Disability Awareness Education in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency Programs: A National Program...

This study aimed to measure how many physical medicine and rehabilitation residencies include a disability awareness program, investigate the format and content of existing programs, understand barriers to including a disability awareness program, and evaluate receptiveness to adopting provided disability awareness resources. A Qualtrics survey was distributed through the physical medicine and rehabilitation residency program director listserv to all 112 accredited physical medicine and rehabilitation residencies in the US. Fifty-three program directors completed surveys (47%), and 52 responses were analyzed. Fifty-eight percent of physical medicine and rehabilitation residencies included a disability awareness program. Frequently utilized formats included didactic courses/lectures (82%), adaptive sports experiences (64%), and panels of individuals with disability (or their caregivers) (46%). Physical disabilities were most commonly covered in the curriculum (96%), followed by intellectual (61%) and sensory disabilities (50%). There was minimal curriculum coverage of the Alliance for Disability in Health Care Education's Core Competencies on Disability. For residencies without a disability awareness program, barriers included lack of faculty expertise in disability advocacy education (55%), insufficient resources for curriculum development (50%), and limited faculty time (41%). The majority (59%) of residencies reported they would likely or very likely adopt a provided disability awareness program. This study identifies a demand for a comprehensive, standardized disability awareness curriculum for physical medicine and rehabilitation residency programs.