Non-Standard Conditions: Should we accommodate?

Yes, we've all taken the dreaded standardized tests. Whether they be the TAAS, the CSAP, the SAT, the ACT, the MCAT, LSAT, GRE.... The list just goes on and on. Many are used for assessments of schools, others are used for college entrance exams, others for professional schools, and then there's the subset that is used to license professionals. As you get higher on the list, they tend to cause more stress for everyone. But then there are those people that get special privileges when taking these tests.

Don't get me wrong, I think some people should be accommodated when taking certain tests. My little sister is autistic, and she's mainstream enough that the only concession she gets is to take her tests on the computer instead of in paper and pencil. She still has to follow the time limits and everything. A girl in my chemistry class last year took her tests early outside of class, because she's bipolar and can't handle taking the tests with the rest of the class in the time allowed. No problems there either.

The reason I bring this up is that there is a student that is petitioning to get extra time on one of her exams because she needs to breastfeed. No problem, right? Just extend the breaks and let her pump her milk, and be done with it.

What if I told you that she was already getting an extension in the time she gets to take the test? And if that test was the Step 2 of the USMLE... the United States Medical Licensing Exam. And that she failed the test the first time she took it, and has to retake it in order to pass, so that she can 1) graduate from medical school (Harvard, actually) and 2) get a placement for residency for next June. Does that change things at all?

Because this girl has ADHD and Dyslexia, she is getting twice as long to take the test... 18 hours instead of 9, spread out over 2 days. The vast majority of medical students have to take it in that 9 hours, with 45 minutes total for a break. And on top of that, she's petitioning for MORE time so that she can pump milk.

By entering into medical school, people have to fulfill the technical requirements to be a doctor (though I'm not sure these are the same from school to school, since apparently one of the schools I went to last week matriculated and graduated a quadriplegic). These usually say something along these lines:

All candidates for admission to and all candidates for the M.D. degree at the School of Medicine should possess sufficient intellectual capacity, physical ability, emotional stability, interpersonal sensitivity, and communication skills to acquire the scientific knowledge, interpersonal and technical competency, professional attitudes, and clinical abilities required to pursue any pathway of graduate medical education and to enter the independent practice of medicine. All candidates should be aware that the academic and clinical responsibilities of medical students may, at times, require their presence during day and evening hours, seven days per week.

{emphasis added}

So my question is, is this girl just taking advantage of the system in order to ensure she'll pass the exam, or does she really need this time? And if she does really need the time, how is that going to influence her practice as a physician? Is the USMLE really a test you want to give concessions on, especially ones as this (instead of, say, just ensuring the monitor was magnified or something technical like that)?

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