Come Roll with Me: Integrating Disability Awareness and Interprofessional Learning into a Medical Musculoskeletal Course

Abstract

One in four Americans are affected by a disability making people with disabilities (PWD) the largest minority group in the United States. PWD experience a variety of social, economic and structural barriers that limit access to medical care and create significant health care disparities. While PWD visit health care providers at a higher frequency than those without disabilities, half of U.S. medical schools lack a disability awareness program, and 58% of medical school deans reported that a curriculum for patients with disabilities was not a high priority. These factors have led to a sense of unpreparedness amongst medical students in providing care for this population. In order to address these deficiencies, a new educational activity, Come Roll with Me (CRWM), was integrated into the Musculoskeletal & Skin course within a Southeastern allopathic medical school in 2021. Authors hypothesized that CRWM would increase disability awareness amongst medical students and enhance attitudes towards interprofessional practice. Come Roll with Me paired PWD, specifically power and manual wheelchair users, with small groups of second‐year medical and Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students for a two‐hour session. Groups rotated through four stations including (1) a self‐propelled wheelchair course within the students’ educational building, (2) a discussion about accessible parking and transportation at the wheelchair users’ vehicles, (3) a skill‐development session on transfers taught by DPT students, and (4) an open dialog regarding barriers to healthcare experienced by PWD. Come Roll with Me was assessed via course evaluations and student reflection essays. Additionally, students were invited to complete the Interprofessional Attitudes Scale (IPAS) before and after the course. The study was approved by the UAB Institutional Review Board. CRWM was the highest rated instructional session in the Musculoskeletal and Skin course with a mean Likert‐scale score of 4.59/5.0 (N=109). Thematic analysis of reflection essays revealed newfound awareness of difficulties navigating a building in a wheelchair and lack of accessibility in doors, bathrooms, etc. Students expressed increased comfort in engaging with PWD and a desire for advocacy on their part. Medical students’ attitudes towards interprofessional collaborative practice improved with significant increases in the mean Teamwork, Roles, Responsibilities (39.3 vs. 42.0) and Interprofessional Biases (8.5 vs. 8.9) IPAS subscales (p<0.01). Come Roll with Me represents a novel interprofessional and patient‐centered method of embedding disability awareness and health care disparities within the preclinical medical curriculum. Integration of the basic sciences with patient encounters and social aspects of medicine are essential in the training of physicians who are competent to care for a diverse patient population.