United States Medical and Dental Curricula on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Inclusion of People with IDD in Curriculum Creation and Delivery

Surveys of medical trainees have found that while students agree on the importance of understanding clinical care of people with disabilities, the majority of medical students do not feel competent treating these populations. The purpose of this descriptive mixed-methods study was to better characterize efforts in a non-random sample of US medical and dental schools to include material about intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) in their curricula, with particular attention to the meaningful involvement of people with IDD in curriculum development and delivery. This study consisted of a 36-item, electronically delivered survey (N = 38 respondents from 24 institutions) of medical and dental school students, faculty, and administrators, including people with IDD, who were involved with inclusive IDD curricula design and implementation. This was followed by two focus groups (N = 13) with people with IDD who had been involved in medical or dental school curriculum design, implementation, and/or evaluation. While people with IDD were commonly involved in curriculum delivery, goal-setting and evaluation were two phases where people with IDD were included the least. While most schools provided content on the social and medical model of disability and basic knowledge and context about IDD, less than half included gender and sexuality/reproductive health or diagnostics in topics covered. Focus group findings from people with IDD found varied levels of meaningful engagement. Moving forward, a continued push to increase inclusive IDD-related content in medical and dental schools should include people with IDD at the forefront, from goal setting to curriculum evaluation, and integrate intersectional topics such as sexual health. Collaborative efforts are needed to ensure researchers, educators, clinicians, and medical students are collectively increasing IDD-focused training for future healthcare providers.