Help Build A More Inclusive Future for Medicine
- Our Mission
Medical Students with Disability and Chronic Illness unites and empowers medical students through advocacy, mentorship, education, and community building while using our collective power towards advancing the improvement of health care for the disabled community. MSDCI is an organization dedicated to raising awareness of chronic illness and disabilities amongst medical trainees and professionals and addressing the stigma and challenges associated with practicing medicine while having a chronic illness or disability. We aim to address the needs of underserved communities and increase the number of clinically excellent, culturally humble, and socially conscious physicians in medicine.
- Our Principles
To advocate for a medical field that is inclusive to care providers with disabilities and chronic illnesses, and to empower people with disabilities and chronic illnesses to pursue careers in the field of medicine.
To educate future healthcare workers on the experiences of people living with disabilities and chronic illnesses, with an aim to promote the dignity, agency, and individuality of each person’s lived experience.
To promote the dissemination of information relative to disability issues in the field of medical education.
To explore and seek to resolve the unique challenges, obstacles, and responsibilities specific to disabled and/or chronically ill medical students and physicians.
To advocate for a medical field that is inclusive to care providers with disabilities and chronic illnesses, and to empower people with disabilities and chronic illnesses to pursue careers in the field of medicine.
- Core Values
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.
Accessibility
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.
