Disability Health Medical School Elective

Course Features

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 Instructor

Michael M. McKee, M.D., M.P.H., associate 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 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 2022 leadership team: Davis Argersinger, Dawn Michael, Rita Shehirian, David Wang