The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE)
Program provides reasonable and appropriate accommodations in accordance with
the Americans with Disabilities Act for individuals with documented
disabilities who demonstrate a need for accommodation. Examinees are informed
of the availability of test accommodations in the USMLE Bulletin
of Information: Applying and Scheduling and in the Application Instructions.
The following information is provided for examinees,
evaluators, medical school student affairs staff, faculty and others involved
in the process of documenting a request for test accommodations. Applicants
requesting test accommodations should share these guidelines with their
evaluator, therapist, treating physician, etc., so that appropriate
documentation can be assembled to support the request for test accommodations.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and
accompanying regulations define a person with a disability as someone with a
physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life
activities such as walking, seeing, hearing, or learning. The purpose of
documentation is to validate that the individual is covered under the Americans
with Disabilities Act as a disabled individual.
The purpose of accommodations is to provide equal access to
the USMLE
testing program. Accommodations “match up” with the identified functional
limitation so that the area of impairment is alleviated by an auxiliary aid or
adjustment to the testing procedure. Functional
limitation refers to the behavioral manifestations of the disability that
impede the individual’s ability to function, i.e., what someone cannot do on a
regular and continuing basis as a result of the disability. For
example, a functional limitation might be impaired vision so that the
individual is unable to view the examination in the standard font size. An
appropriate accommodation might be text enlargement. It is essential that the
documentation provide a clear explanation of the functional impairment and a
rationale for the requested accommodation.
While presumably the use of accommodations in the test
activity will enable the individual to better demonstrate his/her knowledge
mastery, accommodations are not a guarantee of improved performance, test
completion or a passing score.
Quick
Links:
2. Guidelines
3. Forms
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