Family Involvement in First and Second Year Medical Student Training at New York Medical College
WIHD faculty member, Barbara Levitz, MSEd, is part of a team of LEND Family Faculty along with WIHD and NYMC faculty that leads presentation and discussion sessions with first and second year medical students about caring for patients with disabilities and their families. The sessions typically include guest presenters, including parents and individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities (I/DD).
Individuals with I/DD and families incorporate the following topics into their presentations and discussions:
1) First-hand description of personal experiences with disabilities
2) Successes and challenges in accessing and coordinating health services and supports; and navigating medical healthcare systems
3) Perspectives about families as part of healthcare inter-professional teams
4) Suggestions for physicians and other health professionals on interacting with individuals and families in a way that is helpful
The presentations are given as part of the course “Foundations of Clinical Medicine” and are very highly rated by medical students.