Professional Competence / Fitness to practice issues and the Inclusion
of Disabled Students in College – Declan Treanor, Director College
Disability Service
Executive Summary
The report evolved in response to both disabled students who were concerned
over possible discrimination and academics concerned about supporting such
students while at the same time maintaining adequate professional standards.
From time to time a number of anecdotal borderline cases arose which illustrate
the gaps in present practice, for example:
 Students with ongoing health issues or who experience fatigue find that the
structure of the courses, and the practice education exhausting. There seem
to be few strategies currently used to rationalise the workload. Some
accreditation bodies require minimum hours of full-time or extended practice
education.
 Students who are hard of hearing or deaf have experienced difficulties
understanding speech in certain practice education settings, such as care of
the elderly and in group situations.
Compliance with equality legislation regarding ‘reasonable accommodation’ is a
fairly realistic goal while the student is in 3rd level education, but placements and
practice education are more problematic.
Grey areas, then, exist around exactly which competencies are regarded as ‘core’
in any given profession. These are not always clearly defined in the learning
outcomes for a given programme. Similarly, a situation exists whereby it is
lawful – though, debatably, ethical to allow disabled students to complete a
professional course, pass exams and then to take no further part in assisting
them to gain employment.
A seminar in TCD in January 2007 met to discuss to discuss the creation of a set
of specific guidelines, particularly the creation of a pro-forma to handle matters
arising from fitness to practice in order 1) to protect students from discrimination
on the basis of disability; 2) to protect the College from liability arising from
possible discrimination; and 3) to ensure sound academic standards within
professional programs and for professional certifying bodies.
Research was carried out to determine how other countries were dealing with
this complex issue. In the UK, The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) has
concluded that the arbitary health standards currently adopted are un unhelpful
to either public or professions, and that a set of core competencies need to be
decided and upheld.
It is therefore concluded that a clear policy document needs to be in place to
take account of relevant legislation protecting disabled students from
discrimination and setting out guidelines for reasonable accommodation,
competency levels, disciplinary procedures and disclosure of disability.
In TCD a working group over an eighteen month period (2007-2008) chaired by
the Dean of Students set out to develop College policy in this area. All
professional course Schools representatives and other relevant stakeholder’s
were invited to participate. This fitness to practice guidelines clearly set out
procedures for dealing with fitness to practice cases and ensuring the School has
ensured disabled students are reasonably accommodated. These guidelines are
working their way through the relevant committee’s in College (Undergraduate
and Postgraduate Committee) and it is expected this policy will be implemented
before the end of this academic year.
Background
There are a number of students with a variety of disabilities registered with the
Disability Service (DS), who are undertaking professional courses in Health
Sciences, Teaching and other disciplines. These include the therapies, medicine,
dentistry, nursing, teaching, post-graduate courses in psychology and social
work. At the end of these courses, it is expected that students may work in a
professional capacity. Each year, it is likely that disabled students will apply for
these courses.
The number of students with disabilities entering health sciences and other
professional courses in College is increasing. At present there are one hundred
and nine students rising from 77 in 2006 (total students with disabilities studying
in TCD is 560). This figure obviously only relates to those who have actually
disclosed a disability.
Table 1: Number of students with disabilities in the Health Sciences and other
professional courses, by course
Number of
Students 2006
7
14
0
8
1
6
5
2
13
Number of
Students 2009
5
20
1
8
6
8
7
3
32
2
1
Psychiatric Nursing
3
0
Bach Science in
Midwifery
0
2
Course
Social Studies
Medicine
Human Genetics
Occupational Therapy
Radiotherapy
Pharmacy
Physiotherapy
Dental Science
Nursing Studies
Intellectual Disability
Nursing
Page 2 of 13
Clinical Speech and
Lang Studies
2
8
0
9
7
2
0
0
1
0
3
1
0
1
0
2
1
Msc. In Pallative Care
0
1
Msc. in Mental Health
0
2
0
1
0
1
Masters in Global
Health
1
0
Masters in Health
Science Management
1
0
0
1
0
2
77
115
B.Ed Education^
Marino
Froebel
Church of Ireland
Professional
Doctorate in
Education
PG Dip Education*
Higher Diploma in
Children's Nursing
Post. Diploma in
Midwifery
Msc. Molecular
Medicine
Masters in Social
Work
Postgraduate
Diploma in
Community Pharmacy
Phd in Physiology
Doc in Phil in
Molecular Medicine
Total
^Disability: 5 SLD, 1 AS, 1 Medical, 1 Mental Health, 1 Physical
*Disability: 1 Deaf, 1 SLD, 1 Medical
Table 2: Breakdown of students’ disability/impairments in Health Sciences and
other professional courses
Disability
Dyslexia
Mental health
Physical Disability
Medical
Number of
Students 2006
Number of
Students 2009
36
11
10
7
59
17
10
22
Number of
Education
Students 2009
7
1
2
2
Page 3 of 13
Deaf/Hearing
Disability
Visual/Blind
4
3
5
2
1
1
The experiences to date
Experiences of students with disabilities and the departments involved had not
been formally collected, although DS was aware of a number of anecdotal
situations that had arisen. Examples include:
 TCD Higher Diploma in Education seems to attract deaf graduates due to
positive experience of graduates of this programme (over the last five years
and four deaf (ISL). Graduates of this programme are now teaching in the
deaf schools in Cabra.
 Over half of the students in health sciences registered with DS have dyslexia.
There have been a number of difficulties in relation to writing up notes in
medical or discipline-specific files. One student has created a practice-specific
word-book for use when in practice education settings. Others find that there
is a lack of understanding of dyslexia, which has caused difficulties.
 A significant proportion of the students with mental health issues are studying
Medicine. Some people have raised concern about safety issues and
patient/client contact if and when a student with a mental health issue
becomes unwell, particularly if he /she becomes psychotic.
 Students with ongoing health issues or who experience fatigue find that the
structure of the courses, and the practice education exhausting. There seem
to be few strategies currently used to rationalise the workload. Some
accreditation bodies require minimum hours of full-time or extended practice
education.
 A student with uncontrolled epilepsy – concerns was raised about the ability to
find practice education settings, as well as health and safety in certain
practical sessions.
 A student with a physical / medical disability had difficulty registering due to
the practice education setting having concerns about health and fitness for the
course. Reasonable accommodations are required in respect of certain clinical
tasks.
 Students with back injuries or other physical disabilities may be expected to
do moving and handling or other physical tasks, which may put them at risk.
Generally “knowledge” of correct procedure is considered enough for clinical
competence – but this standard may not be used for all departments /
disciplines.
 Students who are hard of hearing or deaf have experienced difficulties
understanding speech in certain practice education settings, such as care of
the elderly and in group situations.
 Some students do not disclose their disability, particularly in the case of
mental health issues. If there is no disclosure, then what is the position of
College in relation to fitness to practice?
Page 4 of 13
Factors that affected College’s response
Disability and Equality legislation
Under the Disability Act (2005), it is clearly illegal to discriminate against
students on the grounds of disability. Therefore, College is not permitted to
exclude students with disabilities.
The law states that “reasonable accommodation” must be provided. These
accommodations must be provided for all aspects of the course, including
lectures, tutorials, lab-work and practice education settings.
Reasonable accommodation may be relatively straightforward when it comes to
in-College education, such as lectures, tutorials and lab-work. When it comes to
practice education where there is patient/client contact, the situation may be
more complicated.
The UK Health Professions Council (2005), the regulatory body for thirteen health
professions, states that it is the responsibility of the University to ensure that
there is reasonable accommodation for disabled students in practice education
settings. It further clarifies that students do not need to complete all types of
practice to be registrable as professionals, but that it is the University’s
responsibility to provide placements that best demonstrate students’ abilities to
meet their standards (HPC, 2005).
Reasonable accommodation, in relation to all aspects of medical / health
profession education (including lectures, labs, practice education and even
eventual employment) does include the provision of an assistant for the disabled
person.
A study of the situation for doctors with a disability in the UK states that one of
the largest difficulties is the pre-registration year, in which certain elements
(such as cardiac resuscitation) are essential for completion of the year, and
hence registration. It is stated that exceptions and alternatives are made for
disabled students, but that this is an ad-hoc arrangement and not satisfactory.
The report calls for more guidance from the GMC (Roberts et al, 2004).
There appears not to be clarity about who is responsible or if it is reasonable if a
practice education setting refuses to take a student because they are disabled.
Fitness to Practice Issues
Fitness to practice has been defined as a person’s ability to practice their
profession in a way which meets appropriate standards, meaning that a person
has the skills, knowledge, attitudes, character and health to perform necessary
functions safely and effectively (adapted from HPC, 2005).
The discussion regarding admission of students with disabilities health science
courses centres on the principle that admission to medical education implies
selection for the medical profession (Council of Heads of Medical Schools, 1999).
This is based on the current situation in the UK, whereby a medical degree
entitles the graduate provisional registration with the GMC under the UK Medical
Act, 1983 (Council of Heads of Medical Schools, 1999).
Page 5 of 13
According to the UK Health Professions Council (2005), it is the responsibility
of those providing approved courses to ensure that graduates of the course
are able to meet the stated standards of proficiency for each profession. While
there are standards for some professions in Ireland, this is a developing area in
other professions, which will be further established when State registration
requirements are enacted into law.
Difficulties may arise in the interpretation of “Professional Standards”, for
example, a required professional skill may be that a person has good listening
and communication skills, which may be interpreted as good hearing and speech;
a required behaviour may be the maintenance of notes, which may be
interpreted as the ability to hand-write legibly. In the UK, the HPC draft
guidelines (2005) and interpretations of the GMC “Good Medical Practice” (CHMS,
2001) both state that these interpretations of professional skills are inaccurate,
and may be unlawful.
It appears that an assistant is a reasonable and appropriate accommodation that
does not jeopardise fitness to practice or registration, provided that the task
performed by the assistant relies on the student’s skills, knowledge and
experience rather than that of the assistant. This typically relates to the need for
a student, for example, to have a full understanding of tasks (such as moving
and handling) such that it is possible to direct an assistant, as the required
professional skill.
In the UK, it is the responsibility of admissions staff to decide whether a course
can be delivered in a manner in which a student can complete the course and
demonstrate the required standards of proficiency. Prejudicial views or actions,
stereotypes or blanket expectations of what a person with a particular
impairment can and cannot do may lead to unlawful action.
It is likely that a similar line of responsibility applies here, with similar concern
that certain actions, particularly to exclude a student with a disability may be
unlawful under disability legislation.
Who decides if a person is “fit to practice”, and when should this decision be
made? Currently, there seems to be a mixture of influences on a decision, and
premature assumptions (as described above) may be unlawful. The use of
clearly stated, defined behavioural standards (such as core professional
competences), as interpreted for those using reasonable accommodations would
mean that if a student reaches those standards, then they can be seen to be fit
to practice. If the student does not, they in effect “fail” the course. This
approach implies that it will be necessary for the individual departments on
behalf of the University to both provide the appropriate accommodations, but
also to fail students, regardless of disability, if they do not meet the stated core
competences.
Alongside the fitness to practice issue may be the issue of whether or not a
person will be employable. UK documentation states that employability is not
the responsibility of the University. If, with reasonable accommodation a
person has the required essential professional skills then, it appears, that the
University’s duty is completed. Once reasonable accommodations have been
provided by the University, and the graduate has demonstrated that he/she has
the required competences, then it is the responsibility of the employer to make
reasonable accommodations to employ a disabled practitioner.
Page 6 of 13
Some may argue that it is ethically unsound to accept a disabled student if it is
unlikely that they will be employable, but legally this is dangerous, and likely to
be unlawful.
Fitness to Practice Seminar – January 2007
A meeting was held in January to discuss issues relating to fitness to practice.
The meeting was well represented by the health sciences, social work, and other
services, such as the disability service, health services, Senior Tutors Office,
Admissions Officer, the Mature Student Officer and CAPSL.
There were a number of aims of this meeting, including to present the situation
to those attending, to outline reasonable accommodations, and to begin a
discussion which it was hoped would lead to the eventual production of a proforma to outline decision-making regarding fitness to practice, to enable College
to successfully manage both duties of non-discrimination and ensuring that
graduates are competent and fit to practice.
Outcome of the meeting
A summary of the discussion outcomes are outlined below.







A suggestion for mandatory health checks / medical declaration on an annual
basis was suggested, subject to a feasibility study. This, based on
subsequent review of recent findings may, however, be discriminatory (see
section below).
College information (prospectus, calendar etc.) needs to be reviewed and
updated, as necessary, to ensure that they are not discriminatory.
A clear fitness to practice statement is needed in College documentation.
Schools and departments, in collaboration with the Professional Bodies need
to establish core competencies, which are “reasonable, quantifiable, rigorously
defensible, and universally applied”. One suggested mechanism for achieving
this goal is to make a SIF application for funding to support the work.
Within College, there needs to be a clear decision regarding the provision of
reasonable accommodations. This should include a pilot study with Academic
Support Tutors doing on-site work in Nursing.
Separate procedures are needed to deal with disability / mental health and
disciplinary issues that deal with potential fitness to practice issues.
The defining goal is the creation of a pro-forma to handle matters arising
from fitness to practice in order 1) to protect students from discrimination on
the basis of disability; 2) to protect the College from liability arising from
possible discrimination; and 3) to ensure sound academic standards within
professional programs and for professional certifying bodies.
Some of these conclusions were reconsidered based on the recommendations
from the formal investigation of the DRC in the UK, which is described below.
Research - DRC Report in the UK
The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) in the UK undertook a formal
investigation, “ examining the barriers that disabled people (including people
with long-term health conditions) face when entering, and staying in nursing,
teaching and social work... specifically… the barriers posed by the statutory
regulation of health in these professions” (p. 5). The investigation involved a
Page 7 of 13
number of pieces of research and formal panel inquiry elements. Results of the
investigation and the research sub-components are all available at
http://www.maintainingstandards.org/
The investigation focused on three main areas, these being: regulation,
particularly pertaining to health and fitness; assessment of health status and
disclosure of disability.
Health Standards and Core Competences
One of the key findings of the formal investigation was that “the statutory
regulation of ‘good health’ and ‘physical and mental fitness’ for students and
professionals in nursing, teaching and social work has a negative impact on
disabled people and offers no protection to the public” (p174).
The purpose of including health requirements is to safeguard the public, and its
inclusion as a statutory regulation followed reports into prominent incidents
where professionals caused harm to the public, such as the Clothier report into
the actions of Beverly Allitt and the report into the actions of Harold Shipman.
The DRC found that there were significant gaps, particularly in the Clothier
report, and that systems such as appropriate monitoring, supervision and
management are more likely to reduce the risk of harm to the public than health
requirements. Another concern is that use of these health standards may
provide a false sense of security for the professions, as they were found to be
ineffective in managing risk to the public. The recommendation is that all
arbitrary health standards should be revoked.
The DRC recommend the establishment of core competences. It found that the
health regulation was not a legitimate competence, (as defined in the DDA),
because it does not determine competence to practice and it also leads to
discriminatory practices. The discrimination arises as a result of the assumption
that disabled people may pose a risk to the public, but the DRC found no
evidence to support this assumption. Recommendation 17 is to, “Maintain high
professional standards for disabled and non-disabled students alike but not prejudge the professional competencies of disabled applicants or students.”
“We consider, in the light of the extensive evidence we received… an
academic, competence and conduct framework (with reasonable
adjustments, where appropriate, including as to how any standards are to
be achieved) with a focus on the skills actually needed is entirely sufficient
to meet the needs of the profession. Competencies should be reviewed to
ensure that they are designed around the skills and knowledge needed for
that profession, bearing in mind that there are a variety of job roles within
each profession and that most people – whether disabled or not – would
not be suited to all of them. Testing a person for their competencies and
ensuring that those who commit serious acts of misconduct cannot
practice is a much more rational basis for regulating the profession than
arbitrary health standards. A diagnostic label is valueless in measuring
competence and conduct. Health might be material to compliance with
competence or conduct standards, or may not be, but diagnosis is
irrelevant in determining competence or conduct.” (DRC Report, p.90)
Page 8 of 13
Need for clear policy that reflects disability (and non-discrimination)
legislation
A finding of the formal investigation that is particularly pertinent to College is
that third level institutions in the UK tended to have generic statements and
policies around disability, but that they lacked specific policies that balance the
need not to discriminate with the need to recommend disclosure of disability and
ensure fitness to practice of disabled students. A recommendation is that, as a
matter of urgency, higher education institutions (HEIs) need to put such policies
in place.
It was also found that transparency in the decision-making process is important
to reduce the risk of discrimination. It is recommended that a more specific
policy document can facilitate transparency. It is suggested that the policy
document should apply disability legislation (the DDA, in the case of the UK) into
clear, substantive and tangible procedures and practices.
As with HEIs, it was found that the professional bodies lack reference to disability
(and anti-discrimination) legislation in their codes of practice or ethics, and that
this needs to be included.
Cases where disciplinary and other issues arise in conjunction with
disability
At times, issues of discipline arise where there is also a health or disability
element. The DRC report suggests that these should be dealt “fairly and
sensitively”, and there is protocol within the DDA for hearings of this nature.
There is a two-stage approach to dealing with issues where discipline and
disability occur together. The first stage is to examine whether the disciplinary
issues or poor performance is due to a lack of appropriate accommodations for
the person, i.e. whether if accommodations were in place, the behaviour or
performance would have been better. If this is the case, then the disciplinary
aspect of the hearing is abandoned, and the appropriate supports are put in
place, for future review. The second important stage is to ensure that
reasonable accommodations are in place for the actual hearings of disciplinary
issues.
The DRC report recommends clear, consistent disciplinary procedures for all,
which are entirely separate of disability. It is suggested that having clear
disciplinary procedures in conjunction with clear competence standards is likely
to be the most effective means to ensure fitness to practice.
Disclosure of disability
It is recognised that disclosure of disability is the ideal. Upon disclosure,
reasonable accommodations should be provided to the person. It may be
possible to have mandatory disclosure, but the DRC has found that this can
result in people being more afraid to disclose or seek reasonable
accommodations. It is strongly argued that generalised health questions are not
appropriate, nor do they provide adequate or specific information. Using
generalised health questions were found to be more likely to lead to prejudicial
views, resulting in an increased risk of discrimination.
Page 9 of 13
A difficulty with health standards that was identified by the DRC is that they are
more likely to result in non-disclosure of disability, particularly in the case of
people with mental health issues. It is argued that non-disclosure in turn has
resulted in character judgements being made if or when a crisis happens, and a
student needs to subsequently disclose their disability. It is recommended that a
failure to disclose is not taken as evidence of bad character (recommendation
16). Non-disclosure can also result in a lack of reasonable accommodation for the
disabled practitioner or student, which may improve the person’s ability to work
effectively and safely. Non-disclosure is understandable, due to negative
attitudes and assumptions, but is described as unsatisfactory, and in no way
could be said to be in the public interest.
It is recommended that strategies to promote and support disclosure be put in
place, which lead to reasonable accommodations and safeguard the disabled
student or practitioner.
Placements / Practice Education
Practice Education was found to be an area of particular difficulty. This is
reported to be because supervisors / practice settings are unaware of disability
legislation, and also because the HEIs were found to be poor at communicating
reasonable accommodation requirements to practice educators.
Further work and research recommendations
The DRC report recommended that research about the provision of reasonable
accommodations is needed. This should include both the university-based and
practice education settings, so that information about good practice can be
compiled (recommendation 11). This would also be useful for College, and
within the Irish context.
Findings

The DRC has found evidence of discrimination in the higher education
sector against students wanting to train in nursing, teaching and social
work.

The influence of the statutory and regulatory frameworks requiring
physical and mental fitness is less obvious at the employment stage.
…There is a widespread practice of health screening, which is frequently
not related to the specific job role. This has the potential to lead to
discrimination and to deter disabled people from applying for jobs or from
disclosing disabilities and long-term health conditions.

Found no evidence that the use of generalised health standards is an
effective way of assessing or managing risk

All the regulatory bodies, across England, Scotland and Wales, should
review their competence standards to ensure that any negative impact on
disabled people is eliminated. They should provide guidance on reasonable
adjustments and consider what other guidance to provide to encourage
others (such as higher education institutions) to adopt an enabling
approach to disabled people.
Page 10 of 13

The health standards, with their implicit assumptions about the ‘risk’ from
disabled people within these professions, discourage positive
organisational cultures. There is evidence that disabled people, where they
recognise that they are covered by the DDA, gain real confidence from this
legislation and feel empowered to negotiate with their higher education
institutions about adjustments as a result of it.

In contrast to this, the DRC’s Inquiry Panel heard repeatedly that the
regulations requiring good health or physical and mental fitness create a
climate where disability is not perceived positively, so affecting people’s
willingness to disclose and to ask for adjustments.

a framework of professional standards of competence and conduct,
coupled with effective management and rigorous monitoring of practice, is
the best way to achieve equality for disabled people and the effective
protection of the public.
Based on the conclusions of the discussion meeting held in January 2007 and the
report of the DRC, it appeared clear that a number of steps were essential to
enable College to balance non-discrimination with maintaining standards of
practice. These included:



The establishment of clear guidelines (or a pro-forma) that deal specifically
with both disability / equality legislation and the fitness to practice issues.
The pro-forma should include the decision-making route throughout a
student’s (or prospective student’s) experience in College.
An audit of all College documentation to assess its compliance with disability
and equality legislation.
The separation of disability and disciplinary issues, resulting in the production
of separate policies / procedures.
The suggestion of linking closely with professional bodies to establish clear,
legitimate core competences remains highly relevant, and an important step.
The recommendation from the January meeting, to apply for funding under the
strategic innovation fund for this purpose should be considered.
Development of a Fitness to Practice Policy in College
A working group was set up by the Dean of Students in conjunction with Schools
in College. The objective of this working group was to develop guidelines about
Fitness to Practice that both reduce the likelihood of discrimination, and ensure
that those graduating from professional courses are fit to practice. DS specific
objectives in this area were:

To discuss and decide what are College’s responsibilities under relevant
legislation (Disability Act 2005 and Equality legislation), including reasonable
accommodations for practice education settings

To clarify what constitutes reasonable (and unreasonable) accommodations for
students with disabilities undertaking professional courses

To start the process to produce a pro-forma in relation to decision-making
around admissions, reasonable accommodations and practice education
Page 11 of 13
This group met over an eighteen month period and a draft discussion document
(appendix 1) was presented the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Committee’s in
College in February 2009. It was adopted by Council and Board in April and
May 2009.
The document contains guidelines for Schools and Course Committees on the
content of school/departmental fitness to practice policies, together with
recommendations on new procedures for dealing with fitness to practice cases.
The report outlines the substantive elements of the policy noting that relevant
Schools/disciplines should when formulating a policy address (i) the
competencies that are being assessed in the specific course and/or placement,
(ii) whether the competency requirement is justifiable in relation to each specific
course and/or placement, (iii) how competencies are assessed, and (iv) in the
case of a student with a disability, whether the School/discipline has engaged
with the Disability Service to determine how the student’s needs might be
reasonably accommodated.
The adoption of this policy is a positive step and will protect students who
disclose a disability and seek reasonable accommodations in placements as part
of their professional courses. The Disability Service continues to engage with
relevant schools in supporting them to identify problem areas in placements and
in understanding the reasonable accommodation process in work based
environments.
The policy is available on the TCD webpage at:
http://www.tcd.ie/disability/projects/fitness/index.php
Page 12 of 13
References
‘Fitness to Practise in the Medical Profession’ – A Report to Universities UK and
the Council of Heads of Medical Schools by Eversheds Solicitors (July 2001)
(http://www.chms.ac.uk/fastuds.htm)
Council of Heads of Medical Schools (CHMS) (1999) Guiding Principles for the
Admission of Medical Students CHMS (http://www.chms.ac.uk/fastuds.html)
Disability Act, 2005
Health Professions Council (2005) A disabled person’s guide to becoming a
health professional. Consultation document London: The Health Professions
Council.
Medical Council (2004) A Guide to Ethical Conduct and Behaviour 6th ed.
Dublin: Medical Council (Ireland)
Roberts, T., Butler, A., Boursicot, K. (2004) The Higher Education Academy,
Special Report 4: Disabled students, disabled doctors – time for a change? A
study of different societal views of disabled people’s inclusion to the study and
practice of medicine Newcastle-upon-Tyne: The Higher Education Academy.
Fitness Standards Formal Investigation - The Disability Rights Commission
(DRC) launched a general formal investigation (FI) on 22 May 2006 looking at
the barriers people with impairments and long-term health conditions face in
trying to pursue careers in teaching, nursing and social work.Maintaining
Standards: Promoting Equality Professional regulation within nursing, teaching
and social work and disabled people’s access to these professions Disability
Rights Commission. Available at www.naintainingstandards.org/
Bibliography / Further Reading
Council of Heads of Medical Schools (CHMS) (2005) Recommendations on
Selection of Medical Students with Specific Learning Disabilities including
Dyslexia
Wray, J., Fell, B., Stanley, N., Manthorpe, J., Coyne, E. (2005) Best Practice
Guide: Disabled social work students and placements Hull: The University of
Hull
‘Good Medical Practice’, General Medical Council, (Third Edition, May 2001)
(http://www.gmc-uk.org/global_sections/search_frameset.htm)
‘QAA Subject Benchmark Statements: Medicine’, The Quality Assurance Agency
for Higher Education (2002)
(http://www.qaa.ac.uk/crntwork/benchmark/phase2consult.htm)
‘Tomorrow’s Doctors’, General Medical Council (July 2002) (http://www.gmcuk.org/med_ed/default.htm)
‘Student Health and Conduct: Guidance for Universities and Medical Students’,
General Medical Council (November 2002) (http://www.gmcuk.org/med_ed/default.htm)
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