Reframing Disability: The Role of Professional Organizations in Fostering Inclusion for Disabled Physicians

Abstract

To create and sustain a thriving physician workforce capable of providing the highest quality medical care to the United States population, educational and healthcare institutions must transform narratives about disability and eliminate structural ableism from their policies and practices. By creating inclusive educational and healthcare environments that welcome and support people with disabilities in medicine, these institutions can improve learning and workplace experiences for all students and physicians, ultimately improving patient care. To do so will require reframing the concept of disability, shifting toward a socio-ecological understanding of what enables or limits an individual's ability to practice medicine, and recognizing that every student and physician benefits when medical education is designed to support a diverse range of learners. Eliminating structural ableism as it manifests in national and organizational policies and practices similarly holds promise for improving the diversity, vitality, and sustainability of the healthcare workforce. This commentary, authored by leaders from the American Medical Association, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, and Association of American Medical Colleges, along with students and physicians who support these organizations' efforts to combat ableism in medicine, offers both conceptual and practical recommendations for transforming the narratives and structural factors that currently hinder progress toward creating and sustaining a thriving physician workforce.