Technical Standards

Introduction

Rocky Vista University maintains a strong institutional commitment to equal educational opportunities for qualified applicants and students with disabilities. We collaborate with students to develop innovative ways to ensure accessibility and strive to create a respectful, accountable culture through our confidential and specialized disability support. Technical standards are required to engage in the program fully. Students’ competency related to learning objectives throughout and pertaining to their level of education will be addressed by the individual program. These technical standards are not intended to deter any candidate for whom reasonable accommodation will allow the fulfillment of the complete curriculum. RVU encourages students with disabilities to disclose and seek accommodations.

Seeking Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accommodations

Prospective and enrolled students seeking accommodations engage in an interactive and confidential process with a Disability Officer to determine reasonable accommodations to ensure equal access. This process is informed by RVU’s commitment to inclusive excellence and the knowledge that students with varied types of disability can become successful healthcare professionals. Students are encouraged to submit requests for reasonable accommodations as early as possible, given the time required to process those requests. Accommodations may not be applied retroactively and may not fundamentally alter the nature and objectives of the program. Additionally, accommodations are generally not provided while requests are being reviewed/processed. Therefore, early disclosure is strongly encouraged for those requesting disability-related adjustments or modifications.

Applicants, accepted students, or enrolled students with a disability who may require accommodations, are encouraged to contact the Office of Disability Services via [email protected]. Additional information regarding disability resources at RVU is available on the rvu.edu website.

Fulfilling Technical Standards

RVU approaches technical standards and accommodations on a non-discriminatory basis that is consistent with its values of equity and inclusion. This approach is also in accordance with legal requirements as outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. To matriculate and remain in an RVU educational program, the specific program’s technical standards (delineated below) must be met with or without reasonable accommodations (i.e., students who have and students who do not have accommodations must meet all applicable technical standards). Students must be able to participate in all required activities necessary to meet the educational objectives of each course and of the collective program. While enrolled at RVU, fulfilling the technical standards does not guarantee that an applicant, student, or graduate will be able to fulfill the technical requirements of any specific residency program, employment, future training programs, or other pursued opportunities.

MMS Technical Standards

Immunizations

Students must satisfy all requirements for immunizations at the time of admission and throughout their time as an RVU student. Failure to do so will prevent matriculation or, in the case of an enrolled student, lead to dismissal. For specific information, please see “Health Records/Immunizations” of the Student Educational Records section of this Handbook.

Observation

Students must be able to obtain, gather, and synthesize information in didactic and clinical settings. This includes but is not limited to lectures, lecture supplemental materials, labs, physical exams, interviews, and raw diagnostic representations of physiologic data (e.g., radiology images, echocardiogram, ECGs, lab results, microscopic images).

Communication

Students must be able to communicate with others in order to elicit information, to detect changes in mood and activity, and to establish a therapeutic relationship. Students must exhibit interpersonal skills to accurately communicate with others. Students must be able to clearly, accurately, and sensitively record information obtained through communication. Students must demonstrate effective communication, participation, and collaboration with all members of a multidisciplinary health care and educational team across various communication mediums (e.g., in-person, Zoom, written). English is the primary language of the RVU-MSBS and RVU-MMS programs, and students are expected to have a level of proficiency that eliminates language as an access barrier.

Motor

Due to the medical nature of RVU-MSBS and RVU-MMS programs, which includes basic clinical experiences, all students must have some coordination of both gross and fine muscular movements, balance, and equilibrium.

Intellectual, Conceptual, Integrative, and Quantitative Abilities

Students must possess conceptual, integrative, and quantitative abilities, including measurement, calculation, reasoning, analysis, and synthesis. Problem solving, the critical skill necessitated by all RVU programs, requires these intellectual abilities. In addition, students must be able to observe and comprehend three-dimensional relationships and to understand the spatial relationship of structures. Students must be able to be present, engage, and participate in all required activities to the extent necessary to achieve all activity objectives and outcomes. Students must be capable of extended periods of intense concentration and focused attention.

Behavior and Social Abilities

Students must have the emotional health required for full use of their intellectual abilities, the exercise of good insight and judgment, and the prompt completion of all responsibilities attendant to the demands of the educational program. Students must have the capacity to develop mature, sensitive, and effective relationships with members of the internal and external RVU community (e.g., peers, faculty, staff, patients, health care professionals). RVU-MSBS and RVU-MMS students must be capable of working synchronously and asynchronously within the program’s interactive and team-based learning structure. Students must be able to tolerate physically and mentally taxing workloads and to function effectively under stress. They must be able to adapt to changing environments, display flexibility and professionalism, and have the capacity to function successfully and perform in the face of uncertainties inherent in the graduate-level and medical nature of the RVU-MSBS and RVU-MMS programs.

Ethical and Legal Responsibilities

Students must maintain, demonstrate, and display high ethical and moral behaviors commensurate with being a productive, compassionate, professional member of society in all interactions (e.g., faculty, staff, peers, patients, the public). Students are expected to have the cognitive ability to understand the legal and ethical aspects of their chosen profession and the capacity to act according to the relevant laws and ethical standards.