Student-driven disability advocacy and education within the health professions: pilot survey results from a single-day virtual conference

ABSTRACT

Background

Health professional programs can promote equitable healthcare delivery but few programs include disability in these efforts. Limited opportunities exist for health professional students to engage with disability education within the classroom or beyond. The Disability Advocacy Coalition in Medicine (DAC Med) is a national interprofessional student-led organization which hosted a virtual conference for health professional students in October 2021. We describe the impact of this single-day virtual conference on learning and the current state of disability education across health professional programs.

Methods

This cross-sectional study utilized a 17-item post-conference survey. A 5-point Likert scale-based survey was distributed to conference registrants. Survey parameters included background in disability advocacy, curricular exposure to disability, and impact of the conference.

Results

Twenty-four conference attendees completed the survey. Participants were enrolled in audiology, genetic counseling, medical, medical scientist, nursing, prosthetics and orthotics, public health, and ‘other’ health programs. Most participants (58.3%) reported not having a strong background in disability advocacy before the conference, with 26.1% indicating they learned about ableism in their program’s curriculum. Almost all students (91.6%) attended the conference to learn how to be a better advocate for patients and peers with disabilities, and 95.8% reported that the conference provided this knowledge. Eighty-eight percent of participants agreed that they acquired additional resources to better care for patients with disabilities.

Conclusions

Few health professional students learn about disability in their curriculum. Single-day virtual, interactive conferences are effective in providing advocacy resources and empowering students to employ them.

KEYWORDS:

• Disability
• interprofessional
• medical education
• equity
• diversity
• conference
• advocacy
• student advocacy

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the faculty and staff of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Augusta Webster Office of Medical Education and Office of Diversity and Inclusion for their support in our efforts to plan and execute the conference. We would also like the thank the numerous conference presenters whose knowledge and work in disability advocacy has inspired us to think deeper and work harder to improve the care we provide to patients with disabilities.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elizabeth J. Adams

Elizabeth Adams co-founded the Disability Advocacy Coalition in Medicine (DAC Med) in March 2021 as a first-year medical student at Northwestern University. Now, DAC Med is a national student organization promoting the inclusion of disability in health education, creating opportunities for students to engage in disability advocacy, and supporting students with disabilities. Elizabeth is from New Jersey and completed her undergraduate degree at Ohio State University.

Samantha Schroth

Samantha Schroth is an MD-PhD student at Northwestern University and an executive board member of the Disability Advocacy Coalition in Medicine (DAC Med). Samantha is from Wisconsin and completed her undergraduate degree at University of Minnesota with plans to pursue veterinary medicine. A spinal cord injury in 2013 resulted in paraplegia and altered her life trajectory toward medicine. Since her injury, Samantha has been committed to challenging disability-related bias.

Trisha Kaundinya

Trisha Kaundinya co-founded the Disability Advocacy Coalition in Medicine (DAC Med) in March 2021 as a first-year medical student at Northwestern University. Now, DAC Med is a national student organization promoting the inclusion of disability in health education, creating opportunities for students to engage in disability advocacy, and supporting students with disabilities. Trisha is from New Jersey and completed her undergraduate degree at Northwestern University.