Students and residents with disabilities have an important role to play in health care. An AAMC report outlines promising practices for medical schools and teaching hospitals to create a supportive and inclusive learning environment.
Editor’s note: The number of medical students who report having a disability rose 69% between 2016 and 2019, according to a new survey published November 26, 2019 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Lisa Meeks, PhD, co-author of the 2018 AAMC report and the new JAMA article, speculates that the increase in disability prevalence may be due to “more applicants with disabilities being admitted to medical school, more existing students disclosing disability, better reporting of disability data, or increased development of psychological disability while attending medical school.”
Medical schools and teaching hospitals are striving to support learners with disabilities, yet they often need more information and resources to help create fully inclusive environments. Furthermore, the quality and extent of supports for these learners vary quite significantly from institution to institution across the country.
Those are among the findings of an AAMC report released in 2018 that captures the insights and lived experiences of learners and physicians with disabilities.
The report, Accessibility, Inclusion, and Action in Medical Education: Lived Experiences of Learners and Physicians With Disabilities, is the product of months of delving into research studies and interviewing administrators and learners at more than 30 institutions. It offers practical considerations and resources to help ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to medical education and the profession of medicine.
“Prior AAMC reports have addressed various issues surrounding disabilities, but this is the first comprehensive examination of the experiences of medical learners with disabilities,” notes Geoffrey Young, PhD, AAMC senior director of student affairs and programs. “This report gives voice to students, residents, and physicians with physical, psychological, sensory, learning, or chronic health disabilities.”
Created in partnership with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), School of Medicine, the report covers a broad landscape: physical accessibility, institutional culture, legal requirements, training opportunities, and more.
Report coauthor Lisa Meeks, PhD, former director of medical student disability services at UCSF School of Medicine, notes key takeaways. “Learners certainly need effective structures that sometimes are missing, such as clear policies around disabilities and knowledgeable disability service providers. But that’s not enough,” says Meeks, now a researcher at the University of Michigan Medical School. “They also need a culture that lets them know they are welcome.”
Young hopes the report will spark some crucial conversations. “I want this publication to encourage all involved in medical education to explore and challenge their implicit biases,” he says. “I want them to appreciate how people with disabilities can enrich medical education and the care of patients.”