DocsWithDisabilities Research and Resource Rounds

Zoey Martin-Lockhart and Lisa Meeks

This mini-cast is an off-shoot of the DocsWithDisabilities Podcast, and will provide the audience with an overview of the literature and resources relevant to disability inclusion in health professions education reviewing critical commentaries and research articles in 15 minutes or less.

  1. Apr 7

    Collection V: Episode 23. Disclosure: the social, political, cultural, and legal dimensions of the choice to disclose disability in the health sciences.

    Author: Neera R. Jain 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

    14 min

  2. Jan 27

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

    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

    15 min
  3. Collection IV: Episode 21: Policies towards Disability Inclusivity in the Health Sciences

    11/21/2025

    Collection IV: Episode 21: Policies towards Disability Inclusivity in the Health Sciences

    Episode 21:  Collection IV: policies towards disability inclusivity in the health sciences. Article or Publication discussed:  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   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/.   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

    14 min
  4. Collection IV: EPISODE 20: "Addressing Ableism in Physician Well-Being Planning" (Quon, 2024)

    08/12/2025

    Collection IV: EPISODE 20: "Addressing Ableism in Physician Well-Being Planning" (Quon, 2024)

    Title of Featured Article: 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

    12 min

  5. 06/16/2025

    Collection IV: Episode 19: AMA Organizational Strategic Plan to Advance Health Equity

    Episode 19: AMA Organizational Strategic Plan to Advance Health Equity Collection IV: policies towards disability inclusivity in the health sciences. Article or Publication discussed: AMA's Authors: AMA (2024-2025) 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

    21 min

  6. 09/10/2024

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

    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 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. Title of 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

    17 min

  7. 02/09/2024

    Collection III. 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. Title of Featured Article: 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 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

    16 min

  8. 12/31/2023

    Collection III. Episode 16. "Ethical and Public Health Considerations for Integrating Physicians with Mental Disability into the Physician Workforce"

    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: Mental 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

    16 min
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This mini-cast is an off-shoot of the DocsWithDisabilities Podcast, and will provide the audience with an overview of the literature and resources relevant to disability inclusion in health professions education reviewing critical commentaries and research articles in 15 minutes or less.

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