Indiana University School of Dentistry
Doctor of Dental Surgery Program
Minimum Skill Standards for Admission and Retention
Approved by Faculty Council
December, 1999
Admission to Indiana University School of Dentistry's D.D.S. program is open
to qualified individuals and complies with all applicable state and federal
non-discrimination laws, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990, and the Indiana Civil Rights Law. Indiana University School
of Dentistry (IUSD) will consider applicants who 1) have completed the
appropriate application process, 2) have fulfilled all prerequisites, 3) are
capable of acquiring the necessary knowledge, and 4) have the ability to perform
or learn to perform the skills specified in these standards. The faculty
at Indiana University School of Dentistry has determined that the following
skills are essential to the curriculum and are necessary to ensure that
graduates of the program are fully prepared to practice dentistry. It is
important to note that although these skills are necessary for admission and
retention, successful completion of the D.D.S. program will require meeting
other academic and professional standards as specified in the curriculum and in
other institutional policies.
The faculty at IUSD recognize that the award of the Doctor of Dental Surgery
(D.D.S.) degree carries with it the full authority of the institution and
communicates to the public that the individual who has earned this degree is
competent to practice dentistry. The D.D.S. is a comprehensive degree,
unique in that the graduate, after passing a licensing examination, is permitted
to offer patient care in all areas within dentistry. This means that every
dental student must acquire and demonstrate the didactic knowledge, as well as
motor, sensory/observational, communication, cognitive, and behavioral skills,
in order to complete the curriculum and to be fully prepared for dental
practice.
The faculty at IUSD recognizes that the D.D.S. curriculum is unique and
requires a myriad of technical, intellectual, and interpersonal skills of its
graduates. The faculty is mindful that the curriculum is stressful,
requiring both emotional stability and physical stamina. Applicants to the
program thus must possess the skills and abilities that will allow them to
successfully complete the course of study and receive the full benefit of the
education. It is important to note that during the D.D.S. program,
students are required to both perform and direct treatment on IUSD's
patients. Ultimately, the faculty has the responsibility of ensuring the
safety and proper care of these patients. This includes the completion of
treatment safely and within a reasonable amount of time. Because the
faculty is mindful of the rigors of the curriculum, the immense responsibility
for safe patient treatment, and the fact that the D.D.S. signifies readiness for
dental practice, a student cane be denied admission to the D.D.S. program or
disenrolled from the program if accommodating a student's disability would
result in undue hardship to the institution, would pose a direct threat to
patients, or would compromise the academic integrity of the program or create a
fundamental alteration in the degree program.
Essential Skills
The faculty at Indiana University School of Dentistry has determined that the
D.D.S. student must be able to meet the following technical standards for
admission to or retention in the program.
Motor Skills
Students must have or be able to acquire sufficient motor function so that
they are able to execute movements required to proved general care and treatment
to patients, both during the D.D.S. program and at completion of the
curriculum. This means the student must possess motor skills necessary to
direct palpation, bimanual manipulation, fine tactile perception, and other
diagnostic maneuvers, as well as basic laboratory procedures. Such
activities require coordination of both gross and fine muscular movements,
equilibrium, and functional uses of the senses of touch and vision.
Students must be able to perform basic life support procedures, including
CPR, and position and reposition themselves around the patient and dental chair
either in a standing or sitting position. Students must be able to operate
foot controls utilizing fine movements, operate high and low speed handpieces
which require controlled intraoral and extraoral movements of less than one
millimeter, and utilize hand instrumentation, including scalpels for surgical
procedures.
Sensory/Observational Skills
Students must be able to master a defined level of information as presented
though demonstrations and experiences in the biomedical and dental
sciences. This includes but is not limited to information conveyed
through microbiological cultures and microscopic images of microorganisms and
tissues in normal and pathologic states. Students must be able to
efficiently acquire information from written documents and to visualize
information presented in images on paper, film, slides, or video. Students
must interpret radiographic and other graphic images, with or without the use of
assistive devices. Students must have functional use of visual, auditory
and tactile sensation.
In practice, a dentist must be able to observe a patient accurately, both at
a distance and close at hand, and must notice and appreciate nonverbal
communication when performing dental operations or administering
medications. Thus, students in the D.D.S. program must be able to
perform visual and tactile dental examinations and treatment, including the use
of visual acuity, accommodation, and color vision to discern the differences and
variations in color, shape and general appearance between normal and abnormal
soft and hard tissues. Use of tactile senses may be either direct
palpation or indirect through instrumentation. Students must also possess
the visual acuity to read charts, records, small print and handwritten notation,
and distinguish color intraorally and extraorally. The type and degree of
color blindness will determine a student's limitations. Of color
blindness, daltonism is surmountable, while achromatic vision is not.
Communication Skills
Good communication skills are essential for any health care provider and are
stressed in the D.D.S. curriculum. Therefore, a student must be able to
communicate effectively and efficiently with patients, faculty, staff and
students in both oral and written forms.
Because successful dental practice depends on timely and efficient rendering
of patient care services, students in the D.D.S. program must have sufficiently
facility in English to obtain information from a variety of learning resources,
convey concepts and knowledge on written examinations administered during a
specific time period, elicit patient histories, problems and symptoms, record in
and retrieve information from patient charts, and coordinate patient care with
all members of the health care team.
Cognitive Skills
Students must be able to measure, calculate, reason, analyze, interpret,
integrate, synthesize and diagnose. Problem solving, a critical skill
demanded dentists, requires all of these intellectual abilities. Because
dental care must be rendered in a timely and orderly fashion, students must be
able to demonstrate cognitive skills in specified time periods and setting.
Behavioral Skills
Students must possess the emotional health and stability required for full
utilization of his or her intellectual abilities, for the exercise of good
judgment, in the prompt completion of all responsibilities attendant to
diagnoses and care of patients, and in the development of mature sensitive and
effective relationships with patients, staff and other health care
practitioners. Students must be able to tolerate physically and
emotionally challenging workloads and to function effectively under stress,
while in the D.D.S. program and at completion of the degree. They must be
able to adapt to changing environments, to display flexibility, to function in a
climate of uncertainty in health care and to treat patients with compassion and
integrity.
Procedures
Although the faculty at Indiana University School of Dentistry may not
inquire whether an applicant has a disability prior to making a decision on
admission, an applicant to the D.D.S. program may disclose a disability for
which he or she wishes accommodation during the application process. If
this occurs, the Director of Admissions will request that the applicant provide
documentation of the disability. Requirements for documentation are
appended. The applicant should submit, or the Director of Admissions shall
forward on the applicant's behalf, a written request for accommodation and
documentation of the disability to the IUPUI Office of Adaptive Educational
Services (AES). AES will take all steps necessary to review the request
and documentation, establish whether the applicant has a qualified disability
for which an accommodation is due, and make or confirm recommendations for
appropriate accommodations, if any, to the D.D.S. Admissions Committee.
The process shall be interactive, involving full input from the applicant,
appropriate Indiana University School of Dentistry personnel, AES and other
IUPUI and external office possessing the technical, medical, and administrative
expertise as needed to evaluate the request. The D.D.S. Admissions
Committee will consider the applicant based on the published criteria for
admission for all applicants. The Committee will make a determination as
to whether the applicant can perform the essential skills of the D.D.S.
curriculum, including the skills described above, taking into account the
accommodations that the applicant has requested or any effective alternative
reasonable accommodations.
If a student discloses a disability after admission to the D.D.S.
program and requests an accommodation, the student will be asked to provide
documentation of disability so that appropriate accommodations may be
considered. Requirements for documentation are appended. Such
a request should be initiated with the Associate Dean for Student Affairs at
Indiana University School of Dentistry. Indiana University School of
Dentistry shall follow the same procedures for evaluating the request as
described above. The Curriculum Committee shall make a determination as to
whether a recommended accommodation can be granted or if any effective
alternative reasonable accommodations are possible.
Indiana University School of Dentistry will provide reasonable accommodations
but is not required to make modification or provide auxiliary aids or services
that would fundamentally alter the nature and substance of the D.D.S.
curriculum, present undue hardship for the institution, pose a direct threat to
the safety of patients or others, or compromise the academic integrity of the
D.D.S. program. The student must be able to perform the essential
skills of the D.D.S. curriculum, including the skills described above, with or
without accommodation, in order to begin or continue in the program.
Decisions where a student is denied admission or disenrolled due to undue
hardship, safety risk, or significant programmatic changes as a result of an
inability to meet these minimum standards for admission or retention will be
fully documented. Documents regarding a student's or applicant's
disability and requests for accommodation shall be treated in a confidential
manner and maintained separately from his of her admissions, academic or other
files. While the Indiana University School of Dentistry shall maintain
files regarding the decision making process with respect to accommodation
requests, Adaptive Educational Services is the repository for all medical
certifications, records and other documentation relating to the student's of
applicant's disability.
This policy is modified to meet the needs of Indiana University School of
Dentistry from a sample draft document from the American Association of Dental
Schools (Journal of Dental Education, 62 (5):387-90, 1988).