Researchers analyzed data on disabilities reported by students at 64
U.S. medical schools in 2016 and 2019. The proportion of students
reporting disabilities climbed 69% during this period, from 2.7% to
4.6%.
"The inclusion of individuals with disabilities is an important
contribution to diversity in medicine," lead study author Lisa Meeks
of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and colleagues write in
JAMA.
The study didn't look at factors that might have contributed to the
rising proportion of medical students with disabilities, but the
researchers raise several possibilities.
The increase "may be a result of more applicants with disabilities
being admitted to medical school, more existing students disclosing
disability, better reporting of disability data, or increased
development of psychological disability while attending medical
school," Meeks and colleagues write.
Between 2016 and 2019, reporting of psychological disorders like
anxiety and depression had climbed by 58%, affecting 32.3% of
students by 2019, researchers found.
The proportion of students reporting chronic physical health
problems also rose substantially, climbing 35.3% during the study
period. By 2019, 18% of students reported chronic physical health
problems.
The prevalence of mobility challenges rose by 9.1%, with 3.6% of
students reporting these challenges in 2019.
One of the most common conditions reported by students, ADHD, became
less frequent, however. By 2019, 30.4% of students reported having
ADHD, down 5.9% from 2016.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2019/Nov/27/images/ads/current/LPL_small%201.gif)
Learning disabilities also became less common, dropping 14.5% to
affect 18.3% of the medical students by the end of the study period.
The proportion of students with visual impairments dropped 23.3%
during the study period, to 2.3% in 2019.
[to top of second column] |
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2019/Nov/27/images/ads/current/christian_village_sda_031616.png)
The number of students reporting hearing challenges also dropped,
declining 33.3% to 1.2% by the end of the study period.
All of the schools in the study reported offering testing
accommodations to students with disabilities in 2019.
Most also allowed other academic accommodations like flexible
attendance, note-taking assistance, recorded lectures, modified
textbooks, and text-to-speech computer programs.
Three in four schools said they offered accommodations for clinical
exams like extra time or reduced-distraction test environments.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2019/Nov/27/images/ads/current/graue_sda_2016.png)
Only about one-third of schools offered assistive technology for
clinical procedures like the use of a scribe, the ability to use lab
simulations to demonstrate mastery, or assistants to perform
physical clinical exams.
Some students surveyed might not have disclosed their disabilities,
the researchers note. It's also possible that schools that opted to
participate in the survey had a greater proportion of students with
disabilities, leading to potential overestimates, the researchers
note.
And the study also doesn't show whether students with disabilities
do as well in medical school as their classmates who don't report
disabilities.
"Although an increase in disability was observed, these data do not
provide information about the culture that these students experience
or their retention in the training and career pipeline," the study
team writes. "Therefore, further research is needed, as documenting
representation is only a first step toward enhancing the inclusion
of per- sons with disabilities in medicine."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2OLqvsz JAMA, online November 26, 2019.
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |