures using tape measure and goniometer, measure blood pressure and pulse, and interpret graphs describing biologic relationships. Clinical rotations in ambulatory care settings require the ability to transport oneself to a variety of ambulatory settings in a timely manner, and inpatient rounds requires prolonged and rapid movement.