THE POSSIBILITY OF DISABILITY IN THE MEDICAL SCHOOL CLASSROOM

A combination of U.S. Federal legislation and judicial decisions in the 1970’s and 80’s enabled access to people with disabilities into all facets of public and private life. Specific laws promoted equal educational opportunity and judicial decisions clarified the role of accommodations in curriculum and testing for people with disabilities. The first wave of students who attended schools in the United States between 1990 and 2010, and benefitted from early implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), are now in colleges and professional schools. Medical Schools are no exception. It is highly likely that students with disabilities are entering medical schools in unprecedented numbers. It is also likely that Caribbean medical schools accept more applicants with disabilities than most U.S. schools. There are no data, however, which document either phenomena. Many questions exist which need to be answered relative to the numbers of students with disabilities enrolled in medical schools and the types of strategies and accommodations they might require for success. This paper addresses the question of the number of students with disabilities enrolled in Caribbean medical schools and the types of accommodations and strategies used by such students. The paper delves further into the questions which arise when students with disabilities matriculate through medical school.

Today, medical colleges are challenged with answering several questions regarding the admission and matriculation of basic sciences students with disabilities. This paper addresses 5 questions with regard to medical students with disabilities including;
1. How many students with disabilities are enrolled in medical school and is that number proportionately equal in U.S. and Caribbean medical schools?
2. Are students with disabilities capable of successfully completing a rigorous academic curriculum in medical sciences?
3. Do students with disabilities require specialized programming and instruction?
4. Should students with disabilities receive special accommodations on testing?
5. Will students with disabilities be successful in the clinical applications of medical school training?

Advances in education have been made in an effort to teach ourselves how to teach academically diverse students. Many modern pedagogical strategies derive originally from strategies designed to provide access to the curriculum for students with diverse learning needs. This paper provides evidence that schools of medicine will benefit from both the inclusion of students with disabilities and the pedagogical methods designed to provide access to the curriculum.