Physical disability among American medical students

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Disability Studies
• Physician Training

Background:

• Assessing the inclusion and academic success of medical students with physical disabilities is crucial for equitable medical education.
• Previous data on the prevalence and academic performance of physicians with disabilities is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence and types of physical disabilities among medical school graduates in the United States and Puerto Rico.
• To examine the academic performance of these graduates with physical disabilities.

Main Methods:

• A survey was distributed to 128 medical schools in the US and Puerto Rico, targeting graduating classes from 1987-1990.
• Data was collected on students with physical disabilities, their academic standing, and disability etiology.
• Sixty-seven schools responded, providing data on 64 eligible students with physical disabilities.

Main Results:

• Physically disabled students constituted 0.19% of graduates (64 out of 33,138).
• Disabilities included neurologic (39%), musculoskeletal (20%), medical-surgical (13%), visual (13%), and auditory (9%).
• The majority of students with disabilities had average (48%) or above-average (36%) academic standings.

Conclusions:

• Physical disabilities are present in a small but significant percentage of medical graduates.
• Students with physical disabilities generally achieve comparable academic success to their peers.
• Underreporting of less visible disabilities may lead to an underestimation of prevalence.