Student-Led Workshop on Disability Advocacy

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Disability Studies
• Public Health Policy

Background:

• Medical students require targeted training to become effective advocates for the disability community.
• Opportunities for disability advocacy education within medical training programs are currently limited.
• Physiatry trainees participated in a workshop focused on disability advocacy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of a disability advocacy workshop on medical trainees.
• To evaluate trainees' ability to identify gaps in disability education and policy.
• To enhance trainees' confidence in engaging in education- and policy-based disability advocacy, incorporating an intersectional lens.

Main Methods:

• A medical student-led workshop on disability advocacy was conducted at the Association of Academic Physiatrists' Annual Conference.
• Pre- and post-workshop surveys were administered to assess changes in participants' confidence and perceived abilities.
• Qualtrics was used for anonymous survey submission and data collection.

Main Results:

• Post-workshop, participants showed statistically significant increases in confidence regarding identifying disability education gaps (75.0% to 100.0%) and policy issues (41.7% to 100.0%).
• Confidence in engaging in education-based advocacy rose from 58.3% to 100.0%, and policy-based advocacy from 16.7% to 91.7%.
• Trainees demonstrated a significant improvement in applying an intersectional lens to disability advocacy, with confidence increasing from 33.3% to 91.7%.

Conclusions:

• The disability advocacy workshop effectively met its intended goals, enhancing trainees' confidence and skills.
• The program demonstrated a significant positive impact on participants' perceived ability to advocate for disability-related issues.
• Attendees expressed strong support for the continuation and expansion of similar training programs for medical trainees.