Applicants with Disabilities
PIHMA offers medical education programs that prepare students to become licensed, independent health care providers. Students are required to engage in diverse and specific experiences essential to the acquisition and practice of necessary skills. Unique combinations of cognitive, psychomotor, and affective abilities are required to satisfactorily perform these functions. Providing safe care to patients is the priority in Chinese medical education and is dependent on the skills of students in training to become practitioners.
PIHMA is committed to providing equal access for persons with disabilities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), Amendments Act of 2010 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 along with Section 508. In support of its commitment to provide equal access to all students, the College has adopted the following language.
Admitted or enrolled students who believe they have a current and essential need for disability accommodation are responsible for registering with and requesting accommodation through PIHMA’s ADA Coordinator. Unless the disability is obvious, the student must provide the ADA coordinator with qualifying disability documentation verifying the nature and extent of the disability prior to receiving any accommodation. PIHMA will make every effort to provide reasonable accommodation for qualified students with disabilities unless doing so would result in an undue hardship, safety, and/or health risk.
The following guidelines may be used to assist in determining qualifying documentation. All documentation will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Supporting documentation must be current, within the past year.
Physical Disabilities
PIHMA will accept current diagnoses of physical disabilities that are based on appropriate diagnostic evaluations administered by trained and qualified (i.e., certified and/or licensed) professionals (e.g., medical doctors, neurologists, ophthalmologists, psychologists, neuropsychologists, audiologists).
Learning Disabilities
PIHMA will accept diagnoses of specific learning disabilities that are based on comprehensive, age-appropriate, psychoeducational evaluations that demonstrate current functional limitations of the disability. The assessment must be administered by a trained and qualified (i.e., certified and/or licensed) professional (e.g., psychologist, school psychologist, neuropsychologist, educational diagnostician) who has had direct experience with adolescents and adults with learning disabilities.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
PIHMA will accept current diagnoses of ADHD that are based on age-appropriate, diagnostic evaluations, administered by trained and qualified (i.e., certified or licensed) professionals (e.g., psychiatrists, psychologists, or neuropsychologists). Submitted documentation must demonstrate current functional limitations of the disability.
Psychiatric Disabilities
PIHMA will accept current diagnoses of psychiatric disabilities that are based on comprehensive and appropriate diagnostic evaluations completed by trained and qualified (i.e., licensed or certified) professionals (e.g., psychologists, psychiatrists, neuropsychologists, school psychologists, certified professional counselors, or licensed social workers). Submitted documentation must demonstrate current functional limitations of the disability.
PIHMA can provide a “Disability Verification Form” that can be completed by a trained and qualified professional, or the professional may choose to submit a letter. The letter must be on letterhead, with date and signature within the past year, and must include the following:
- a diagnostic statement identifying the disability (including the date of the diagnosis)
- severity of the disability (mild/moderate/severe)
- an assessment of major life activities that are impacted by disability (e.g., learning, concentration, class attendance, social interactions, reading, walking, etc.), and
- specific recommendations for accommodation.
PIHMA is responsible for providing reasonable accommodation to qualified students with disabilities, unless doing so would result in undue hardship, safety, and/or health risk. Approved accommodation is determined on an individual student and on a course-by-course basis with priority given to a student’s preferred accommodation. Accommodations may include but are not limited to, alternative testing, alternative formatted materials, interpreting, note-taking, classroom laboratory aides, and/or assistive technology.
Attendance Accommodations
While PIHMA does its best to be flexible and work with students as much as possible, PIHMA views class attendance as an individual student responsibility. Students are expected to attend class and complete all assignments. According to the ADA, some students with disabilities may be approved for accommodation of modified attendance due to a disability. Generally, these students have disabilities which are chronic or episodic in nature which may cause difficulties with regular class attendance. The Federal Office of Civil Rights (OCR), in determining how many disability-related absences are reasonable by considering whether attendance is an essential element of a course states that the accommodation should be provided unless the accommodation threatens the integrity of the course as offered. Thus, even if accommodation is warranted, it may not be considered reasonable accommodation where such accommodation threatens the integrity of the course(s). In the case of Acupuncture and Asian/Oriental Medicine, lack of sufficient attendance threatens the integrity of the training in these medical degrees. PIHMA’s accreditor, ACAOM, has determined and stated what the mandatory attendance requirements are based on their evaluation of the courses and training required to be a practitioner of this medicine. Due to the nature of this specialized medical training, allowing for excessive absences is not reasonable accommodation. Therefore, even students with disabilities must meet PIHMA’s attendance policy, which does include some alternatives for all students with attendance issues under our other Absence, Incomplete and Leave of Absence policies.
Disability Rights and Declarations
Students who believe they have been discriminated against because of disability and are unable to find resolution through the ADA Coordinator may use PIHMA’s Grievance Process delineated in this catalog.
PIHMA students who have documented disabilities, regardless of the age of the documentation, should make their disability known after they have been admitted to the College and prior to their enrollment. Students should contact the College ADA Coordinator to complete the appropriate paperwork and to discuss their disabilities, needs, and reasonable accommodation.