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Sage Advice for Educators to Support Medical Students with Disabilities

by Cynthia Abraham, M.D. | May 16, 2024

Article Citation: Sonn T, Fleming AF, Bharghava R, Cox S, Everett EN, Graziano SC, Morgan HK, Madani Sims S, Morosky C, Royce CS, Sutton J, Baecher-Lind L. Encouraging workforce diversity: Supporting medical students with mobility and sensory disabilities. Disabil Rehabil 2023 Apr 19:1-5. DOI: 10.1080/09638288.2023.2201511 

What is this article about?

This article, from the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics Undergraduate Medical Education Committee, provides educators with recommendations on how to create an inclusive learning environment for students with disabilities. Committee members performed an extensive review of the literature on disabilities in medical student education to identify best practices for educators.

Why should you read the article?

As medical schools continue to embrace diversity, equity and inclusivity, educators may encounter medical students with disabilities. In 2019, 5% of medical students reported a physical, learning, or psychological disability compared with 3% in 2016. Hence, educators need to ensure a nurturing educational environment that provides tools for students with disabilities to achieve their educational goals.

Educators within and across schools are not uniformly trained or experienced in working with students with disabilities. This article not only reviews legal considerations and technical standards but also provides a practical list of strategies targeted at ensuring equivalent learning opportunities for those with mobility and sensory disabilities. The article offers accommodation strategies for different groups, such as:

• Hearing/audio impairment: Provide surgical masks with clear panels to allow lip-reading and microphones to be placed under surgical masks
• Visual impairments: Provide screen reader software and electronic braille machines to read books, documents, or emails
• Motor/physical disabilities: Provide long handles or extensor equipment in the operating room, standing wheelchairs and video equipment for improved viewing of the surgical field (on surgical lights or the surgeon’s head)

How can you use this article?

This article provides strategies to optimize the educational experience for students with mobility and sensory disabilities in the operating room and ambulatory office settings. This article is generalizable and can serve as a model for clinical educators and clerkship directors when teaching medical students with disabilities.

Review Author:  Cynthia Abraham, M.D.; Director of Undergraduate Medical Education & Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. Organization: Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics