Creative Approaches to the Inclusion of Medical Students With Disabilities

I t has been suggested that "the most dramatic learning can come when it is a peer who is disabled, rather than a patient." 1 The sentiment of Shakespeare, Iezzoni, and Groce are evident in innovations report by Jauregui and colleagues. 2 In this invited commentary, the authors discuss how the team at The University of Washington moved beyond the legal mandates of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to capture the spirit of inclusion.We examine the benefits of training doctors and clinical researchers with disabilities and the potential impact on the health care system.We build on the work of Jauregui et al., applying their educational approach to an employment model and demonstrate, through our own case report, how these models can be scaled in clinical practice providing benefit to the medical education pipeline.We conclude with a review of the promising practices and contemplate the promise of "crowdsourcing" shared experiences toward creative approaches to the inclusion of medical students with disabilities.