Medical Students with
Disability & Chronic Illness

MSDCI is a student-led organization striving to support and serve medical students with disability and/or chronic illness. We are committed to increasing accessibility of medical education for trainees of all abilities as well as advocating for and improving health equity for patients with disabilities.

Black and white photograph of two disabled protestors crawling up the steps to the Capitol building, which is visible in the background. The protester closest to the photographer wears a T-shirt reading, "Wheels for Justice / American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation". A photographer is shown taking a photograph of the protestors from the top of the steps.

OUR GOALS

COMMUNITY

MSDCI fosters connections between disability student groups at medical schools across the country and between our chapters and near-peer mentors. By developing new chapters, we broaden the reach of disability advocacy and further normalize disability in medical students and trainees.

ADVOCACY

Our programming is heavily focused on bringing disability awareness into medical communities. MSDCI provides shared resources and strategies for effective advocacy and seeks to illuminate the intersectional role of the disability community in social justice efforts.

EDUCATION

MSDCI is dedicated to improving accessibility for students and trainees with disabilities or chronic illnesses. We are creating resource guides with tips and tricks to help navigate the medical journey and documents to guide accessibility changes at medical institutions.

ACCESS

We believe that disability education is essential for addressing bias against disabled providers and advancing health equity for patients with disabilities. Through curricular recommendations, clinical skills projects, and examinations of technical standards at our institutions, we seek to improve medical education for patients and providers alike.

NEWS & UPDATES

AMA Policy

Two MSDCI-backed policies were adopted at the June AMA House of Delegates meeting, making them AMA policy: 1) Amending H-90-986 to Expand Policy on Medical Care of Persons with Disabilities, and 2) Adoption of Accessible Medical Diagnostic Equipment Standards.

One additional MSDCI-backed policy passed at the AMA Medical Student Section level; it will go to the AMA House of Delegates at their next meeting in November.

MSDCI intends to put forward more policy/policies in the coming spring. Keep an eye out for updates, if you’re interested in participating (you must be an AMA member to write AMA policy).

Response from the LCME

The LCME has provided an additional response to MSDCI’s letter requesting that they modify Standard 7: Curricular Content to be more inclusive of disability. The LCME has decided that, instead of making a specific language change, they will conduct a review of the entirely to Standard 7 to ensure that the “expectations” of the Standard are being met. The LCME additionally “explicitly determined that the review should consider how the area of disability should be reflected in its accreditation elements within Standard 7 and perhaps within other standards.” To our knowledge, this is the first time that the LCME has agreed to specifically consider disability in accreditation standards.

The review process is expected to last much of the academic year. If any substantive changes are proposed, a public hearing will occur.

MSDCI Guides

MSDCI NEWSLETTER:
JANUARY 2023

In this edition: 

    February 1st, 2023 | Fireside Chat with Robin Wilson-Beattie

    Call for submissions to The Pain Chronicles

    Call for participation in research studies

    February 2023 DREAM Research Rounds

The cover of MSDCI's January 2023 Newsletter. The image includes a black background with sky blue and white text, with the title "Monthly Newsletter" and content including news about mental health during the pandemic, upcoming virtual research grand rounds run by Docs With Disabilities, and a call for stories written by medical students on living with chronic pain.
Scroll to Top