Test Accommodations – Introduction
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.
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