Experiences of disabled students in undergraduate medical education

Abstract

Purpose

Since people with disabilities (PwD) are underrepresented in medical education, the authors of this article conducted a qualitative research in the form of an in-depth interview with students with disabilities from a medical school in Brazil, to characterize their experiences in medical education and identify barriers and facilitators to inclusion.

Materials and Methods

Participants were recruited by snowball sampling, signed an informed consent form, and completed a socioeconomic questionnaire. They were interviewed individually with open-ended questions so that they could develop narratives.

Results

The students identified some barriers to inclusion - teachers' lack of knowledge about students’ special needs, students' own lack of knowledge about their needs during the medical course, underestimation of the disability by teachers and classmates, difficult access to college buildings - and facilitators, such as acceptance of the disability by professors and colleagues, proactivity of professors and colleagues in adapting practical learning scenarios.

Conclusion

Students identified peer and teacher acceptance as an important determinant of inclusion, which is in line with the biopsychosocial view of disability. They also reported doubts about their ability to practice medicine, which dialogues with literature research that points to a medical culture that expects nothing less than perfection from students.

Keywords:

• Undergraduate medical education
• disabled persons
• inclusive education
• qualitative research

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. Two of the authors of the article were also included as participants in the project, therefore they were interviewed on their experiences as PwD in the position of Medical students.

Ethical approval

The project was approved by the affiliate institution's ethical committee (COEP-UNIFESP), approval document number 4.286.552.

Geolocation information

This study was conducted in Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.

Glossary

Undifferentiated graduate: A medical student which theoretically could follow any specialty in the future, specifically used to say that students with disabilities are not undifferentiated because they could not follow surgical specialties.

Biopsychosocial model: A model which views disease as the result of organic disfunction paired with societal and environmental factors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elda de Oliveira

Elda de Oliveira, Doctorate in Psychiatric Nursing by Universidade de São Paulo (USP), SP. Visiting professor at Escola Paulista de Enfermagem, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (EPE/UNIFESP), São Paulo, SP.

Rafaela Gonçalves Dantas

Rafaela Gonçalves Dantas, Medical student at Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM/UNIFESP), São Paulo, SP.

Giovanna Araujo Amaral

Giovanna Araujo Amaral, Medical student at Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM/UNIFESP), São Paulo, SP.

Renata Rocha Barreto Giaxa

Rafaela Gonçalves Dantas, Medical student at Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM/UNIFESP), São Paulo, SP.

Aécio Flávio Teixeira de Góis

Aécio Flávio Teixeira de Góis, MD, Doctorate in Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (FMUSP), MBA in Healthcare Management in Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV). Emergency Medicine residency coordinator at Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM), São Paulo, SP.