ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS DOCUMENT AND SIGNATURE PAGE
The University of Texas Medical Branch
School of Health Professions
Department of Physical Therapy
It is the policy of the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and state and local requirements regarding students and applicants with disabilities. Under these laws, no otherwise qualified and competitive individual with a disability shall be denied access to or participation in services, programs, and activities of UTMB-Galveston solely on the basis of the disability.
The purpose of this document is to specifyfor the Department of Physical Therapythe required essential functions in addition to the essential functions stated in the Institutional UTMB policy. The following essential functions will apply, with modification, to distance education/online students as well as those in face-to-face classes and clinical education experiences.
Reference: UTMB policy “Students with Disabilities: An Institutional Policy. Section IV
Essential functions
All individuals who apply for admissions to programs within the UTMB schools, including persons with disabilities, must be able to perform essential functions either with or without accommodations. Essential functions are the basic activities that a student must be able to complete. Any student applicant who has met the necessary prerequisites and who can perform the essential functions of the program in question-either with or without reasonable accommodations--will be considered for admission. Candidates for degrees at the UTMB must be able to perform the following essential functions with or without accommodations. Each program will further elaborate on these general descriptions so that they are congruent with the professional roles toward which each program educates:
1. Observation (to include the various sensory modalities): Candidates must be able to accurately observe close at hand and at a distance to learn skills and to gather data (e.g., observe an instructor's movements, a patient's gait or verbal response, a chemical reaction, a microscopic image, etc.). Candidates must possess functional use of the senses that permit such observation.
Specified essential functions for the Department of Physical Therapy:
I. Classroom setting:
To achieve the required competencies in the classroom setting, physical therapy students must perceive, assimilate, and integrate information from a variety of sources. These sources include oral presentation, printed material, visual media and live demonstrations.
II. Physical Therapy Laboratories:
Physical therapy laboratories provide students with the opportunity to view demonstration, evaluate, practice with medical devices and therapeutic equipment, and perform simulated clinical procedures.
III. Clinical education:
Students must perform patient evaluations utilizing visual, auditory, and palpatory (touch) sensory systems.
2. Communication: Candidates must be able to communicate effectively and efficiently. Candidates must be able to process and comprehend written material.
Specified essential functions for the Department of Physical Therapy:
I. Classroom setting:
Students must participate in classroom discussions, give oral reports, submit written reports, and pass written and practical examinations of various formats.
II. Physical Therapy Laboratories:
In addition to the cognitive skills required in the classroom, students must demonstrate psychomotor skills in manipulating patients and equipment, as well general laboratory behaviors such as team building and interpersonal communications.
III. Clinical education:
Clinical education in physical therapy involves the application of skills acquired in the classroom and laboratories to actual patients. Professional behaviors required for clinical training include constructive responses to situations involving emergencies, stress, frustrating situations and complex interactions with other members of the health care team, patients, and their families.
3. Psychomotor Skills: Candidates must have sufficient motor capacities and mobility to safely execute the various tasks and physical maneuvers that are required within each program. Candidates must be able to display motor functioning sufficient to fulfill the professional roles toward which each program educates.
Specified essential functions for the Department of Physical Therapy:
I. Classroom setting:
Students must participate in classroom discussions, give oral reports, submit written reports, and pass written and practical examinations of various formats.
II. Physical Therapy Laboratories:
In addition to the physical capabilities for classroom work, the laboratories require students, with assistance, to: assemble equipment, be stable while using both hands to perform procedures, perform fine motor skills, and perform procedures requiring considerable strength. Examples of the latter procedures include: turning and moving patients, transferring patients, and providing manual resistance to patients' extremities during exercise.
III. Clinical education:
Clinical education in physical therapy involves the application of skills acquired in the classroom and laboratories to actual patients.
4. Intellectual and Cognitive Abilities Candidates must be able to measure, calculate, reason, analyze, synthesize, integrate, remember and apply information. Creative problem-solving and clinical reasoning require all of these intellectual abilities. In addition, specific programs require that candidates must be able to comprehend three-dimensional relationships and understand the spatial relationships of structures.
Specified essential functions for the Department of Physical Therapy:
I. Classroom setting:
To achieve the required competencies in the classroom setting, physical therapy students must perceive, assimilate, and integrate information from a variety of sources.
II. Physical Therapy Laboratories:
Physical therapy laboratories provide students with the opportunity to perform simulated clinical procedures. To satisfy laboratory requirements, students must perform all procedures without critical error. This requires high levels of cognitive, perceptual, and psychomotor function.
III. Clinical education:
Clinical education in physical therapy involves the application of skills acquired in the classroom and laboratories to actual patients. In addition to the cognitive skills required in those settings, students must demonstrate skills in patient assessment, clinical reasoning, problem-solving, synthesizing care plans, trouble-shooting equipment, and educating and supervising support personnel.
5. Professional and Social Attributes: Candidates must exercise good judgement and promptly complete all responsibilities required of each program. They must develop mature, sensitive, and effective professional relationships with others. They must be able to tolerate taxing workloads and function effectively under stress. They must be able to adapt to changing environments, display flexibility, and function in the face of uncertainties and ambiguities. Concern for others, interpersonal competence and motivation are requisite for all programs.
Specified essential functions for the Department of Physical Therapy:
I. Classroom setting:
As above.
II. Physical Therapy Laboratories:
As above.
III. Clinical education:
As above.
6. Ethical Standards: A candidate must demonstrate professional attitudes and behaviors and must perform in an ethical manner in dealings with others. All programs require personal integrity and the adherence to standards that reflect the values and functions of the profession. Many programs also require students to honor the codes of ethics.
Specified essential functions for the Department of Physical Therapy:
In addition to the code of ethics stated in the general policy of UTMB, students are also required to honor the physical therapy profession’s code of ethics. Additionally:
I. Classroom setting:
Students must also demonstrate respect for others, empathy, responsibility, efficiency, integrity and initiative.
II. Physical Therapy Laboratories:
Students must also demonstrate respect for others, empathy, responsibility, efficiency, integrity and initiative.
III. Clinical education:
Students must also demonstrate respect for others, empathy, responsibility, efficiency, integrity and initiative.
DEAR APPLICANT,
PLEASE, RETURN THIS LAST PAGE ONLY, SIGNED AND DATED, AFTER YOU HAVE READ THE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS DOCUMENT TO:
Admission Committee
Department of Physical Therapy
University of Texas Medical Branch
301 University Boulevard
Galveston, Texas 77555-1144
Date: ______
I, ______,
have read this document and understand the specific requirements of the Department of Physical Therapy that complement the UTMB policy for students with disabilities.
______
Student Signature