FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 9, 2024
BERKELEY, CA – Decades after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), disabled people are still largely absent from the medical profession. Taylor Carty, a 29-year-old aspiring doctor with cerebral palsy, was elated when she got admitted to Wayne State School of Medicine, a public medical school in Detroit, Michigan. But when she requested modifications to the school’s “technical standards” for her disability, Wayne State rescinded her acceptance. On Thursday, May 9, 2024, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of Carty demanding change at Wayne State.
In her application to medical school, Carty wrote, “Growing up, I never had a physician who looked like me. People with disabilities are usually the patients, not the physicians. When my patients look at me, I hope they will see themselves, and all the possibilities available to them.”
Due to her disability, Carty has some spasticity and motor limitations in her left hand. To perform certain motor tasks practiced in medical school, like CPR and some kinds of suturing, Carty would need to work with another member of her team. Months before her start date, Carty asked Wayne State for this accommodation. She explained that other medical schools, like University of Michigan, UC San Diego, and UC Davis, allow students with disabilities to direct and work with others in performing CPR and other motor tasks listed in the technical standards. Wayne State denied her request.
Carty planned to focus on medical rehabilitation and wanted to serve children with neurological disorders. This field (called “Pediatric Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation”) relies on teamwork and does not require any one doctor to perform emergency room-type interventions like CPR or suturing.
Very few people with disabilities enter medical school. A 2023 study found that only 5.9% of students at 56 medical schools reported a disability to their medical school – far lower than among undergraduate (20.5%) and graduate programs (10.7%).
Very few doctors have disabilities. A 2019 survey of more than 6,000 American physicians found that only 3.1% of physicians reported having a disability. Among these are doctors who acquired their disability after they became licensed – and who still work as doctors.
Ableism is endemic in medicine. A 2020 survey of 1,400 physicians found that more than 80 percent assume that people with a significant disability have a worse quality of life. These negative attitudes affect the care that disabled patients receive.
“I know there needs to be a change,” Carty stated in a newly released TikTok video. “Without these students, you can’t have a diverse, inclusive program.” Carty explained that medical schools need to train physicians who “can best provide or meet the needs of the US population, 20 percent of which has some sort of disability.”
Claudia Center, Legal Director of Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund added. “Ableism in medicine will never change if we don’t admit people with disabilities into medical school.”
The complaint demands that Wayne State come into compliance with Title II of the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act by changing its policies and practices to allow for disability accommodations to the school’s technical standards. It further urges the school to adopt, publish, circulate, and implement new policies, including technical standards, that comply with Title II of the ADA and Section 504.
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Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), based in Berkeley, California, is a national nonprofit law and policy center dedicated to advancing and protecting the civil and human rights of people with disabilities. Founded in 1979 by people with disabilities and parents of children with disabilities, DREDF remains board- and staff-led by members of the communities for whom we advocate. DREDF pursues its mission through education, advocacy, and law reform efforts.
Media Contact:
Tina Pinedo
DREDF Communications Director
(510) 225-7726
media@dredf.org
DREDF steps up to the plate to enforce disability rights enforcement for student to attend a medical college.
We need recruitment and scholarships for direct recruitment of aspiring students with disabilities to become physicians.
One problem that continues to happen is that persons with significant disabilities have a harder time becoming employed once they graduate from college with degrees due to ablism and hiring biases.
Thank you DREDF and Claudia Center for all that you do to promote and secure our disability rights!