Meeks Lisa M, Stergiopoulos Erene, Petersen Kristina H
L.M. Meeks is adjunct assistant professor of family medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, researcher, Center for a Diverse Healthcare Workforce, UC Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, California, and associate professor of psychiatry, University of Colorado Medical School, Aurora, Colorado; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3647-3657 .
E. Stergiopoulos is a third-year resident, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8039-872X .
Acad Med. 2022 Mar 1;97(3):341-345. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000004471.
Medical educators and leaders have called for greater diversity among the physician workforce, including those with disabilities. However, many students with disabilities are precluded from entering and completing medical training due to historically restrictive technical standards and poor internal practices to protect student privacy. This limits the possibilities for growing this part of the workforce and making progress toward the ultimate goal of having a physician workforce that better represents the patients it serves. To achieve diversity among the physician workforce, medical education must create environments that allow students with disabilities to apply to, flourish in, and feel well supported in medical school. Recent additions to Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requirements have helped to catalyze work in the area of disability inclusion by incorporating disability-focused mandates into graduate medical education accreditation standards. However, similar mandates for undergraduate medical education have not yet materialized. In this article, the authors call for the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) to elevate disability as a valued part of medical school diversity in its accreditation standards and to include protections for disabled students. The authors propose that the LCME can take 5 actions to promote institutional accountability toward students with disabilities: (1) define disability as diversity, (2) mandate disability support, (3) protect from conflicts of interest, (4) protect privacy, and (5) verify schools' technical standards comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. By adopting these recommendations, the LCME would send the powerful message that students with disabilities bring welcome expertise and value to the medical community.
医学教育工作者和领导者呼吁医生队伍实现更大的多样性，包括接纳残疾人士。然而，由于历史上严格的技术标准以及保护学生隐私方面的内部做法不佳，许多残疾学生被排除在医学培训之外，无法入学并完成学业。这限制了扩大这部分劳动力队伍的可能性，也阻碍了朝着建立一支能更好地代表其所服务患者的医生队伍这一最终目标迈进。为了实现医生队伍的多样性，医学教育必须营造环境，让残疾学生能够申请医学院、在医学院蓬勃发展并获得有力支持。研究生医学教育认证委员会（Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education）要求的最新补充内容，通过将以残疾为重点的规定纳入研究生医学教育认证标准，有助于推动在残疾包容领域的工作。然而，本科医学教育的类似规定尚未实现。在本文中，作者呼吁医学教育联络委员会（Liaison Committee on Medical Education，LCME）在其认证标准中将残疾提升为医学院多样性的重要组成部分，并纳入对残疾学生的保护措施。作者建议LCME可以采取五项行动来促进机构对残疾学生的问责：（1）将残疾定义为多样性；（2）强制提供残疾支持；（3）防止利益冲突；（4）保护隐私；（5）核实学校的技术标准符合《美国残疾人法案》。通过采纳这些建议，LCME将发出一个强有力的信息，即残疾学生为医学界带来了受欢迎的专业知识和价值。
