Joseph Samona is a fourth-year dental student at the University of Michigan, graduating in May 2020. As a future dentist with a profound hearing loss, he aims to improve access to oral health care in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities. He is also a co-founder of Michigan Deaf Health. In our very first video episode, Joe discusses his experiences applying to dental school, accessing accommodations, and taking action to make oral health education more accessible for American Sign Language users.

ASL Video version: https://bit.ly/DWDDeafVideo

Key Words: Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Dentistry, Student

Dr. Justin Bullock is a current Internal Medicine Resident in San Francisco, California. Justin is passionate about medical education, and diversity in medicine. His article in the New England Journal of Medicine titled “Suicide—Rewriting my story” tells the story of his battle with Bipolar Disorder and suicidality during undergraduate and graduate medical education. In this podcast, Dr. Bullock and Dr. Meeks discuss the critical nature of disability inclusion and a supportive culture for mental health in medical education and training. They touch upon medical student mental health and the reality that many learners share feelings and experiences of depression and suicidality—yet never discuss these feelings, failing to engage in help-seeking behavior—especially once they transition to residency.

Key Words: BIPOC, Psychological/ Mental Health, Bipolar, Depression, Suicide, Internal Medicine

While applying to residency in internal medicine, Dr. Molly Fausone drew parallels to her medical school application process in many ways. In this episode, Dr. Fausone considers the impact of disability on the transition points in medical education and reflects on her successes at the University of Michigan Medical School.

Key Words: Physical Disability, Spinal Cord Injury, SCI, Wheelchair, Medical Student, Internal Medicine

Cheri Blauwet, MD is Board Certified in both Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation as well as Sports Medicine. She is a graduate of the Stanford University School of Medicine and completed her residency training in PM&R at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital/Harvard Medical School, where she served as Chief Resident. Additionally, she is a former Paralympic athlete in the sport of wheelchair racing, competing for the United States Team in three Paralympic Games (Sydney '00, Athens '04, Beijing '08) and bringing home a total of seven Paralympic medals. She is also a two-time winner of both the Boston and New York City Marathons, and has been nominated for the ESPY Award, the Laureus World Sports Award, and Women's Sports Foundation Athlete of the Year. She is the Chairperson of the International Paralympic Committee’s Medical Committee and serves on the Board of Directors for the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) as well as the Neilsen Foundation Quality of Life Grant Review Board.

Key Words: Physical Disability, Wheelchair, Spinal Cord Injury, SCI, T10 Vertebra, Professor, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Sports Medicine, Advocate

As a current resident in Pediatrics, Dr. Courtney Courter reflects on the valuable perspective she gained while navigating the transition from medical school to residency. In this episode, Dr. Courter discusses her personal journey with requesting accommodations, disclosing in her application, ranking residency programs, and ultimately finding the perfect match.

Key Words: Chronic Illness, Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita, Scoliosis, Physical Disability, Wheelchair, Pediatrics

Monica Wood, MD, is a certified Orthopedic Hand Surgeon and started practice in August 2007. By March 2011, she began having symptoms that were diagnosed a year later as multiple sclerosis. On March 4, 2014, she had an episode of severe vertigo followed by worsening of her balance and walking ability that ended her career. She successfully navigated the complex social security and disability system and has reinvented herself as an entrepreneur.

Key Words: Chronic Illness, Multiple Sclerosis, Orthopedics

Dr. Salles is an advocate for gender equity, and teaches about how implicit bias can impact true inclusion. In this podcast, she and Dr. Meeks discuss wellness in the context of medicine and how the messages we send to those with marginalized identities, including disability, may impact mental health and a sense of belonging.

Key Words: BIPOC, Psychological/ Mental Health, Suicide, Medical Education, Professor, Research, Advocate, LGBTQIA+

Dr. Lina Mehta is a seasoned admission professional, associate Dean for admissions at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and a Professor of radiology at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. Dr. Mehta has been a vocal advocate for equal access in medical school admissions and has given talks and written articles on the topic of accessible admissions. She is the lead author on a chapter in a forthcoming book entitled, “Creating a Program Within a Culture of Inclusion.” In our talk, Dr. Mehta discussed her experiences with disability, the changes she has implemented at CWRU and how she thinks the AAMC report on disability will impact admissions broadly.

Key Words: BIPOC, Psychological/ Mental Health, Law, Education, and/or Research, Advocate, Associate Dean, Medical Education, Radiology

Sarah Sternlieb, a current internal medicine resident, had a circuitous route to medicine, but gained a great deal of insight with the aid of mentors and the disability community. In this interview, Dr. Sternlieb recounts her positive experiences in medical education, the difficulty with assumptions and stereotypes in medicine, and provides advice for learners with disabilities.

Key Words: Physical Disability, Neuromuscular Disability, Internal Medicine, Medical Education

Dr. Bonnie Swenor's research aims to improve the health of persons with disabilities, by transforming traditional thinking on health disparities research. Over the past decade, there has been an increased focus on identifying and addressing health disparities among racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic minority groups; however, persons with disabilities have largely been absent from these efforts. Motivated by her personal experience with a vision impairment and resulting disability, Dr. Swenor is working to address this gap. Her work has focused on three interrelated areas: (1) determining the impact of visual impairments on long-term health and aging outcomes, (2) documenting healthcare disparities and improving healthcare utilization, quality, and access for those with vision loss; and (3) enhancing the inclusion of persons with visual impairments and other disabilities in the biomedical workforce. This research has sparked a reframing of importance of visual impairment on overall health, helped to reclassify visual impairment as a health disparity, and highlighted the need to include people with disabilities in science and medicine –which is critical to driving scientific innovation and improving patient care. Seeing the impact and broad applicability of this work, Dr. Swenor is now expanding her research framework, using an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach, to establish the evidence needed to design effective policies and programs that will reduce health disparities for persons with all types of disabilities.

Key Words: Physical Disability, Visual Disability, Degenerative Disease, Professor, Ophthalmology, Epidemiology, Research