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Technical Standards for Medicine

Selection Factors

Students applying to the medical degree-granting program at Brown University are selected on the basis of academic achievement, faculty evaluations, evidence of maturity, motivation, leadership, integrity, and compassion. They must be capable of meeting the competency requirements expected of all graduates, with reasonable accommodation, described in the Student Policies Handbook. Technological compensation can be made for some disabilities in certain of these competency requirements. Candidates accepted for admission who will need special accommodations cannot be admitted unless those supportive services are available, as determined by the Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences. The process for assessing whether applicants will be able to meet the competency requirements for the medical degree (MD), with reasonable accommodation, is described below.
View Student Policies Handbook

Applicants are assessed without regard to sex, race, religion, color, national or ethnic origin, age, physical disability, or sexual preference.

Process for Assessing Whether Applicants Meet Technical Standards for Medicine

  1. No inquiry will be made on the application forms concerning disability. Brown's policies regarding technical abilities and skills necessary to meet the competency requirements are included with the letter of admission, and students are asked at that time to contact the Associate Dean for Medical Education if they have any concerns about their ability to meet these standards.
  2. Applicants who are identified as having a disability through volunteered information, supporting credentials, or interviews will have an assessment of their ability to meet the competency requirements only after a determination is made of their admissibility to the medical program.
  3. Those applicants with disabilities deemed admissible to Alpert Medical School will be requested to have submitted on their behalf appropriate documentation in regard to the disability from a qualified health professional. The health professional will be asked to provide an opinion on the candidate's ability to meet the competency requirements for the MD degree. The applicant may also be requested to respond to that question.
  4. The responses will be submitted to a committee appointed by the Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences. This committee may ask for a review of the supporting documentation by appropriate members of the faculty in regard to the applicant's meeting the competency requirements.  The committee will ascertain what accommodations, if any, the medical program would need to make in order that the applicant might be able to meet the competency requirements, and assess the feasibility of any needed accommodations.
  5. The committee will review the information received to determine if the applicant will be able to meet the competency requirements, with reasonable accommodations on the part of the medical program, if necessary.
  6. The committee will recommend to the Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences acceptance of applicants who can meet the competency requirements or will recommend rejection of those applicants who cannot meet the competency requirements.