Established by the MDisability Program, the Disability Health Elective (FAMMED 8204) is a 2-week course for medical students in the branches to rotate among different clinics specializing in disability-based care (e.g., Deaf Health, Adaptive Sports Medicine, Spinal Cord Injury, Cerebral Palsy, Low Vision, etc.) Students will be introduced to elements of disability theory, clinical practice, disability law, and implications for policy. The course will also incorporate small group discussions and online training with the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) program. The overarching goal of the course is to enable medical students to be able to provide a person-centered approach to caring for patients who have disabilities. This effort is to improve the quality of care and reduce disparities in health outcomes for people with disabilities. The Disability Health Elective (DHE) is offered in January, April, and September.
Course Features
Course Instructor
Michael M. McKee, M.D., M.P.H., professor, a family physician with clinical and research expertise in disability health. As a physician with a hearing loss, he is especially interested in advocating for the rights of Deaf and hard of hearing patients to obtain equitable health care including accessible communication. His research focus includes health disparities for individuals with various disabilities, health information accessibility, health literacy, and telemedicine applications. He is also interested in the application of eye trackers and mixed methodologies to study how individuals acquire health information through visual and incidental learning opportunities. Dr. McKee is on the board of the Association of Medical Professionals with Hearing Losses. He is also currently an appointed member of the Roundtable on Health Literacy of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. He also serves on the AcademyHealth Disabilities Research Interest Group (IG) Advisory Committee, Member. He sees patients at Family Medicine at Dexter Health Center, where he leads the Deaf Health Clinic.
Course design and 2024/25 leadership team: Sarah Hughes, Tomi Lawal, Dawn Michael, and Anna Riegger.
Disability Health Medical School Elective
Ethan Sperry, an M.D./Ph.D. fellow at the University of Michigan Medical School, participated in the January 2022 Disability Health Elective, which is a two-week elective course designed for third- and fourth-year medical students.
Michigan medical student learns about disability health and medicine with inaugural elective course
New Disability Health Elective teaches third and fourth-year medical students about best clinical practices in disability health, as well as disability theory, law, and culture, and the implications for disability policy in healthcare.
MDisability introduces new two-week Disability Health Elective for third- and fourth-year medical students
Medical students will learn about best practices for communication and caring for patients with disabilities and provide meaningful experiences through rotations among clinics specializing in disability-based care for specific populations.
