When I was a chief resident, we had a quadraplegic student who was assigned to my service. He was able to roll around in a powered chair but not much else. My position was that I would grade him the same as anyone else. If he did the deliveries and the surgery and passed the tests he would pass. The admin said no, that all he had to do was observe. If medical skill is equal parts mental and manual abilities, and we pass a bright boy with no hands, shouldn’t we make equal accommodation for a very stupid mentally handicapped student with brilliant manual skills? — JLW