Abstract
BackgroundIn order for doctors to effectively provide medical services to patients with disabilities, an understanding of this population is necessary, along with the knowledge, attitudes, and technical abilities necessary to address health problems associated with each type of disability. One way of doing this is by educating doctors about disabilities and ensuring their frequent contact with people with disabilities while they are in medical school. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a systematic medical education curriculum to enhance doctors’ understanding of people with disabilities.MethodsThe authors conducted a systematic literature review to develop and verify the basic framework of the educational content and curriculum. Two surveys were also developed using the Delphi method to evaluate the adequacy and necessity of educational topics. Items with a content validity ratio equal to or greater than the minimum value were considered valid. Survey panels comprised academic experts and health care practitioners who were working with people with disabilities. We conducted two surveys, one for a basic and the other for an advanced course, in which 13 to 16 respondents took part.ResultsThe authors selected 13 topics for the ‘Basic Introductory Course’ and included general educational content on the health rights of people with disabilities focused on improving students’ knowledge of disabilities. The authors also selected 12 topics for the ‘Care and Communication for Patients with Disabilities Course’ designed to improve students’ understanding of interviewing and communicating with patients with disabilities.ConclusionsIn Korea, disability has received little attention in the medical curriculum to date. The curriculum developed in this study provides preliminary data for guiding future directions in medical education and developing specific support plans for an education that promotes people with disabilities’ health rights.
Highlights
In order for doctors to effectively provide medical services to patients with disabilities, an understanding of this population is necessary, along with the knowledge, attitudes, and technical abilities necessary to address health problems associated with each type of disability
People with disabilities in South Korea experience significant inconvenience in accessing medical care due to health care workers’ poor understanding of disability characteristics, with 34.8% reporting they have experienced a lack of understanding and care, 26.8% mentioning a lack of amenities, and 14.1% claiming they have experienced difficulty communicating and accessing information [7]
We systematically reviewed current medical education resources for people with disabilities both domestically and abroad to develop a basic curriculum framework and identify educational items using the process developed by Kim and colleagues [21]
Summary
In order for doctors to effectively provide medical services to patients with disabilities, an understanding of this population is necessary, along with the knowledge, attitudes, and technical abilities necessary to address health problems associated with each type of disability. One way of doing this is by educating doctors about disabilities and ensuring their frequent contact with people with disabilities while they are in medical school. Health care for people with disabilities in South Korea remains inadequate due to obstacles to physical access, such as financial burdens, a lack of convenient facilities, unsuitable medical equipment, and a lack of understanding of disability among health care workers [6]. The EC aimed to develop a policy to support the development of national educational programmes for health care workers and increase awareness of people with disabilities in medical schools [8]
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