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.
NYMC Chapter of AADMD
The American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (AADMD) is a national organization that aims to improve the quality of healthcare for individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders and intellectual disabilities (ND/ID). This population of patients has historically encountered great difficulty when attempting to access care that is both empathetic and highly competent. AADMD hopes to expand the network of health care providers who are capable of understanding the specific needs of this community and acting in their best interests at all times. By maintaining a presence at the institutions responsible for teaching future health care providers, members of AADMD can achieve this goal in a variety of ways, from assisting in reform of the current healthcare system to better preparing clinicians for facing the challenges posed by caring for this population.
New York Medical College, in collaboration with the Westchester Institute for Human Development, has a new AADMD chapter . This offers many exciting opportunities for students who wish to get involved with this process. In the coming years, they hope to grow membership among the student body, provide community outreach to foster a better understanding of the ND/ID population among future healthcare providers, join an initiative to give this population official recognition as an underserved population in the eyes of the US government, and support important movements such as “Spread the Word to End the Word” campaign which aims to abolish the R word from the popular vernacular.
NYMC medical student, Michael Tarr, is the AADMD Virutal Grand Round Facilitator.
Resources for Medical Education related to Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
To view resources, click on bold text.
- Exploring Resources at “Understanding Health and Health Promotion for People with ID”: This worksheet guides students and residents through the website http://www.IDDHealthTraining.org by discussing specific case studies.
- Exploring Resources to Support Successful Health Transition: This exercise will allow students and residents to explore resources that support youth, young adults, and families in health transition and in supporting self-advocacy and self-direction and to consider the role of non-primary care health providers, educators, advocates, and family members in supporting successful health transition.
- Resource Links for Family Medicine Residents: This provides descriptions, links and QR codes for three websites about health and wellness for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
- Taking Charge of My Health: This website provides information and resources designed to guide teens and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), family members and caregivers to achieve successful transition from pediatric to adult health care.