Twelve tips for teaching medical students with dyslexia

Abstract

Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty. As a result of SS’ own experiences as a medical student with dyslexia, we have been researching and teaching on this topic for the past two years. Here, we present twelve tips for teaching medical students with dyslexia. These are gathered from our personal experiences and research, discussions with other educators, and wider literature on the topic. This article aims to shed some light on dyslexia, and also to make practical suggestions. Teaching students with dyslexia should not be a daunting experience. Small changes to existing methods, at minor effort, can make a difference – for example, adding pastel colors to slide backgrounds or avoiding Serif fonts. These tips can help educators gain more insight into dyslexia and incorporate small, beneficial adaptations into their teaching.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no declarations of interest.

Notes on contributors

Sebastian Charles Keith Shaw, MSc (Med Ed), MAcadMEd, AFHEA, is a medical student. He has an MSc in Medical Education, is a Member of the Academy of Medical Educators, and is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. His main interests in education are dyslexia and the application of Attribution Theory to student experiences.

John Leeds Anderson, MA, SFHEA, is a medical sociologist. His career has mainly been in teaching and research in medical schools. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and is currently a Principal Lecturer in Postgraduate Medicine, within the Division of Medical Education at Brighton and Sussex Medical School.