Inclusion in Medical Education: Integrating the Disability Perspective

Disability education is limited in medical training, leading to physician misconceptions and discomfort when caring for patients with disabilities. The team sought to develop an elective course to improve medical students' disability cultural competency and advocacy skills. The team performed a targeted needs assessment including curriculum mapping and interviews with community members with disabilities to develop course learning objectives based on gaps in the medical school curricula and identified themes from the interviews. The elective course entitled Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion-Minded for Disability included five sessions and was administered in 2023 and 2024 with 11 participants. The team administered an 11-item precourse and postcourse self-assessment on a 5-point Likert scale as well as free response questions. Improvement in self-reported confidence was noted on all postcourse assessment items. Student takeaways included increased understanding of barriers to care and health disparities and ways to advocate for their future patients with disabilities. Through the novel inclusion of community members with disabilities in course development, the team ensured content remained relevant and highlighted the lived expertise of people with disabilities. Importantly, this elective increased student knowledge of disability and health disparities and empowered students to advocate for people with disabilities.