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Degree Requirements:
Clinical Sciences Option
Medical Technology Option
Nutritional Sciences Option

GENERAL ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS/TECHNICAL STANDARDS FOR ALL B.S. GRADUATES

Entry level practitioners in Clinical Laboratory and Nutritional Sciences require the accumulation of scientific knowledge and essential skills necessary to accurately and safely work in a variety of clinical, industrial and educational settings.

Department faculty  have the responsibility to graduate students who are well educated and possess the qualities of:

  • critical thinking
  • sound judgment
  • emotional stability
  • maturity
  • mental stamina
  • empathy

In order to fulfill this responsibility, the faculty maintain that certain minimal technical standards must be met in a timely manner by every applicant, with reasonable accommodations or academic adjustments consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

These standards include the following skills:

  • communication
  • large and small motor skills
  • professional and application skills
  • professional judgment
  • maturity

Students must have the ability to complete reading assignments and search and evaluate the literature.

In order to be successful, prospective students must meet the following Essential Functions/Technical Standards:

I.  Communication skills

II.  Large and small motor skills

III.  Professional and application skills

IV.  Other physical requirements

I.  Communication skills

  • "Communicate effectively in written and spoken English
  • Comprehend and respond to both formal and colloquial English person to person, by telephone, and in writing
  • Appropriately assess nonverbal and verbal communication"

II.  Large and small motor skills

  • “Move freely from one location to another in physical settings such as clinical laboratories, patient care areas, schools, corridors, and elevators”
  • Ability to use computers in data entry, administration, and education with facility
  • Ability to perform delicate manipulations of specimens, instruments, and tools with facility and accuracy.
  • “Grasp and release small objects (e.g. test tubes, pipette tips, microscope slides and coverslips); twist and turn dials/knobs (e.g. on microscopes, balances, centrifuges, spectrophotometers)”
  • Manipulate other laboratory materials (e.g. reagents, manual and automated pipettes)

III.  Professional and application skills

  • “Follow written and verbal directions”
  • Ability to apply mathematical skills necessary in job related problems
  • “Work independently and with others under time constraints
  • Prioritize requests and work concurrently on at least two different tasks
  • Maintain alertness and concentration during a normal work period
  • Apply knowledge, skills, and values learned from course work and life experiences to new situations”
  • Exercise good judgment, function effectively under stress, display flexibility
  • Recall, interpret, analyze, synthesize, evaluate and then apply the information obtained from reading, lecture, and discussion materials
  • “Show respect for self and others
  • Project an image of professionalism including appearance, dress, and confidence”
  • Ability to function effectively using all necessary skills under normal working conditions
  • “Recognize emergency situations and take appropriate actions”
  • Work safely with potential chemical, radiological, and biological hazards using the standards established in the department chemical hygiene plan, safety manual, and the blood-borne pathogen policy
  • Problem solve and comprehend spatial relationships of structures

IV.  Other physical requirements

  • "Identify and distinguish objects macroscopically and microscopically
  • Read charts, graph, and instrument scales/readout devices accurately
  • Lift and move objects of at least 20 pounds”
  • Ability to distinguish objects by touch and temperature

Essential Functions adapted from: Body of Knowledge, American Society of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, 1998.

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