Mandating disability education in medicine: A call to action

Abstract

Healthcare clinicians frequently treat persons with disabilities, yet disability is often overlooked in medical education. Fewer than half of U.S. medical schools include disability education in their undergraduate medical education curriculum.1 When included, it is often superficial and insufficient to apply to patient care. Although 98% of students at one institution reported receiving disability education, 80% reported that it was inadequate, and 64% of them felt unprepared to evaluate, diagnose, and treat people with disabilities.2 This trend continues in graduate medical education (GME), with only 43% of emergency medicine programs including disability content.3