Health Requirements and Technical Standards

All candidates and enrolled students must meet health and technical standards to be admitted to, participate in and graduate from KCU.

Health Requirements

Students who project themselves as future health care professionals are obligated to protect their health and the health of their future patients.

Immunizations

All matriculating and enrolled students at KCU are required to be vaccinated in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) immunization guidelines. These guidelines change and are updated periodically. Students are expected to be knowledgeable regarding the current CDC guidelines for health care workers.

Students interacting with patients in hospitals and clinics are exposed to a variety of infectious agents. Although universal precautions are required in many of these encounters, the risk of infection is still increased. To protect themselves and prevent the spread of disease to patients, KCU students must maintain the health requirements and provide official documentation. Failure to do so will prevent matriculation or in the case of an enrolled student, may lead to suspension or dismissal.

Exposure to Pathogens

Health care students who have direct contact with patients are at risk for occupational exposure to pathogenic organisms. Exposure can occur via contact with blood and other body fluids and tissues, airborne and droplet transmission, and needle stick or other penetration of the skin.

The MHSAA program and KCU promote the safety of students through mandatory training in universal precautions and other work-safety measures, including N95 mask fit testing. Clinical sites provide OSHA-mandated safety and personal protection equipment (PPE). In the event of a known or suspected exposure, students adhere to the protocol of either KCU student health or the clinical site, depending on the site where the exposure occurred.

Exposures During Pregnancy

Certain risks exist for pregnant people in health care environments including exposure to communicable diseases, anesthetic gases and vapors, caustic agents and radiation. The program will work to minimize risks for pregnant students. A student who knows or has reason to believe that they may be pregnant should speak with the program director as soon as possible to review clinical assignments, make indicated changes and inform the clinical sites as necessary.

Substance Abuse

Both anesthesiologists and anesthetists are at greater risk for substance abuse than practitioners in other medical specialties or individuals in the general population. Handling and administering controlled substances occur daily in the practice of anesthesia, and current literature suggests that individuals with a history of substance abuse of any kind are more likely to develop a drug abuse problem if they enter the field of anesthesiology.

If at any time during your enrollment you realize that you are using alcohol excessively or that you are suffering from any form of drug abuse, you must adhere to the KCU Drug-Free Workplace and Substance Abuse Policy and Student Code of Conduct.

KCU provides the following technical standards to inform incoming and enrolled students of the performance abilities and characteristics that are necessary to successfully complete the requirements of the MHSAA curriculum and provide effective and safe health care. To enroll, the student must meet technical standards with or without reasonable accommodations and maintain related satisfactory demonstration of these standards for progression through the program. Critical skills needed for the successful navigation of core experiences are outlined below, and include the ability to observe and communicate, as well as to understand, integrate core knowledge and skills, and to behave appropriately in varied educational and professional situations.

To that end, students must be able to:

Observation

Directly and accurately observe patients and assess findings.
Recognize and assess body position, facial expression, skin color, range of motion, eye position, dentition, etc., which are examples of necessary abilities to master the requirement of preanesthetic evaluation, intraoperative assessment and subsequent management.
Acquire accurate and complete information from demonstrations, experiments and patients, both near and far, in the basic and clinical sciences.
Acquire information from written documents and computers systems (e.g., literature searches and data retrieval).
Identify information presented in images from paper, slides, electronic screens, videos and transparencies.
Recognize and differentiate colors of items displayed on patient monitors and anesthesia machines, hear and respond to alarms and work in both light and dark conditions.
Perceive and accurately read vital signs monitors and other medical equipment used for patient care (e.g., defibrillator, peripheral nerve stimulator, ultrasound, point-of-care devices, fluid warmer, fetal heart rate monitor, tourniquet, etc.).

Communication

Communicate skillfully (in English) orally and in writing with faculty members, other members of the health care team, patients, families and other students to elicit information, convey information, clarify information, create rapport and demonstrate competencies for progression in the MHSAA program.
Communicate effectively with patients to elicit information, describe changes in vital signs and activity and perceive nonverbal communications.
Communicate effectively in emergency situations (e.g., a member of a cardiac arrest team, emergency surgery, labor and delivery, etc.).

Sensory/Motor

Effectively elicit information by palpation, auscultation and percussion as well as other diagnostic and therapeutic maneuvers.
Perform basic diagnostic and therapeutic tasks, including invasive procedures, on patients in a timely manner to ensure the safety of patients and coworkers.
Examples include bag-mask ventilation, endotracheal intubation, vascular access, arterial and central venous catheterization, nerve and neuraxial blocks and reading EKGs and medical images.
Execute psychomotor movements reasonably required to provide skillful anesthesia care to patients.

Conceptual, Integrative and Quantitative Abilities

Measure, calculate, reason, analyze, and synthesize, and transmit data related to patients.
Assimilate detailed and complex information presented in both didactic and clinical coursework, and engage in effective problem solving.
Comprehend three-dimensional relationships and to understand the spatial relationship of structures.
Endure long hours and participate fully in a classroom or operating room.
Sustained, intense concentration over an extended period, especially in emergency situations and environments with numerous distractors.