Support students with disabilities in medicine and health care programs

Abstract

According to the U.S. Department of Education National Center for Educational Statistics, the number of students with disabilities enrolled in undergraduate degree programs is growing — from 6 percent in 1995–96 to 11 percent in 2011–12. These figures are also increasing in professional and graduate degree programs. The 2010 DOE‐NCES data showed that 7.6 percent of students in such programs self‐reported a disability. Anecdotally, disability services providers understand that these numbers continue to grow. Qualified college graduates with disabilities, like many of their peers, are applying to graduate programs in the health sciences. Current research out of the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine seeks to determine the prevalence of students with disabilities studying medicine in the United States. Preliminary data analysis suggests that between 1 and 12 percent of students currently enrolled in these programs identify as students with disabilities. Providers with disabilities remain an underrepresented minority in the health care workforce, with the numbers being disproportionate to the magnitude of disabled people in the U.S. population.