Technical Standards
The purpose of the technical standards is to define the physical, sensory, motor/tactile, cognitive, behavioral, and social abilities required for successful completion of the Physician Assistant curriculum. These standards represent the essential functions that students must be able to perform in order to meet program requirements, achieve learning outcomes, and provide safe and effective patient care.
Technical standards are distinct from academic standards and describe the essential abilities required to participate in all aspects of the didactic and clinical curriculum. These standards apply to all courses, laboratories, simulations, examinations, clinical experiences, and other program activities and are aligned with the professional competencies expected of entry-level Physician Assistants.
Students must be able to meet these standards, with or without reasonable accommodation, in accordance with University policy and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The program will work with the University’s Office of Student Accessibility and Resources to determine appropriate accommodations. Accommodations must not fundamentally alter the nature of the curriculum or compromise patient safety, academic integrity, or professional standards.
Failure to meet the technical standards, with or without reasonable accommodation, may result in academic action, including deceleration, withdrawal, or dismissal from the program.
Students are responsible for meeting the Technical Standards of the Physician Assistant Program, with or without reasonable accommodation. The standards below identify the essential abilities necessary to participate in the curriculum and to provide safe and effective patient care in academic and clinical environments.
3.1 Professional Attributes
Students must demonstrate sound judgment, emotional stability, maturity, empathy, and physical and mental stamina. Students must be able to function effectively in a wide range of didactic and clinical environments and process, retain, analyze, synthesize, and apply large volumes of complex medical information. This includes material that is scientific, legal, ethical, and professional in nature.
Students must be able to participate in extended periods of classroom instruction, laboratory training, clinical rotations, and independent study. They must demonstrate the ability to think clearly and act appropriately in stressful situations, maintain professional behavior, and work cooperatively with patients, peers, faculty, and members of the healthcare team.
3.2 Observation and Sensory Function
Students must be able to acquire and interpret information in both didactic and clinical settings through a variety of sources, including oral presentations, written materials, visual media, demonstrations, and patient encounters.
Students must possess sufficient visual, auditory, and tactile abilities to perform physical examinations and clinical procedures. This includes the ability to:
- Observe patients and recognize nonverbal cues.
- Detect changes in patient condition.
- Interpret diagnostic findings.
- Hear and interpret patient speech and clinical sounds.
- Respond to auditory alarms, verbal instructions, and emergency signals.
- Use diagnostic equipment such as stethoscopes.
Students must have adequate motor coordination, manual dexterity, and hand-eye coordination to perform both fine and gross motor tasks, including emergency interventions such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
Students must be able to stand, walk, and move for prolonged periods as required in clinical environments such as surgical services, inpatient settings, and emergency care areas. Classroom and laboratory activities may also require prolonged sitting.
Sensory abilities, including hearing and vision, may be achieved through the use of assistive technologies or reasonable accommodations, provided the student can perform essential functions safely and effectively and without compromising patient safety.
3.3 Communication
Students must be able to communicate effectively, professionally, and respectfully in both verbal and written formats. Communication must be clear, timely, and appropriate for academic and clinical settings.
Students must be able to:
- Comprehend and respond to auditory instructions.
- Communicate patient information accurately and efficiently.
- Document clinical findings appropriately.
- Interact professionally with patients, families, peers, faculty, and healthcare teams.
Graduate-level communication requires the use of appropriate medical terminology, grammar, spelling, and vocabulary.
Students must also be able to acquire and interpret information through visual, auditory, and tactile modalities in both didactic and clinical settings.
Students must be able to obtain a complete and accurate medical history through patient interviews and other appropriate sources. Students must communicate effectively, professionally, and respectfully with patients, families, caregivers, faculty, peers, clinical preceptors, and members of the healthcare team across diverse backgrounds and clinical settings.
Reasonable accommodations may include assistive listening devices, amplified or electronic stethoscopes, hearing aids, or other adaptive technologies, provided such accommodations do not compromise patient safety, educational integrity, or essential program requirements.
3.4 Intellectual and Conceptual Abilities
Students must possess the intellectual abilities necessary to collect, organize, analyze, and synthesize information in order to solve clinical problems. This includes the ability to reason, prioritize, integrate knowledge, and make sound clinical judgments within time constraints.
Students must also be able to comprehend both two- and three-dimensional relationships and understand spatial relationships of anatomical structures.
3.5 Motor/Tactile Function
Students must possess sufficient motor and tactile function to safely and effectively participate in classroom, laboratory, simulation, and clinical activities and to provide general and emergency medical care to patients. Students must be able to:
- Directly perform palpation, percussion, auscultation, and other diagnostic and therapeutic maneuvers.
- Reasonably execute movements required to provide general and emergency medical care. These skills require coordination of fine and gross motor skills, equilibrium, and functional sensation.
- Adhere to universal precaution measures and meet safety standards applicable to inpatient and outpatient settings, laboratories, simulations, and other clinical activities.
- Manipulate equipment and instruments for the performance of basic laboratory tests, procedures, and physical examinations.
- Move themselves from one setting to another and physically negotiate the patient care environment in a timely fashion.
- Demonstrate sufficient physical stamina to complete the rigorous course of didactic and clinical study, including prolonged sitting, standing, walking, moving, and participation in classroom, laboratory, clinical experiences, and examinations as scheduled.
- Meet clinical site attendance and scheduling requirements, which may include start and stop times, daily work hours up to 12 hours, weekly hours up to 80 hours, and shift work including day, evening, overnight, weekend, and holiday assignments.
- Students must be able to perform appropriate physical examinations on patients across the lifespan and across diverse patient populations, with or without reasonable accommodation. This includes the ability to use inspection, palpation, percussion, auscultation, and other examination techniques necessary to assess patient health status and support safe clinical decision-making.
3.6 Behavioral and Social Attributes
Students must demonstrate the psychological and emotional stability necessary for effective patient care and professional interactions in a rigorous academic and clinical environment.
Students must be able to:
- Function effectively under stress.
- Maintain attention, concentration, and task completion.
- Adapt to changing environments and clinical situations.
- Demonstrate sound judgment and professional conduct.
- Work collaboratively within interdisciplinary teams.
- Accept constructive feedback.
- Demonstrate integrity, responsibility, and accountability.
Students must be able to tolerate the physical, emotional, and intellectual demands of the program, including:
- Heavy academic workloads.
- High-stakes examinations.
- Long or irregular clinical hours.
- Exposure to illness, trauma, and end-of-life situations.
Students with diagnosed physical, cognitive, or mental health conditions may be eligible for reasonable accommodations through the UT Tyler Student Accessibility and Resource (SAR) Office. Students must be able to meet all essential program requirements with or without reasonable accommodation.
Students who require accommodations must request them through the UT Tyler Student Accessibility and Resource (SAR) Office with University policy.
The program will provide reasonable accommodations that do not:
- Fundamentally alter the nature of the curriculum.
- Compromise patient health & safety.
- Compromise academic integrity.
- Interfere with the learning environment of other students
- Lower essential program or professional standards.
Determination of appropriate accommodations will follow the University’s established interactive process.
All students must review and sign the Technical Standards Attestation Form prior to matriculation, indicating their understanding of the standards and their ability to meet them with or without reasonable accommodation.
- Student-Initiated Accommodation Request
Step Responsible Party Action / Outcome 1. Student initiates request Student Contacts the UT Tyler Student Accessibility and Resource (SAR) Office and submits required documentation and accommodation request forms. 2. University review Office of Student Accessibility and Resources Reviews documentation, determines eligibility, engages in the interactive accommodation process, and issues an official accommodation letter if approved. 3. Program notification Office of Student Accessibility and Resources / PA Program Accommodation letter is sent to the Program Director, Academic Director if applicable, and relevant course or clinical faculty. The program does not receive medical details - Program Review of Accommodation
Step Responsible Party Action / Outcome 4. Essential function review Program Director and relevant faculty Review the accommodation request in relation to the Technical Standards, course objectives, clinical requirements, and patient safety considerations. 5. Determination Program Director in consultation with University offices as needed If the accommodation is reasonable and does not alter essential functions, the accommodation is implemented and faculty are notified of required adjustments. If the accommodation may alter essential functions, the Program Director consults with the Office of Student Accessibility, Dean, or institutional counsel as appropriate. Final determination is issued through the University process. - Faculty-Identified Technical Standards Concern
A technical standards concern may arise when a student is struggling functionally rather than academically, or when a concern affects safety, progression, or the ability to complete essential program requirements.Step Responsible Part Action / Outcome 6. Concern identified Faculty, clinical preceptor, or program representative Concern may arise from faculty observation, clinical preceptor report, safety incident, professionalism or behavioral concern, or inability to perform required technical tasks. 7. Initial faculty review Faculty member / Academic Advisor / Program Director Faculty documents the concern, notifies the Academic Advisor or Program Director, and meets with the student for counseling. Possible outcomes include no action, academic counseling, referral to the UT Tyler Student Accessibility and Resource (SAR) Office, or referral to ASPC. 8. Referral to Accessibility Office, if appropriate Program Director / Faculty If the concern may involve a medical issue, psychological issue, sensory or motor limitation, or learning or cognitive impairment, the student is directed to the UT Tyler Student Accessibility and Resource (SAR) Office. 9. ASPC review Academic Student Progress Committee Reviews student performance, technical standards concerns, accommodation status if any, and safety implications. 10. Committee recommendation Academic Student Progress Committee May recommend continued progression, academic warning, academic probation, learning contract, deceleration, withdrawal, or dismissal. 11. Final decision Program Director / Dean as required by institutional policy Final decision is issued at the program or institutional level as required. - Student Notification and Appeal
Process Component Description Student notification The student receives a written decision, rationale, consditions for continuation if applicable, and appearl instructions. Appeal process Appeals follow the applicable UT Tyler institutional apeals process.