Disability Assessment and Accommodation Compliance

The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine provides reasonable accommodations and services to students with documented disabilities. To ensure that the respective needs of each student are met, accommodations are tailored to each individual and their current level of training. Students may receive accommodations during part or all of their medical education, utilizing the most beneficial resources at the most appropriate time. 

The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine serves students with disabilities by providing appropriate accommodations to assist them, in compliance with federal and state laws. Under Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine policy and federal and state laws, qualified people with disabilities are entitled to reasonable accommodations that will allow them access to Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine programs, services, and activities.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 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.” The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADA-AA) expands the ADA definition of “major life activities” from walking, seeing, speaking, breathing, learning, working, etc. to also include eating, sleeping, standing, lifting, bending, reading, concentrating, thinking, as well as the “operation of a major bodily function.” (https://www.ada.gov/) 

Transitory or minor conditions (<6 months duration) do not qualify as a disability under the law, but students are encouraged to check with the Office of Student Affairs about resources available to them.

An accommodation is any change in the work or learning environment, or in the way that things are customarily done, that enables a person with a disability to have equal employment or educational opportunities.

As described in the Technical Standards for Medical Students, individuals with disabilities (as defined by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act) may be qualified to study and practice medicine with the use of reasonable accommodations.