Episode 24: "The Role, Challenges, and Employment Characteristics of Disability Resource Professionals in Medical Education: A National Study"

Collection V: Disclosure: the social, political, cultural, and legal dimensions of the choice to disclose disability.

Article or Publication discussed: "The Role, Challenges, and Employment Characteristics of Disability Resource Professionals in Medical Education: A National Study"

Authors: Erin Broskowski, Sarah E. Triano, Kara James, Rylee Betchkal, Karyn LaTurner Echols, Suzanne Hawks, Ochanya Ogah, Mytien Nguyen, and Lisa M. Meeks

Citation: Broskowski, Erin, Sarah E. Triano, Kara James, Rylee Betchkal, Karyn LaTurner Echols, Suzanne Hawks, Ochanya Ogah, Mytien Nguyen, and Lisa M. Meeks. "The Role, Challenges, and Employment Characteristics of Disability Resource Professionals in Medical Education: A National Study." Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development 12 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1177/23821205251344771.

Description: This episode examines the first national survey of disability resource professionals (DRPs) working in US medical education. Led by DRPs themselves, the study reveals the breadth of their responsibilities and the structural constraints they face. Most DRPs serve not just a single medical school but multiple health science programs, with caseloads frequently exceeding recommended ratios. DRPs nimbly liaise between multiple stakeholders to arrange accommodations for medical students. They're often required to act as cultural ambassadors, navigating and addressing faculty, staff, and administrative ableism or misinformation regarding disability. While more widespread specialized training pathways and mentorship is needed, resources like the DRP Academy are growing, and organizations like the American Medical Association (AMA) and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) endorse the need for dedicated DRPs at medical schools. The article highlights reasons for optimism, including rising rates of disability self-disclosure among medical students and the growing advocacy from medical associations for dedicated DRP positions. The episode closes with the authors' actionable recommendations for institutions, professional associations, and faculty.

Producers: Zoey Martin Lockhart, Lisa Meeks

Audio Engineer: Jacob Feeman

Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QOeEEoOj3jV58JIn_cZ-gc565tOy_21DBRutjb2VowI/edit?tab=t.0

Release: 2026

Keywords: Disability Resource Professionals, Accommodations in Medical Education, Disability Disclosure, Medical Student Support, DRP Academy

Disclaimer: This podcast is a production of the DWDI and the CDHW. The opinions on this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of their respective institutions or organizations. It is released under creative commons attribution, non-commercial, non-derivative license. This episode was produced by Zoey Martin-Lockhart and Lisa Meeks, with assistance from our audio editor Jacob Feeman.

Funding: This episode is sponsored, in part, by the University of Michigan Center for Disability Health and Wellness and National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) Grant #90RTHF0005, the Ford Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Episode 23. "Political Disclosure: Resisting Ableism in Medical Education."

Citation: Jain, Neera R. "Political Disclosure: Resisting Ableism in Medical Education." Disability & Society 35, no. 3 (2020): 389–412. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2019.1647149.

Description: This episode opens Collection V, Disclosure: the social, political, cultural, and legal dimensions of the choice to disclose disability in the health sciences.

Jain introduces the concept of "political disclosure," a form of disability disclosure oriented towards leveraging disability identity for collective benefit and the destigmatization of disability in medicine–rather than securing accommodations. The article identifies three forms of political disclosure—visibility, upstanding, and activism—and examines the personal, relational, and institutional factors that tilt individuals toward or away from these acts. Grounded in disability studies and social theory, Jain's analysis situates students' disclosure practices within the broader ableist culture of medicine and foregrounds the value of disability epistemologies in medical education. Jain's work is grounded in interviews with disabled medical students and school officials across four medical schools. The episode also highlights resources for disability community-building in medicine that has flourished in the years since the article's publication.

Producer: Zoey Martin Lockhart, Lisa Meeks

Audio Engineer: Jacob Feeman

Transcript: Episode 23 Transcript

Release: 2026

Keywords: Political Disclosure, Disability Disclosure, Disability Epistemologies

Disclaimer: This podcast is a production of the DWDI and the CDHW. The opinions on this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of their respective institutions or organizations. It is released under creative commons attribution, non-commercial, non-derivative license. This episode was produced by Zoey Martin-Lockhart and Lisa Meeks, with assistance from our audio editor Jacob Feeman.

Funding: This episode is sponsored, in part, by the University of Michigan Center for Disability Health and Wellness and National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) Grant #90RTHF0005, the Ford Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Episode 22: Preparing to Thrive: Supporting Learners With Disabilities Through the Undergraduate-to-Graduate Medical Education Transition

Collection IV: Policies towards Disability Inclusivity in the Health Sciences.

Article or Publication discussed: "Preparing to Thrive: Supporting Learners With Disabilities Through the Undergraduate-to-Graduate Medical Education Transition"

Authors: Zoie Sheets, Maureen Fausone, Anne Messman, Pilar Ortega, Jessica Ramsay, Megan Creasman, and Nalinda Charnsangavej

Citation: Sheets, Zoie C., Maureen Fausone, Anne Messman, et al. "Preparing to Thrive: Supporting Learners With Disabilities Through the Undergraduate-to-Graduate Medical Education Transition." Academic Medicine 100, no. 10S (2025): S161. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000006136.

Description: This episode explores concrete strategies for supporting disabled medical students as they navigate the critical transition from medical school to residency. The authors organize their recommendations across four key areas: disability disclosure, specialty selection, program selection, and requesting accommodations in graduate medical education. The episode describes the vital roles that faculty mentors, Disability Resource Professionals (DRPs), UME institutions, GME programs, and accrediting bodies each play in creating environments where disabled learners can thrive.

Producer: Zoey Martin Lockhart, Lisa Meeks

Audio Engineer: Jacob Feeman

Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1n_6VUQr0mwmQHOPBgUXU3qJhKHQGyiztVGFUa-kef2E/edit?usp=sharing

Keywords: Residency, Graduate Medical Education, Disability Resource Professionals

Disclaimer: This podcast is a production of the DWDI and the CDHW. The opinions on this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of their respective institutions or organizations. It is released under creative commons attribution, non-commercial, non-derivative license. This episode was produced by Zoey Martin-Lockhart and Lisa Meeks, with assistance from our audio editor Jacob Feeman.

Funding: This episode is sponsored, in part, by the University of Michigan Center for Disability Health and Wellness and National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) Grant #90RTHF0005, the Ford Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Episode 21: "Anti-Ableist Medical Education: Meeting the Challenges."

Collection IV: Policies towards disability inclusivity in the health sciences.

Citation: Bowen, Liz, Emily Cleveland-Manchanda, Peppar E.P. Cyr, et al. "Anti-Ableist Medical Education: Meeting the Challenges." The Hastings Center. Issue Brief, 2024 https://www.thehastingscenter.org/anti-ableist-medical-education-meeting-the-challenges/.

Authors: Liz Bowen, Emily Cleveland-Manchanda, Peppar E.P. Cyr, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Susan Havercamp, Kristi Kirschner, Rebecca Kronk, Lisa M. Meeks, Peter Poullos, Zoie Clarise Sheets, Dorothy W. Tolchin, Stephanie Pham Van, Silvia Yee, and Erik Parens

Description: The Hastings Center Issue Brief covered in this episode describes the challenges confronted by those seeking to implement anti-ableist, disability-specific education. Its specificity and realism when articulating barriers and suggesting solutions is refreshing. The tone is empathetic and practical. Sprinkled throughout the issue brief—perhaps more accurately described as a guide—are training, evaluation, and educational resources that, beyond providing immediately deployable content, are foundational examples of disability-inclusive achievements. Hopefully, these resources act as encouragement to disability educators and advocates in the pedagogical trenches.

Producer: Zoey Martin Lockhart, Lisa Meeks

Audio Engineer: Jacob Feeman

Transcript: Episode 21: "Anti-Ableism Medical Education: Meeting the Challenges"

Release: 2025

Keywords: Anti-Ableism, Medical Education, Biopsychosocial model, Disability competencies, Clinical disability training

Disclaimer: This podcast is a production of the DWDI and the CDHW. The opinions on this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of their respective institutions or organizations. It is released under creative commons attribution, non-commercial, non-derivative license. This episode was produced by Zoey Martin-Lockhart and Lisa Meeks, with assistance from our audio editor Jacob Feeman.

Funding: This episode is sponsored, in part, by the University of Michigan Center for Disability Health and Wellness and National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) Grant #90RTHF0005, the Ford Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Episode 20: Addressing Ableism in Physician Well-Being Planning

Citation: Quon, Michael. 2024. "Addressing Ableism in Physician Well-Being Planning." JAMA 332 (4): 275–76. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2024.7736.

Authors: Michael Quon

Transcript:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rm5hiHNrxW0Gbs141BmLIPm48xvR_l9d/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=107682871199975293144&rtpof=true&sd=true

Summary:

Research and Resource Rounds episode 20 discusses Dr. Michael Quon's thoughtful assessment of the National Academy of Medicine's National Plan for Health Workforce Well-Being. At the plan's core is a contradiction: while the plan aims to combat physician burnout and promote wellness, it systematically ignores the needs of disabled physicians. Quon identifies a pattern of structural ableism throughout the plan's recommendations. Disability is treated as a temporary problem requiring management rather than an ongoing aspect of professional diversity requiring sustained workplace accommodations; temporary injury and short-term accommodations are forefronted in the plan while long-term accommodations that facilitate disabled doctors' enduring career of medical practice are overlooked. Quon advocates for fundamental shifts: accommodation policies that don't require disclosure, improved licensing processes, integration of disability experts into leadership, and recognition that disabled physicians bring unique value to patient care through their lived experiences.

Keywords:

Well-being, Ableism, Medical Education, Implicit bias, Explicit bias, Disability, medicine, medical training, National Academy of Medicine, physicians with disabilities, accommodations

Producer: Zoey Martin Lockhart, Lisa Meeks

Audio Engineer: Jacob Feeman

Release: July 2025

Disclaimer: This podcast is a production of the DWDI and the CDHW. The opinions on this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of their respective institutions or organizations. It is released under creative commons attribution, non-commercial, non-derivative license. This episode was produced by Zoey Martin-Lockhart and Lisa Meeks, with assistance from our audio editor Jacob Feeman.

Funding: This episode is sponsored, in part, by the University of Michigan Center for Disability Health and Wellness and National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) Grant #90RTHF0005, the Ford Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Episode 19: AMA Organizational Strategic Plan to Advance Health Equity

Collection IV: Policies towards disability inclusivity in the health sciences.

Citation: "AMA Organizational Strategic Plan to Advance Health Equity 2024-2025." 2024. American Medical Association. June, 2024. https://www.ama-assn.org/about/leadership/ama-s-2024-2025-strategic-plan-advance-health-equity.

Description: Research and Resource Rounds Episode 19 launches Collection IV: policies towards disability inclusivity in the health sciences. The episode examines how the AMA's 2024-2025 Organizational Strategic Plan to Advance Health Equity integrates disability consciousness into its vision for healthcare transformation. The 2024 Plan builds on the foundation laid by AMA's (original) 2021 Strategic Plan. Both plans explicitly name ableism and racism as interconnected systems of oppression. The episode provides an overview of the 2024 strategic plan, including of the five strategic approaches towards health equity identified in the plans: embed equity, build alliances and share power, ensure equity in innovation, push upstream, and foster pathways. The AMA's plan and associated resources show notable progress since 2021, including the establishment of a disability employee resource group, educational partnerships including disability-focused modules on the AMA Ed Hub by the Docs With Disabilities Initiative, and policy adoption on organ transplant equity and barriers in medical education for disabled trainees.

Producer: Zoey Martin Lockhart, Lisa Meeks

Audio Engineer: Jacob Feeman

Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xWcJBRtUFh4HIncv3ITe6TAk8ym8GMyd/edit

Release: June 2025

Disclaimer: This podcast is a production of the DWDI and the CDHW. The opinions on this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of their respective institutions or organizations. It is released under creative commons attribution, non-commercial, non-derivative license. This episode was produced by Zoey Martin-Lockhart and Lisa Meeks, with assistance from our audio editor Jacob Feeman.

Funding: This episode is sponsored, in part, by the University of Michigan Center for Disability Health and Wellness and National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) Grant #90RTHF0005, the Ford Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Episode 18: "Physicians' Perceptions Of People With Disability And Their Health Care."

Collection III: Disability in health sciences: the need for and benefits of inclusion

Description: This collection features studies and testimonials that examine the current state of disability representation among health sciences students and professionals and that demonstrate how the presence of disabled healthcare practitioners and trainees benefits both patients and clinicians/trainees. Key works in this emerging literature are gathered in this cluster that includes qualitative studies, the results of quantitative data analyses, and personal testimonials.

Featured Article: "Physicians' Perceptions Of People With Disability And Their Health Care.

Authors: Lisa I. Iezzoni, Sowmya R. Rao, Julie Ressalam, Dragana Bolcic-Jankovic, Nicole D. Agaronnik, Karen Donelan, Tara Lagu, and Eric G. Campbell

Link: https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.01452

Description: In their pioneering study, the authors' project sought to understand physicians' attitudes on people with disability, including physicians' comfort treating these patients or welcoming them into their practices. Results show that many physicians lack confidence in providing equivalent quality care to disabled patients and non-disabled patients and that a vast majority (82.4%) of doctors believed that significantly disabled people have a worse quality of life–a sentiment contrary to the experiences and responses of many disabled people. Yet, encouragingly, nearly 80% of physician respondents also expressed the importance of understanding disabled patients. The authors suggest that the substantial explicit disability bias expressed by respondents is rooted in inadequate and inaccurate education about disability and disabled people in medical education and argue for improved training and evaluation of biases among key triage teams and medical decision-makers.

Producer: Zoey Martin Lockhart, Lisa Meeks

Audio Engineer: Jacob Feeman

Transcript link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rk1Kk5oJ4tetma1pumYmobiFuHrS8ERs5qxK7o9dkAA/edit?usp=sharing

Keywords: Patients with Disability / disabled patients, Ableism, Medical Education, Implicit bias, Disability attitudes, DocsWithDisabilities, Disability, Patient Care

Disclaimer: This podcast is a production of the DWDI and the CDHW. The opinions on this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of their respective institutions or organizations. It is released under creative commons attribution, non-commercial, non-derivative license. This episode was produced by Zoey Martin-Lockhart and Lisa Meeks, with assistance from our audio editor Jacob Feeman.

Funding: This episode is sponsored, in part, by the University of Michigan Center for Disability Health and Wellness and National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) Grant #90RTHF0005, the Ford Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Episode 17. 'Being on Both Sides': Canadian Medical Students' Experiences With Disability, the Hidden Curriculum, and Professional Identity Construction."

Collection III: Disability in health sciences: the need for and benefits of inclusion

This collection features studies and testimonials that examine the current state of disability representation among health sciences students and professionals and that demonstrate how the presence of disabled healthcare practitioners and trainees benefits both patients and clinicians/trainees. Key works in this emerging literature are gathered in this cluster that includes qualitative studies, the results of quantitative data analyses, and personal testimonials.

Featured Article: Being on Both Sides': Canadian Medical Students' Experiences With Disability, the Hidden Curriculum, and Professional Identity Construction

Authors: Erene Stergiopoulos, Oshan Fernando, and Maria Athina Martimianakis

Article Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29794527/

Episode Link: https://bit.ly/DWDI_RR_17

Description: Stergiopoulos', Fernando's, and Martimianakis' research article investigates how medical discourses shape the conceptualizations of the prototypical "good medical student" and "good patient" roles as featuring mutually exclusive characteristics. They explore how disabled medical students' experiences during training and professional identity construction are shaped and hold complexity as students navigate positions in both these roles—as both patients and medical trainees. The authors drew on critical discourse analysis to analyze text and interviews, developing codes informed by academic work on the Hidden Curriculum and professional identity construction. Results show that the dominant portrayals of the "good student" and "good patient" roles, robustly and vividly constructed by medical discourse, are juxtaposing and mutually exclusive.

Producer: Zoey Martin Lockhart, Lisa Meeks

Audio Engineer: Jacob Feeman

Transcript

Release: Feb 2024

Keywords: Medical students; Patient role; Wellbeing; Medical School; Disability Inclusion; Patient Care

DSM; Psychiatric Illness; Mental Illness; Mental Health; Disclosure; Ableism; Medical Education

Learning Disabilities; Medical culture; Culture of Medicine; Diversity in Medicine; Disability Education

Disclaimer: This podcast is a production of the DWDI and the CDHW. The opinions on this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of their respective institutions or organizations. It is released under creative commons attribution, non-commercial, non-derivative license. This episode was produced by Zoey Martin-Lockhart and Lisa Meeks, with assistance from our audio editor Jacob Feeman.

Funding: This episode is sponsored, in part, by the University of Michigan Center for Disability Health and Wellness and National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) Grant #90RTHF0005, the Ford Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Title: Ethical and Public Health Considerations for Integrating Physicians with Mental Disability into the Physician Workforce.

Collection III: Disability in health sciences: the need for and benefits of inclusion

Authors: Amalia Sweet, Omar Sultan Haque, and Michael Ashley Stein

Description:

Sweet, Haque, and Stein's article explores questions of and argues for increased support and inclusion of physicians with mental disability. Grounding their work in the framework of intersectional social justice, the authors examine medical cultural factors, safety questions, and logistics. They conclude that greater representation of and support for mental disability in medicine will increase the quality and culture of medicine. The article outlines unfair, unnecessary, and discriminatory barriers currently faced by physicians and trainees with disability, to show inclusion and engaged support of physicians and trainees with mental disability is an issue of intersectional social justice. Efforts to increase the diversity of the medical workforce often focus on race and gender, skipping over disability as a dimension of diversity. When disability is considered, the extra stigma and incorrect assumptions surrounding mental disability can mean that people with these disabilities are overlooked or even specifically excluded. Meanwhile, the authors demonstrate that medical education, medical culture, and patient care would benefit from greater numbers of physicians with mental disability and are under-served when these people are excluded from practice or not properly accommodated.

Producer: Zoey Martin Lockhart, Lisa Meeks

Audio Engineer: Jacob Feeman

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/jme.2023.24.

Journal link: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-law-medicine-and-ethics/article/abs/ethical-and-public-health-considerations-for-integrating-physicians-with-mental-disability-into-the-physician-workforce/B0F4C6CE019E648081F59AD928A15EF2

Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UPF9WaE9qrQmrmywfd465jZHGd8n1uER3AXlL6BdSdw/edit?usp=sharing

Release: Dec 2023

Keywords: Psychological Disability, Disability Inclusion, Patient Care, DSM, Psychiatric Illness

Mental Illness, Mental Health, Neurodevelopmental Disability, Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Learning Disabilities

Medical culture, Culture of Medicine, Diversity in Medicine, Disclosure, Professionalism, Competency, Clinicians, Clients

Ableism, Disability Education, Disability Attitudes, Disability Competency, Healthcare Training, Medical training

Care work, Chronic Illness, Disability terminology, Disability studies, Medical model, Health Sciences, Medical Education

Disclaimer: This podcast is a production of the DWDI and the CDHW. The opinions on this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of their respective institutions or organizations. It is released under creative commons attribution, non-commercial, non-derivative license. This episode was produced by Zoey Martin-Lockhart and Lisa Meeks, with assistance from our audio editor Jacob Feeman.

Funding: This episode is sponsored, in part, by the University of Michigan Center for Disability Health and Wellness and National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) Grant #90RTHF0005, the Ford Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Description: Episode 15 discusses "'Yourself in all your forms': A grounded theory exploration of identity safety in medical students" (Bullock et al. 2023). Bullock and his colleagues develop a theory of identity safety through careful analysis of 16 in-depth interviews with 3rd and 4th medical students with a diverse range of identities and experiences. The article identifies and describes key dimensions of identity threat, threat mitigation, and identity safety. Three factors contributing to identity safety that emerged from the team's analysis: Agency to serve, upholding personhood, and a sense of belonging. Identity safety manifested as students sharing a particular minoritized identity with their attending physician, wearing a particular item or hair style, presenting themselves in a particular way, or feeling respected as unique individuals by both their peers and supervisors. When experiencing identity safety, students felt empowered to draw on their own unique experiential knowledge grounded in their particular identities when treating a patient.

Authors: Justin Bullock, Javeed Sukhera, Amira del Pino-Jones, Timothy G. Dyster, Jonathan S. Ilgen, Tai M. Lockspeiser, Pim W. Teunissen, and Karen E. Hauer.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.15174

Journal link

Transcript