What are the barriers to inclusive medical education? Real world experience of medical students with disabilities.

<ns3:p>Introduction Medical students with disabilities contribute a unique perspective from navigating the healthcare system to the wider medical team. Guidance in the UK recommends medical schools support students with disabilities using reasonable adjustments in clinical teaching. Despite this guidance the British Medical Association found only 55% of medical students and doctors surveyed received the reasonable adjustments they requested. Research is lacking in what factors prevent students with disabilities accessing adjustments. Understanding what barriers prevent the access of reasonable adjustments will help to ensure that medical education can be made inclusive for all students. Methods An anonymous electronic survey of medical students was used to gather information on barriers to receiving reasonable adjustments. Results 100% of student participants identified concerns around disclosing their disability and adjustment to clinical staff. Only 33% of students had received reasonable adjustments in the clinical teaching environment. Key themes of barriers to receiving adjustments included lack of staff understanding of adjustments and student unwillingness to disclose a disability due to fear of discrimination. Discussion Students’ unwillingness to disclose disability and lack of staff understanding can prevent reasonable adjustments being put in place in the clinical teaching environment. This can lead to negative consequences on student wellbeing and perpetuate stigma of disabilities. Staff education could be a solution to bridge the gap between medical students and clinical educators. The information gathered from this project will be used to drive staff education of local NHS clinical teachers. Shifting the responsibility of initiating discussion around disability and adjustments from students to clinical educator staff may set a welcoming and inclusive tone. Empowering students with disabilities is vital to supporting the future generation of doctors.</ns3:p>