The AAMC recognizes the importance of including disability and accessibility in its mission to support the disparate needs of learners, health care professionals, researchers, and patients. From testing and admissions practices for students and curriculum design in medical education to patient care and professional supports for clinicians and researchers, guaranteed access and support for individuals with disabilities is essential to ensuring everyone has what they need to succeed and thrive in academic medicine.
For those who are interested in learning more about disability and accessibility, below are links to AAMC web pages focused on these matters across academic medicine, in health care, and in medical education.
Across Academic Medicine
- Accessibility Resource Bundle: This curated collection includes scholarly resources, in-person and virtual events, and other information to help you stay up-to-date on the latest work happening across medical education.
- Disability Inclusion Virtual Community: A community of medical educators, disability-resource professionals, admissions leaders, and assessment specialists focused on creating environments that are accessible to people with disabilities. Topics include admissions, assessments, performance and trajectory, accommodations in didactic and clinical settings, legal-case review and analysis, technical standards, and remediating learners with disabilities.
- Disability Representation and Inclusion within Academic Medicine – AAMC IDEAS Learning Series: This AAMC webinar series features members of the disability community and disability experts from across the continuum discussing the need for increased representation and inclusion of people with disabilities in academic medicine. These webinars include topics relevant to physicians, researchers, and those in the education and training stages of their careers.
In Health Care and Access to Care
- The AAMC Center for Health Justice: The AAMC Center for Health Justice was founded in 2021 to work across sectors to build evidence and share expertise about policies that ensure every community, including individuals with disabilities, has the vital conditions for health and well-being. In recommendations to the federal government, the Center has expressed support for the inclusion of individuals with disabilities in policymaking, government programs, and research opportunities to address the persistent disparities the disability community faces.
- Advancing Health Equity Through Telehealth: This AAMC webinar series highlights the role of academic medicine in advancing telehealth to ensure all communities have a genuine, equal opportunity to access the high quality care they need to thrive and reach their individual health goals. Disability and accessibility specific webinars include:
Click on the handouts tab for each webinar to access relevant resources.
In Medical Education
- Exam Accommodations: The AAMC is committed to providing a valid exam while maintaining a level playing field for all test takers by ensuring access for persons with disabilities in accordance with relevant law. Learn more about PREview® Accommodations and MCAT® Exam Accommodations.
- Accessibility, Inclusion, and Action in Medical Education: Lived Experiences of Learners and Physicians with Disabilities: Identifying cultural and structural barriers, and catalyzing institutional policies that support all qualified learners, regardless of disability, throughout the medical education continuum, is a worthy and essential goal. This publication weaves together major themes from interviews conducted with 47 students, residents, and physicians with disabilities.