Jim Post, a quadriplegic since 1985, wants to go to medical school. But after rejection from all seven Pennsylvania medical schools, he is no closer to that goal.

Penn State’s Hershey Medical Center is among the schools that turned down the 3.92 summa cum laude King’s College graduate.

Some of his friends with lower grade point averages were accepted to schools that did not accept him, Post said, adding that he believes he was discriminated against because of his disability.

“It’s not a question of whether or not I’m jumping the gun in saying it,” he said. “It’s pretty clear that that is the reason.”

But Dave Leaman, assistant dean for admissions at the medical center, said any accusations on the center’s motives for non-acceptance — including possible discrimination because of disability — are unfounded.

“When we send a letter of non-acceptance, we do not specify the grounds of our decision, and any speculations on the motives are only speculations,” Leaman said.

Students are invited for interviews based solely on information from their applications, Leaman said. The interview determines if the student is capable of fulfilling the center’s technical standards, he said, adding that only one-third of the interviewees are accepted.

“You need to be able to do certain things to graduate from medical school,” he said. “For example, it is an intergal part of the education to be able to identify an enlarged liver. You cannot do this on sight alone.”

Post said he hopes for a change in the Pennsylvania Fair Educational Opportunities Act that would include handicapped persons in its non-discrimination clause.

The medical center is the only school currently lobbying against the act’s change, he added.

Leaman said including the word “handicap” is too vague. It can be interpreted broadly, which could force medical schools to accept students who are not qualified for medical school, he said.

“A person with an IQ of 80 can be considered handicapped,” he said.

But Dr. Robert Meier III, professor and chairman of the department of rehabilitation medicine at the University of Colorado, said the system would weed out those people.

“They need to give (Post) a chance,” Meier said. “And if he doesn’t make it, he failed on his own error and not because we did not give him the opportunity.”

The center’s current policy requires students to complete clinical clerkships in medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry and family and community medicine.

Students must complete all required clerkships in accordance with departmental specifications, according to the center’s policy. That includes demonstrating proficiency in technical skills such as physical diagnosis and participation in medical procedures such as surgery.

But Post said he doesn’t want to go into a field where “hands-on” experience is necessary. Instead, he said he wants to utilize his academic skills and medical knowledge in a field such as psychiatry or radiology.

“I can function as a radiologist, I can function as a psychiatrist,” he said. “I can’t function as a surgeon. The field is large enough that I can find a specialized area to make a significant contribution.”

Post said he is willing to hire assistants, whom he would guide through procedures that require superior motor skills.

Meier said assistants are used daily in hospitals.

“We do that in every hospital in this country,” Meier said. “We hire technicians to do that stuff. Hands-on is not an essential part of medical education.”

Meier said Post could still receive a quality education by learning procedures and related material while using assistants.

Organizations such as Vocational Rehabilitation have expressed interest in providing funding for “hired hands,” Post said.

But Leaman said using “hired hands” would be ineffective because a student could not accurately learn procedures without actual hands-on experience.

“You cannot teach somebody how to drive a car if you have never driven a car yourself,” he said.