Working With People With Disabilities: An Interactive Video/Lecture Session for First- and Second-Year Medical Students

Date of Review: December, 2020

This curriculum is for an interactive introductory session for first- and second-year medical students on how to approach individuals with observable disability in clinical settings. The curriculum aims to improve medical students’ comfort level in approaching and delivering care to patients with disabilities, and focuses on barriers among individuals with disability, possible causes of provider discomfort in caring for individuals with disability, and methods for effectively approaching individuals with disability in a clinical encounter. In this MedEd publication, the authors provide content/instructions to deliver the curriculum in either of 2 ways: 1) a 50-minute, lecture-based, large-group interactive session, with Powerpoint slides containing brief videos (at U. of Michigan, this session was co-led by a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician and an individual with a disability), or; 2) a 28-minute video that could be an independent viewing assignment for students. Strengths of the curriculum include its brief length, the easy-to-follow instructions/content included in the publication (and no need for any lengthy trainings), and the practical nature of the session and its goals. Potential limitations include the somewhat limited nature of the lecture-based training, which might not be sufficient to achieve measurable improvements in medical students’ bedside manner with this high-need patient population. –Dave Liss, PhD, NCEAS

Corresponding Author’s Email:

slhearn@med.umich.edu

Institution:

University of Michigan

Where was the Curriculum Implemented:

Ann Arbor, MI

Source of the Curriculum/Resource:

MedEdPORTAL

Outcomes that Have Been Reported for the Curriculum:

Self-reported learner behavior in simulated setting

Self-reported learner attitude

Outcome and Study Design:

Pre/post