Education Research: A Novel Clerkship-Level Approach to Disability Education

Background and Objectives Persons with disabilities experience inequities in health care, partly driven by clinicians' limited training in disability-competent communication and accommodations. Disability education remains heterogeneous, with few framing disability as both a patient and physician identity. We developed a clerkship-level curriculum to address this gap. Learner objectives were to differentiate the medical and social models of disability; describe disability-inclusive communication; recognize disability as both a patient and physician identity; identify accessibility barriers and accommodations; and support disability-inclusive care. Methods A multidisciplinary team developed a disability curriculum within a required third-year neurology clerkship. Students completed asynchronous preparation and observations, followed by a workshop incorporating team-based simulation and structured debriefing. Anonymous preworkshop and postworkshop surveys assessed understanding, attitudes, and comfort. Quantitative comparisons and exploratory thematic analysis evaluated learner outcomes. Results All 267 enrolled third-year medical students completed the preworkshop survey; 204 completed the postworkshop survey, with attrition reflecting clerkship absences. Significant improvements were observed in understanding of the medical and social models of disability (24.7%–98.5%; +73.8%; 95% CI 67.7%–78.7%), comfort discussing disability with patients (53.6%–98.0%; +44.4%; 95% CI 37.9%–50.6%), discussing accommodations (63.3%–98.0%; +34.7%; 95% CI 28.4%–40.8%), and comfort supporting colleagues with disabilities (35.2%–97.1%; +61.9%; 95% CI 55.1%–67.6%) (all p < 0.0001). Attitudes toward physicians with disabilities were favorable at baseline and remained high (97.0% vs 99.0%; +2.0%; 95% CI −0.9% to 4.9%; p = 0.20). Respondents rated the curriculum excellent or very good (95.6%; 95% CI 91.8%–97.7%). Students agreed that the workshop would benefit future practice (99.0%; 95% CI 96.5%–99.7%) and improve patient outcomes (99.5%; 95% CI 97.2%–99.9%). Exploratory thematic analysis identified 5 themes: open communication and active listening, individualized accommodations, collaborative adaptation, structural accessibility, and the value of time in inclusive care. Discussion The curriculum improved attitudes, comfort, and recognition of disability as both patient and physician identity. Key lessons include the value of experiential, team-based learning; explicit framing beyond deficit-based models; and clinical observation integrated with structured reflection. Future studies should examine longitudinal retention and transfer to clinical practice.