Perioperative Clerkship Design for Students with Physical Disabilities: A Model for Implementation

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Disability Inclusion
• Surgical Clerkships

Background:

• Disability inclusion in medical education faces barriers like stereotypes and outdated standards.
• Accommodations are crucial for students with physical disabilities to participate fully in medical training.
• Proactive strategies are needed to support students with mobility impairments in demanding clinical rotations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a proactive approach for accommodating a student with a thoracic spinal cord injury in a surgical clerkship.
• To support the inclusion of students with physical disabilities in medical education.
• To outline a collaborative process for developing reasonable accommodations.

Main Methods:

• Collaboration between medical school leadership, disability professionals, and the surgical clerkship team.
• Development of reasonable accommodations tailored to a student with a thoracic spinal cord injury.
• Focus on proactive planning and early communication for disability-related adjustments.

Main Results:

• A third-year medical student with a thoracic spinal cord injury successfully completed an 8-week surgical clerkship.
• The student utilized reasonable accommodations to fulfill all procedural and clinical skill requirements.
• The student achieved an honors grade for the surgical rotation.

Conclusions:

• Early communication and planning are essential for accessible disability accommodations in medical education.
• Including students with disabilities enhances understanding of inclusive practices in surgical education.
• Students with disabilities contribute valuable diversity of thought and experience to the medical community.