Technical standards

The technical standards developed by GCSOM and set out below reflect and are consistent with the School’s Mission Statement and educational philosophy. The mission of GCSOM includes educating aspiring physicians to serve society using a community-based patient-centered, interprofessional and evidence-based model of education that is committed to inclusion, promotes discovery, and utilizes innovative techniques.

Diversity is a key driver to the fulfillment of GCSOM’s mission to graduate excellent physicians fully prepared to serve diverse patient populations and reduce prevalent inequities in northeast Pennsylvania and elsewhere. GCSOM seeks to add value to the learning experiences for all participants by providing a diverse and inclusive learning environment. GCSOM is also focused on developing a diverse community of physicians (both primary care and specialists) who are skilled in evidence-based medicine and the latest technology.

Highlights of Geisinger Commonwealth’s medical education program include:

• Phase 1: Principles of Medical Science and Practice, which encompasses foundational education rooted in basic, clinical and health systems science education.
• Phase 2: Core Clinical Immersion provides a robust foundation of clinical experiences that grows in complexity and meaning as the learner’s skills develop. Clerkship experiences include Ambulatory/Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, OB-GYN, Pediatrics, Neurology, Psychiatry and Surgery. Diagnostic Medicine is a component of all clerkship blocks.
• Phase 3: Core Clinical Immersion provides required experiences in emergency, internal and critical care medicine as well as selectives in interprofessional training. Students pursue electives offering advanced clinical skills and training, research and academic topics that suit their individual interests and career goals.
• Hands-on clinical training occurs throughout the 4 years of the educational program. Students are located at one of 6 campuses for the duration of phases 2 and 3. These clinical training sites are an integral part of the school’s distributive model of medical education and provide students with early clinical experiences in diverse settings. 

Geisinger Commonwealth’s 33 MD program objectives for the curriculum align with the six Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (AGCME) competencies that define what it means to be a patient-centered physician in today’s data-driven, systems-based environment. Our program objectives are divided into six categories: 

• Patients, Families and Communities
  Geisinger Commonwealth physicians focus on the patient. Our duty is to the patient and to the profession. We dedicate ourselves to excellence for the benefit of the community.
• Professional Identity
  Geisinger Commonwealth physicians dedicate themselves to professionalism and the lifelong maintenance of their knowledge, skill and expertise. They appreciate their important role in their community and effectively tend to their own well-being, while living a life of service to others.
• Health System Science
  Geisinger Commonwealth physicians work effectively within a highly integrated system and know how to lead teams, leveraging each member’s unique skill set and competently deploying technology to benefit patients and communities.
• Critical Thinking
  Geisinger Commonwealth physicians master the key intellectual abilities required to be an effective provider. They intelligently assess and synthesize information from disparate sources to arrive at timely, accurate diagnoses and treatments.
• Clinical Skills
  Geisinger Commonwealth physicians master all aspects of clinical care including communication, physical exam, the use of technology, medical procedures, management of care and coordination with the healthcare team.
• Knowledge for Practice
  Geisinger Commonwealth physicians understand the foundational role of medical and clinical knowledge in the maintenance of health and the diagnosis and treatment of disease. They use scientific approaches to the care of patients and populations.

Academic requirements include successful completion of all courses, clerkship, rotations and mandatory academic exercises throughout the three phases of the medical curriculum and posting passing scores on the US Medical Licenses Examination (USMLE) Step 1 examination and USMLE Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK).

Patient safety and well-being are major factors in satisfying clinical requirements, including adherence to universal precaution measures and meeting health and safety standards applicable to inpatient and outpatient settings and other professional activities.

The technical standards were developed in accordance with legal standards, including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504) and Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Section 504 and ADA ensure that applicants and enrolled medical students with disabilities are not discriminated against on the basis of disability and are provided an equal, effective, and meaningful opportunity to enjoy the benefits, privileges, and advantages of a medical education at GCSOM. Equal opportunity/nondiscrimination includes providing reasonable accommodations that enable an individual with a disability to meet the technical standards unless to do so would result in a fundamental alteration in the nature of GCSOM’s education program, an undue burden, or a direct threat to the health or safety of others which cannot be mitigated through the provision of reasonable accommodations.

Reasonable accommodations include, but are not limited to, modifying academic requirements and providing auxiliary aids and services. Academic requirements that are essential to the instruction being pursued by the medical student or to any directly related licensing requirement will not be regarded as discriminatory. If GCSOM determines that a requested academic accommodation would result in a fundamental alteration, undue burden, or direct threat to the health or safety of others, it will consider whether effective alternatives to the requirement exist which would allow medical students to participate in its academic program without waiving or lowering essential requirements (fundamentally altering the nature of GCSOM’s medical education program), or resulting in undue burden or direct threat to the health or safety of others.

Requests for GCSOM-provided reasonable accommodations will be granted in accordance with the policies and procedures described in the Policy and Procedures for Disability Services.

GCSOM’s technical standards were developed by the Technical Standards Committee and approved consistent with applicable GCSOM processes and are reviewed for currency and re-confirmed on a periodic basis. The Technical Standards Committee includes faculty, administrators, and others with expertise in medical education pedagogy and relies on experts in disability law and policy and the provision of reasonable accommodations. The Technical Standards Committee used a careful, exhaustive, and deliberative process to assess and determine the extent to which the technical standards are essential to GCSOM’s academic mission and the health and safety of patients, candidates, and others and are consistent with Section 504 and Title III of the ADA.

For purposes of this document, the term “candidate” will be used to means individuals for admission to GCSOM and GCSOM medical students who are candidates for retention, promotion, and graduation.