Assessing knowledge about the Americans with Disabilities Act and comfort level in treating persons with disabilities among fourth-year medical students following a clerkship in physical medicine and rehabilitation.

Abstract

Background: All physicians will care for persons with disabilities over the course of their careers. However, most medical school curricula do not adequately prepare students to recognize and address the specific needs of persons with disabilities. Despite physician requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), patients with disabilities may receive substandard care due to a lack of accommodations.

Objective: To examine the effect of a physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) clerkship on fourth-year medical students' understanding of physician responsibilities under the ADA as well as comfort levels when caring for persons with disabilities.

Design: Subjective pre- and postintervention surveys.

Setting: A single institution U.S. allopathic medical school.

Participants: All fourth-year medical students enrolled in the mandatory PM&R clerkship during the 2022-2023 academic year were eligible for participation in the study. Surveys were distributed to all eligible students and 99 students successfully completed both surveys for inclusion in the study.

Interventions: For the 2022-2023 academic year, the mandatory 2-week PM&R clerkship included didactic lectures on the ADA and additional interactive, first-hand accounts from persons living with a disability.

Main outcome measures: The change from medical students' baseline to postclerkship knowledge regarding the ADA responsibilities for physicians and overall comfort in working with persons with a physical disability.

Results: Medical students' overall knowledge of the clinical and financial responsibilities of physicians under the ADA and comfort in interacting with persons with disabilities improved following the clerkship (p < .001).

Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of disability education as part of medical school curricula to improve medical student knowledge about physician responsibilities under the ADA and overall comfort level in caring for persons with disability. Further studies are needed to determine if these results carry over into clinical practice to combat the health care disparities experienced by persons with disabilities.