Supporting Learners With Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses Through School and Beyond
Stacy Ellen, DO, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, Associate Professor of Pediatrics
In my first year as an assistant dean of student affairs at Drexel University College of Medicine, academic year 2022-23, it was evident that increasing numbers of medical students were requesting and obtaining disability accommodations pertaining to testing, the classroom experience, clinical training and other aspects of their education. I sought to better understand the support structures in place for medical students and how we might improve internal support.
Simultaneously, there were students seeking greater transparency in internal accommodations and in the external United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) accommodations process for board examinations, as well as expressing a desire to develop avenues for peer connection and mentoring. I began reviewing all medical student accommodations to understand the standard offerings. The most common accommodations for students are in the realm of testing, including things like distraction-reduced testing, access to food and drink, and extended time to complete tests and assignments. Students also sometimes requested placement at an all-year clinical site. We found that each year there were more nuanced requests for students with low vision and hearing impairment; those who needed enhanced food and drink availability during examinations; students in need of pregnancy, postpartum and lactation considerations; and those who needed readers during exams, to name only a few examples.
Given our experience helping students with accommodations navigate the medical school journey and transition to residency, it was important to increase communication with the director, assistant director and staff in the Office of Disability Resources (ODR). A monthly meeting series was created with key partners in the College of Medicine and ODR to maintain routine communication.
In the same time period, as Kendall Smith, MD ’26, describes on page 5, three second-year students formed a student group intended to increase peer support and alliance for students with accommodations. They also developed a presentation for orientation and created their own methods of communication with one another. They began to help each other with the steps in the application process for USMLE exam accommodations and navigating entry into clerkships.
In order to understand our internal trends, my Student Affairs colleagues and I reviewed accommodation numbers in a six-year time period. We found a dramatic increase in the percentage of students receiving accommodations over those six years. In fact, in the last two academic years, approximately 10% of students have received accommodations. A study by Moreland et al. published in 2025 found that just over 10% of second-year medical students self-reported having a disability in the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Year 2 Questionnaire.
The AAMC Graduate Questionnaire has included enhanced questions surrounding disability prevalence and related topics since 2024. Year 4 students are now asked about whether or not they have a disability and if so, what type; whether they received accommodations from their schools for their disability and, if not, why they did not receive them; and how satisfied they were with their school’s accessibility and disability services.
The College of Medicine is committed to ensuring that medical students in need of accommodations are supported throughout the process and throughout their time as students. Review and analysis of annual findings and trends from the Accommodations section of the Graduate Questionnaire, along with direct student feedback, will be critical to continuing to improve internal processes for medical students requesting and obtaining accommodations.
Physicians with disabilities bring unique perspectives to the healthcare team and remain underrepresented in the profession, with only about 3% disclosing a disability, compared to approximately 25% of adults in the United States who have a disability. The lived experiences of physicians with disabilities provide representation and a unique perspective that enhances the care of patients with disabilities, decreases healthcare disparities and can help reduce ableism in medical settings.
As a student affairs dean, I have found it especially rewarding to support processes for students seeking accommodations and have had the opportunity to work and learn alongside student advocates, leaders from other Drexel University health sciences departments, and the director and staff from ODR to support students from their matriculation through graduation. While engaging in student support, I have also been proud to collaborate with students on research and scholarship efforts aimed at improving the student experience, three of whom are featured in this article.
Prachi Gaddam, MD ’27
I had a case of sudden and profound hearing loss in one ear during my first year of medical school in February 2023. Immediately following my diagnosis, I contacted Dr. Ellen, who was my Learning Society dean, as well as the Office of Disability Resources.
I received accommodations including streamlined absence requests and access to captioning/frequency modulation systems, which I did not end up needing but had available. Most importantly, I was assigned to a regional medical campus for my third year so that I would continue to have access to my healthcare, including audiology appointments and auditory rehabilitation. I received a cochlear implant right after I took the USMLE Step 1 exam and before beginning third-year clerkships.
During clerkships, I had to practice self-advocacy. The biggest things for me were the use of assistive devices like the cochlear implant and a mini microphone to amplify and stream voices directly into my implant. I also had to be very mindful of spatial positioning in noisy areas like the emergency department or the operating room. It was definitely a huge learning curve.
Since then, I’ve been involved in a number of advocacy-related activities. I presented “Navigating New Onset Hearing Loss in Medical School: A Case Report” at Tower Health Research Day in March 2025 and at Learn Serve Lead, the AAMC annual meeting in November 2025.
In addition, in April 2026 I presented a lecture on my experiences to the Disability in Medicine Mutual Mentorship Program, or D3MP, an organization that supports disabled health professionals and traineesin their careers. I am currently writing a book chapter under the guidance of Lisa Meeks, PhD, MA, who is a leading expert on disability advocacy in medical education. Dr. Meeks is a clinical professor of medical education at the University of Illinois College of Medicine and the founder of the Docs With Disabilities Initiative. The book chapter focuses on what went right in my experience and what could have been improved.
Kathryn Mozzochi, MD ’26
I was diagnosed with a chronic illness when I was a teenager, and for many years I was very private about it. Once I came to Drexel, I understood the platform I had as a medical student. I also realized that many of my classmates associated “illness” with a sick patient in a hospital bed, even though for those of us living with chronic illness, that is not always the case. I was hopeful that being open about my experiences would open up others’ perspectives about what a life with illness can look like.
There were also challenges in navigating medical school with a chronic illness, such as waiting for a lottery to learn our third-year clerkship location and then scrambling to establish new patient care relationships in such a short time frame, or coordinating monthly infusions while moving frequently throughout my fourth year. I recognized that other students with disabilities and chronic illnesses may have similar experiences, and I became interested in learning how the experience of students with and without disabilities differed. I approached Carolyn Giordano, PhD, associate dean of assessment and evaluation, and professor of family, community and preventive medicine to conduct a survey. Dr. Giordano connected me with Dr. Ellen.
We conducted a survey examining differences in medical student experiences in the domains of support systems, social relationships, career advancement and medical school experience. The survey was distributed to students with and without disabilities and consisted of a series of Likert scale questions and free response. There were 118 responses to the survey, and of those, 36% (or n=42) identified as having a disability. When asked to report their level of agreement on the item “I feel like I will be physically or mentally unable to pursue a specialty that I would otherwise favor because of my disability,” 14 of the 42 students with disabilities agreed or strongly agreed with that statement, compared with only 4 of the 76 students who did not report having a disability. This could be suggestive of barriers to entry.
We also found that students with disabilities felt better prepared to care for patients with physical disabilities in the future than their classmates without a disability, with 20 of the 42 (48%) of students with a disability saying they agreed or strongly agreed that they feel well prepared to care for patients with physical disabilities in the future, compared to 34 of 76 (45%) students without a disability.
When students from both categories were asked about one way they could be better prepared to advocate for patients with disabilities, the themes that emerged were:
- Desire for increased curricular exposure to patients with disabilities.
- Opportunities to hear the lived experience of patients with disabilities.
- Sessions dedicated to tactile skills such as wheelchair transfer, completing disability paperwork or accommodating the needs of patients in an office setting.
We have shared our work via oral presentations at afew conferences and have submitted the manuscript for publication. Beyond this specific project, I also worked with the American Medical Women’s Association to host a panel in October 2025 of physicians with a disability or chronic illness to speak about their lived experiences and how they navigated training.
Kendall Smith, MD ’26
My interest in student accommodations began with my own experience as a student with a disability. I grew up with the privilege of having early, well-documented diagnoses, consistent access to accommodations and strong self-advocacy skills. However, in medical school, I encountered a system that felt markedly less transparent and more difficult to navigate. I watched brilliant friends and colleagues across multiple institutions get pushed to the margins or have to leave training altogether, in part due to these barriers, and I knew something needed to change.
The accommodations process can be time-consuming, confusing and opaque. Students are often unsure what they need or what supports are available when entering medical school or navigating a new diagnosis, while also worrying that seeking help may further stigmatize or disadvantage them. There is often an unspoken pressure to work harder, perform better and avoid drawing attention as a disabled student to prove you are equally competent and belong in this space. I wanted to change this.
In response, I founded and co-led the Drexel Coalition for Disability Advocacy to create the kind of support system I had wished for. Through this work, we built spaces for nearly 50 students with disabilities and chronic illnesses to find community, mentorship and practical guidance, while also working with Disability Services and Student Affairs to address barriers in the accommodations process and improve accessibility. This included efforts such as:
- Advocating with Transportation Services to improve accessible parking.
- Interviewing candidates for academic support positions.
- Promoting continued access to recorded lectures.
- Working to expand clinical accommodation options.
A central goal of our work was to normalize and demystify the accommodations process, and ensure students understood what resources were available. This effort grew into an annual orientation session for incoming medical students, where we outlined available supports and how to access them, something that had previously been largely absent from open discussion. Shortly after our first session, an influx of students reached out for guidance and we provided ongoing support.
One of the most significant barriers we identified was obtaining USMLE testing accommodations for Step exams. The process is often complex, time-intensive and financially burdensome, with high rates of denial. In response, I organized application workshops, shared resources and provided individualized support. I worked one on one with dozens of students at Drexel and other institutions across the country, helping them develop personal statements and navigate appeals following denials.
Since starting, I have presented these initiatives across multiple platforms, including the 2023 Stanford Conference on Disability in Healthcare and Medicine, the national D3MP monthly meeting, and the College of Medicine’s Discovery Day. Our work was also featured at the 2024 AAMC conference. Additionally, I have collaborated with students and faculty at other institutions to support the development of similar advocacy and accommodation efforts.
Over the past few years, we have seen a significant rise in students seeking accommodations, highlighting the need for continued, formalized institutional support and guidance. Disability is an important form of diversity in medicine, and individuals with disabilities are fully capable of successful careers in the field, not despite their disability, but because of the insight and perspective that lived experience brings to healthcare.
References:
- Moreland CJ, Plegue M, Sheets ZC, Pereira-Lima K, Jain NR, Stergiopoulos E, Case B, Addams A, Meeks LM. Perceptions of the Learning Environment Among Medical Students With Disabilities and the Impact of Program Access. Acad Med. 2025 Oct 1;100(10):1179-1186.
- AAMC Graduation Questionnaire: aamc.org/media/74891/download?attachment
- Nouri Z, Dill MJ, Conrad SS, Moreland CJ, Meeks LM. Estimated Prevalence of US Physicians With Disabilities. JAMA Netw Open. 2021 Mar 1;4(3):e211254.
- scholarcommons.towerhealth.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1413&context=th_researchday
