MDisability Provider Webinar Series Archive

A Disability Health Webinar Series for Primary Care Medical Professionals

Welcome to the MDisability Provider Webinar Series Archive. Below, you will find provider webinars dating back to March 2022. Our past speakers have discussed a variety of health topics pertinent to patients with disabilities, including what it means to navigate health, community and educational barriers when living with or caring for someone with a cognitive disability; reproductive care considerations for people with disabilities; and providing home visits for this patient population. We are grateful to the Robert J. Fisher, M.D. Family Medicine Fund and to our partner, We are grateful to the Robert J. Fisher, M.D. Family Medicine Fund and to our partner Michigan Medicine's Center for Disability Health and Wellness (CDHW) (link is external) for the generous support of the MDisability provider webinar series through CDHW's collaboration with AHEAD-DC RRTC (link is external) and a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR #90RTHF0005). With their contributions, the webinars are held quarterly, include live captioning, and are free of charge.

December 2023 - Palliative Care and Hospice Considerations for Patients with Disabilities

The final MDisability provider webinar in the 2023 series held on December 14 covered the often overlooked or rarely discussed topic, "Palliative Care and Hospice Considerations for Patients with Disabilities" presented by, Jane Chargot, M.D.Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Michigan. Dr. Chargot's topic covered how to approach advance care planning, goals of care discussions, and end-of-life care in patients with physical and intellectual disabilities.

Dr Jane Chargot completed both her Family Medicine residency and Hospice and Palliative Medicine fellowship at the University of Michigan and is now an Assistant Professor at the Michigan Medicine Medical School. She is faculty on the inpatient Palliative Care service, provides primary care through Michigan Medicine Family Medicine, and is the physician lead for the Briarwood general Palliative Care clinic. She additionally teaches residents, fellows, and medical students on the palliative care consult service, in the palliative and primary care clinics, and is a longitudinal medical student teaching faculty through the Michigan Medicine Doctoring program. Her professional focuses are providing primary care to complex, chronically ill patients, providing palliative care to patients both in the inpatient and outpatient settings across the spectrum of the Michigan Medicine patient community, and providing education and increasing exposure of the next generation of physicians to both primary and palliative care.

We thank our partner Michigan Medicine's Center for Disability Health and Wellness (CDHW) (link is external) for the generous support of the MDisability provider webinar series through CDHW's collaboration with AHEAD-DC RRTC (link is external) and a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR #90RTHF0005).

Transcript - December 14, 2023, Provider Webinar(link is external)

Bibliography & Resources

September 2023 - Caring for Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD): The Health Maintenance Exam

Our most recent provider webinar in the 2023 series took place on September 14, 2023entitled "Caring for Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD): The Health Maintenance Exam" presented by Brianna Marzolf, DO, a graduate of the Department of Family Medicine’s Residency Program and first MDisability Disability Health Fellow. Dr. Marzolf's talk is tailored to primary care physicians and includes communication tips, current IDD-specific screening recommendations, a focused review of systems and physical exams, as well as some syndrome-specific screening recommendations.

Dr. Marzolf is a recent graduate of the Department of Family Medicine residency program at the University of Michigan. She is passionate and committed to improving healthcare for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). As the first disability health fellow at the University of Michigan, she feels honored and enthusiastic about her new role. She hopes to spend her Fellowship year honing her clinical skills regarding the management of behavioral challenges related to pain, depression, social isolation, life transition, as well as caregiver fatigue, and mental health. She will have the opportunity to work with specialists in Psychiatry, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Neurology, Genetics, and more with the goal of providing comprehensive primary care to patients with IDD and sharing what she learns with other healthcare providers.

For the September webinar in the MDisability provider webinar series, we want to thank our partner U-M Medicine Center for Disability Health and Wellness (CDHW) and the generous support provided by CDHW's collaboration with AHEAD-DC RRTC and by a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR #90RTHF0005).

Transcript - September 14, 2023, Provider Webinar

Resources and Works Cited

April 2023 - Home Visits for People with Disabilities: A Family Doc's Approach

For our first provider webinar in the 2023 series, “Home Visits for People with Disabilities: A Family Doc’s Approach” with Cheryl E. LaMore, M.D., Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Michigan. Dr. LaMore shared her experience providing home visits and explained how this care has added to her love of practicing family medicine.  

Dr. LaMore has spent her career caring for patients in multiple levels of care including serving as an attending physician on the inpatient service at Chelsea Family Medicine, providing care for patients at the local nursing home, and performing home visits for her patients who meet criteria. Dr. LaMore has also included medical students and family medicine physicians to join her on her home visit rounds. 

Transcript - April 13, 2023, Provider Webinar (PDF)

December 2022 - Reproductive Health Care for People with Disabilities

The last series webinar of 2022 was held on Thursday, Dec. 8 with Justine Wu, M.D., M.P.H., Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Michigan. Dr. Justine Wu discussed the overarching principles of reproductive health care for people with disabilities as informed by social justice frameworks. She will then focus on the intersection of contraceptive care and management of menstrual symptoms and how to tailor this care for patients along a spectrum of decision-making models (shared decision-making, supported decision-making, proxy decision-making).

Dr. Wu is an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine with a joint appointment in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Michigan, where she completed her residency many years ago. She completed a Master of Public Health and Family Planning Fellowship at the University of Rochester. She provides primary care to patients in Livonia, Michigan. Her research focuses on improving contraceptive care for individuals with complex health needs, including those with disabilities, and chronic conditions. She has led a series of epidemiologic analyses documenting U.S. trends in contraceptive use among women with disabilities. Dr. Wu lives in Ann Arbor with her family and enjoys doing nerdy NY Times word games when she is not watching her kids’ soccer games or walking the dog.

Transcript - December 8, 2022, Provider Webinar (PDF)

September 2022 - Navigating Health, Community, and School Barriers with a Cognitive Disability

On Monday, September 26, we held the second edition of our primary care provider webinar series, titled “Navigating Health, Community, and School Barriers with a Cognitive Disability,” presented by Amal Othman, M.D., and co-presenter, Muhammad Othman, Dr. Othman's son. 
 
Dr. Amal Othman is a practicing family physician and assistant professor of family medicine, geriatric medicine, and obesity management at the University of Michigan. However, for this webinar, she will be speaking from her personal experience navigating complex systems of care as a mother of a child living with Rett Syndrome.  
 
Muhammad Othman is a biomedical engineering student on the pre-med path at Wayne State ​University's Irvin D. Reid Honors College. He is passionate about disability advocacy and improving the quality of life for individuals with a disability. During high school, he worked on a project titled, “The Effects of Communication on Activity Participation and Engagement in a Girl with Rett Syndrome.” 
 
 
Rett Syndrome Resources

March 2022 - Caring for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Patients: An Overview for Primary Care Providers

Philip Zazove, M.D., the George A. Dean, M.D. Chair of Family Medicine, and Michael M. McKee, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor, held MDisability’s first Provider Webinar on Thursday, March 3 titled, "Caring for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Patients: An Overview for Primary Care Providers."

The event attracted participants from health organizations across North America, including registrants from within Michigan Medicine as well as Wayne State University, Harvard University, and the Provincial Health Services Authority in Canada.