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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Linda M. Long, JD, MA1, Libby Bradshaw, DO, MS1, Paula M. Minihan, MPH, MSW2, and Wayne Altman, MD2. (1) Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02111, (617) 636-7000, lm.long@verizon.net, (2) Dept. of Family Medicine & Community Health, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA 02111
Healthy People 2010 has, for the first time devoted a chapter to people with disabilities with the stated goal to "promote the health of people with disabilities, prevent secondary conditions, and eliminate disparities between people with and without disabilities in the U.S. population." One barrier to obtaining quality medical care is the lack of adequate physician training and experience in working with this population. Yet as more people with disabilities are integrated into society and as managed care requires increased reliance on primary care physicians, so there is increased awareness that all physicians must be capable of providing people with disabilities with quality medical care. Including information on meeting the needs of persons with disabilities as a core component of the medical school curriculum is an important step toward this goal. In collaboration with members of the disability community, the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at Tufts University School of Medicine's (TUSM) is incorporating disability related content into the required core curriculum through the use of the highly successful "standardized patient" in the Family Medicine Clerkship. This presentation will describe the results of a pre-test and post-test of medical students' understanding of how they as physicians can meet the needs of persons with disabilities in response to this new curriculum component. At the conclusion of the session, the participants will be able to design a standardized patient module that will strengthen medical students' understanding of disability issues and their ability to provide quality care to persons with disabilities.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Disability, Medical Care
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM), Department of Family and Community Medicine
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.